Nowadays, functional foods are in increasing demand since they can improve human health. Some bioactive components, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids-rich oils, and healthy microorganisms can be affected by their incorporation into food systems or processing. To avoid this, several encapsulation techniques have been developed in the recent years. The aim of this study was to encapsulate a potential probiotic bacteria, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis INL1 (INL1) and canola oil through an emulsification/gelation process using whey proteins isolate (WPI)/dextran (DX) conjugate obtained by Maillard reaction as emulsifiers. WPI/DX conjugates with dextran of 6 and 100 kDa (WPI/DX6 and WPI/DX100, respectively) were obtained by controlled dry heating. WPI/DX conjugates emulsions showed smaller oil droplets and more stability against creaming than emulsions of WPI alone. This higher stability was correlated with a higher encapsulation efficiency of canola oil in WPI/DX conjugates emulsion-gel gel beads. The viability of INL1 was not affected by the synthesis process. However, the canola oil affected the viability during storage, which indicated that canola oil is not suitable for co-encapsulation of probiotics at long storage times. •Conjugation by Maillard reaction was achieved between Whey Protein and Dextrans.•Probiotic was encapsulated by emulsification and ionotropic gelation.•The strain was protected in the same way by the three systems under study.•Canola oil might be not suitable for probiotic encapsulation.