HUH....? You can get US Cable/satellite in Canada....
In response to your reply, I did a quick search. Quite a few cable channels are prohibited for broadcast:
Examples of well-known U.S. channels not permitted in Canada include FX, Nickelodeon, ESPN, HBO, Showtime, USA Network and TNT (however, Canadian broadcasters have since launched licensed versions of FX, HBO and Nickelodeon, while TSN is minority-owned by ESPN); nonetheless some Canadians choose to subscribe to these channels via the grey market, as outlined above.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multichannel_television_in_Canada
The government maintains a list of approved programming channels:
Revised list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution as of 20 August 2014
The "grey market" are satellite services usually required to be billed to an American address and are paid for in U.S. dollars. There are also viewers who receive American signals through pirate decryption, according to the Wiki article.