The Red Bull driver set the pace for the majority of the session, with his time of 1m13.193s topping the charts ahead of the Williams pair of Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz.
Both Williams drivers showed impressive pace throuhgout FP1, with the pair finishing less than one hundredth of a second behind Verstappen.
George Russell was fourth for Mercedes, ahead of the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and the Racing Bull of Isack Hadjar.
The McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were seventh and 14th, with Norris having a particularly scrappy FP1. The British driver had several off-track moments and complained of issues with rear grip during the session.
He wasn’t the only one to struggle, with a dusty Circuit Gilles Villeneuve causing havoc for many, particularly Charles Leclerc.
The Ferrari driver misjudged his braking heading into Turn 3 and was unable to avoid contact with the tyre barrier after taking to the grass.
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The crash ripped off his front-left tyre and sent him into the opposite wall, with the Monegasque driver emerging from his car uninjured.
The incident, which occurred just 15 minutes into the session, brought out a red flag, with running resuming around ten minutes later.
His teammate was another to fall foul of the low-grip conditions, with Hamilton spinning at the Turn 10 hairpin shortly after the session restarted.
Franco Colapinto also suffered a spin, losing control at Turn 2 on his very first run of the session and bringing out an early yellow flag.
Kimi Antonelli was lucky not to join them, as the Italian lost the back end of his Mercedes entering Turn 6, but managed to recover without incident.
Only four drivers used medium tyres during the session, with teams focusing predominantly on soft-tyre running in the opening hour in Montreal.
Cars will return to the track for FP2 at 5pm local time (7am AEST).
Results: Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, Free Practice 1
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:13.193 | 28 | |
| 2 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:13.232 | +0.039s | 28 |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams Mercedes | 1:13.275 | +0.082s | 30 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:13.535 | +0.342s | 29 |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:13.620 | +0.427s | 30 |
| 6 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 1:13.631 | +0.438s | 31 |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:13.651 | +0.458s | 30 |
| 8 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 1:13.737 | +0.544s | 30 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:13.817 | +0.624s | 29 |
| 10 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:13.885 | +0.692s | 9 |
| 11 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:13.927 | +0.734s | 27 |
| 12 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:13.972 | +0.779s | 25 |
| 13 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:14.002 | +0.809s | 30 |
| 14 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 1:14.198 | +1.005s | 28 |
| 15 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:14.203 | +1.010s | 25 |
| 16 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:14.324 | +1.131s | 30 |
| 17 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas Ferrari | 1:14.520 | +1.327s | 30 |
| 18 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas Ferrari | 1:14.605 | +1.412s | 23 |
| 19 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine Renault | 1:14.645 | +1.452s | 29 |
| 20 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:14.821 | +1.628s | 28 |
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