Brassica napus had been cultivated in China since 1930s, but the Chinese modern cultivars represented a narrow genetic basis. In order to enrich the genetic diversity in gene pool, distant hybridizations with relative species have been conducted. This paper summarizes recent advances on distant hybridization in Brassica napus with other Cruciferae plants. These novel germplasm resources showing early maturation, yellow seed or disease resistance, have been generated by inter-species hybridization in genus Brassica. The elite alleles on traits of drought resistance, cold resistance or milky white flower, which were identified from other genus, have been introgressed into Brassica napus. We further proposed the focus on distant hybridization in Brassica napus in future.