Canadian TV Upfronts And Fall Schedules 2026-27

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It's that time of year again when Canada's major TV networks make their own upfront presentations roughly a week after the US networks have had their turn and after they have decided which new US series they will pick up for the fall and which original series they will use to fill the schedules with for both their TV network and streaming channels. CBC has already announced more than 50 new original series that will appear on both platforms this fall. The other networks will get their chance to make their schedules known in the next few days. Here's when you can expect them:

CBC - Today (see below)
Rogers Sports & Media - Tuesday June 2
Corus Entertainment - Wed. June 3
Bell Media - Thu. June 4
IndieNET (including CHCH) - To be announced. I'm guessing it will be before Friday.

First off the mark, as usual, is CBC.

CBC TV

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) made very few changes to their fall lineup in 2025 but are changing things up in a big way this season. They will debut at least 4 new series on CBC-TV and more than 50 that will appear on their free streaming service CBC Gem. This will include reruns of one of CBC's most successful series "Schitt's Creek" which will appear at 2;30 pm and is one of 9 series that will air between 2:30 and 3:30 pm time slots as the daytime and nighttime lineups will be changing constantly.

Among the new series that will be airing in the fall is "The Ambassador", a new comedy that marks the return of Samantha Bee to the CBC lineup, "Blessed Sacrament", a drama starring Kathleen Robertson, formally of the "90210" reboot, and "Junior", an 8 part drama about the life of a young hockey prodigy, based on the life of former NHL star P K Subban, who will be the show's executive producer. CBC will have more hockey-related series in their lineup this fall, including "Power Play", a 5 part miniseries looking at the rise and success of the PWHL, the Professional Women's Hockey League, and "Barnburners", about a group of senior citizens who match their hockey skills and knowledge against much younger teams who refuse to take them seriously. There is also "Hockey Night In Canada", returning for another season in late September, the earliest ever start to an NHL season.

Two more new series will be the comedy "Committed" about a man who travels from Canada to Ireland to meet a girl that he has recently fallen in love with, and "Snow King: From Olympian To Narco", the true story of former Olympic champion Ryan Wedding, who became wanted by the FBI for drug trafficking.

Returning series will include: "Son Of A Critch" for its final season, "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", "Murdoch Mysteries", "Dragons' Den", and perennial favorite "Heartland".

Next up: IndieNET

Press Release

Fall 2026 Schedule

CBC Gem

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INDIENET

Canada's TV upfronts continued last Friday with the IndieNET group of channels that included CHCH TV in Hamilton, Ontario and YES TV in Burlington, Ont.

CHCH is Canada's leader in retro programming and has become Canada's only answer to Antenna TV, Catchy Comedy and MeTV rolled into one package. The problem with their upfronts every year is that the fall lineups don't become officially announced until the fall actually arrives. Until then, they offer just a little taste of what is to come through short video clips that they call "sizzle reels" which are no more than 2 minutes long. In these clips, you get to see what's coming in the primetime hours which I rarely watch but are heavily promoted by the station. The newest show to benefit from this is called "Comedy At 5" which premiered last month and gets mentioned during nearly every commercial break. It's a show about young stand-up comics hoping for their big break, which would be more likely if they were seen on another channel. The retro clips are from shows that are already on and won't end until the fall season starts, shows like "All In The Family", "Charles In Charge", "Coach", and "The Bionic Woman".

In looking for a bigger clue, I turned to their sister station YES TV. Last fall, they had 2 old sitcoms "Mork & Mindy" and "The Middle" premiere at 4:30 and 5:00 pm respectively. This past January, both shows were moved to the graveyard shift at 2:00 and 2:30 am. This fall, that spot will be taken over by "Laverne & Shirley". In their place, and still running today, is "MacGyver" which might have been on CHCH before (I forget) and could be a possibility to land there in the fall once it leaves the YES TV lineup and continues to emphasize CHCH's attraction toward drama series. One drama that should become popular with viewers once it debuts on YES TV this fall will be "Star Trek: The Next Generation", the second TV series from the "Star Trek" empire. It will debut this fall at 5:00 pm. I won't be watching it because I'll still be busy looking for more hints as to what the CHCH fall lineup will actually look like. When I find out, I will post it immediately. One more show that will leave CHCH and head straight to YES TV on weekends will be "Knight Rider". Look for back-to-back episodes Saturdays at 2 and 3 pm. The new lineup is effective as of Monday, August 31.



Tomorrow: Rogers Sports and Media

CHCH

YES TV

YES TV - FALL SCHEDULE - SEPT. 2026

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ROGERS SPORTS AND MEDIA

Yesterday, the upfronts focused on the Rogers TV family of stations, headed by CITY TV and including specialty channels like Bravo Canada, FX, FXX, HGTV, and The Food Network. Rogers is also the home of Rogers Sportsnet, Canada's leading sports network which carries national coverage of MLB and NHL games and the Toronto Blue Jays.

The flagship station CITY TV will enter the fall season highlighted by the return of "The Price Is Right Tonight" starring Howie Mandel entering its second season and the midseason debut of "The Rockford Files", yet another TV reboot starring David Boreanaz as the new Jim Rockford. (The original series can be seen on CHCH TV weekday afternoons at 2:00 pm.) Another new drama series that will debut this fall is "Line Of Fire", about a group of law enforcement agents that fight crimes together for the FBI, Secret Service, and other organizations.

Returning series include Canadian original "Hudson & Rex" about a crime fighter and his dog coming back for Season 8, and popular US imports like the three Chicago drama series, FOX's Animation Domination lineup which will bring back "The Simpsons" again, and the "Law & Order" dramas, including Canada's own "Law & Order: Toronto". These shows can all be streamed on CITY TV+. (As usual, the + means you have to pay for it!)

Next up: Corus Entertainment/Global TV

CITY TV - Press Release

Specialty Channels - Fall Preview

Program List For CITY TV and Specialty Channels

CITY TV+

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CORUS ENTERTAINMENT

Today's upfront comes from the Corus Entertainment group, which includes specialty networks like YTV, Boomerang Canada, Adult Swim, CMT Canada, and Teletoon. Its flagship network is Global TV which announced their schedule this morning. Their new series will include "Eternally Yours", a new horror-comedy about a pair of vampires living in a modern home, from the producers of "Ghosts" which will return to Global in mid-season; "Cupertino", another lawyer show; and "Einstein" where Albert Einstein's great-grandson is hired to solve crimes.

Returning to Global will be the NCIS drama group, which this season will have a new addition "NCIS: New York"; plus popular drama series "Fire Country", "Sheriff Country", "Elsbeth". "Matlock", and the Emmy-winning comedy "Abbott Elementary". That show will also have reruns from previous seasons shown between 7-8 pm.

You can stream their shows on the Global TV website and series from their specialty channels on their paid streaming site Stack TV.

Tomorrow: Bell Media and CTV

CORUS ENTERTAINMENT

Global TV

Global TV Fall Preview + Schedule

Corus Specialty Channels - Fall Highlights

STACK TV