CBC orders trio of new dramas, four comedies for 2026/27 season

Allegiance is returning to CBC for a fourth season

Canada’s CBC has unveiled more than 50 new and returning series for its 2026/27 programming slate, including four new comedies and a trio of dramas from producers including Sphere Media, Lionsgate Canada and New Metric Media.

On the drama side, the pubcaster has commissioned Cold Country (6×60’, Sphere Media), Junior (8×60’, Conquering Lion Pictures, Heavy Lifting Productions, Lionsgate Canada) and Blessed Sacrament (10×60’, Sphere Media, Debut Content).

Created by Kyle Hart and inspired by the real-life experiences of PK Subban, Junior follows a 16-year-old black ice hockey player who leaves home to chase his NHL dream in the ruthless world of junior hockey.

The project is executive produced by Damon D’Oliveira and Clement Virgo (Conquering Lion Pictures), Michael Rotenberg and Trevor Rotenberg (Heavy Lifting Productions), Jocelyn Hamilton and Kerry Appleyard (Lionsgate Canada) and Subban. Lionsgate Canada is distributing internationally.

Blessed Sacrament, which comes from creator, showrunner, executive producer and star Kathleen Robertson, follows three sisters working at the hospital that is their family’s legacy, under the watchful eye of their formidable mother, hospital CEO Margaret.

Created by Shane Belcourt and Tasha Hubbard, who also executive produce alongside director Danis Goulet, Cold Country is a limited drama commissioned by CBC with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. It stars Sarah Podemski, Chaske Spencer and Michael Greyeyes. Plot details remain under wraps.

On the comedy front, CBC has greenlit half-hour workplace comedy The Ambassador (10×30’, Amaze Film & Television), Canada/Norway coproduction The Posse (8×30’, New Metric Media, Rubicon TV), dramedy The Service (8×30’, Sphere Media) and Committed (Cameron Pictures, Fabel Productions), a previously announced commission with BBC Northern Ireland.

The Ambassador comes from showrunner Tim McAuliffe (The Office, Last Man on Earth, Son of a Critch), who executive produces alongside Teza Lawrence and Michael Souther. It stars Samantha Bee and Allana Harkin as unconventional Canadian diplomats navigating chaos, politics and international dealmaking at an underfunded embassy in Bulgaria.

The Posse, created by Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Torgersen (Norsemen, Captain Fall), is executive produced by New Metric’s Mark Montefiore and Rubicon TV’s Ivar Køhn. Set in the 1800s, the series follows a spoiled Norwegian heir and his reluctant underlings as a research trip to the Wild West spirals into a cross-country escape towards Vancouver, with the law in pursuit and a dubious Canadian guide leading the way. New Metric is handling worldwide distribution.

CBC has also commissioned The Service, described as a “dramedy set in the world of Canadian espionage, where national security collides with office politics, prickly egos and decidedly unglamorous tradecraft.” Aubrey Nealon (Cardinal, Snowpiercer) is creator, showrunner and executive producer.

Scripted dramas Allegiance (Lark Productions, season four), Heartland (Dynamo Films, Seven24 Films, S20), Murdoch Mysteries (Shaftesbury, S20), Saint-Pierre (Hawco Productions, S3) and Wild Cards (Blink49 Studios, Front Street Pictures, Piller/Segan, S4) were all renewed, alongside previously announced renewals North of North (Red Marrow Media, Northwood Entertainment, S2) and Son of a Critch (Project 10 Productions, Hawco Productions, S5).

Renewals on the factual side went to The Assembly (Small Army Entertainment, S2), Dragons’ Den (S21), Family Feud Canada (Zone 3/Fremantle, S8), The Great Canadian Baking Show (Blue Ant Studios, S10), Must Love Dogs (Omnifilm Entertainment, S2) and Still Standing (Frantic Films, S12).

Menopause comedy Small Achievable Goals was cancelled after its second season, while a decision has not yet been made on Plan B, the English-language adaptation of the French-Canadian series of the same name.

CBC also revealed six newly greenlit docuseries: Doula: A True Crime (Muse Entertainment, 3×60’), which explores the fallout after an Ontario woman allegedly deceived dozens of doulas with fabricated stories of pregnancy loss; Barnburners (Omnifilm Entertainment, 10×30’), following the rivalries, personalities and small-town drama of Saskatchewan’s Big Six senior hockey league; Burger Month (Cream Productions, 4×60’), about a month-long burger competition that fuels major rivalries among local restaurants; and Power Play (Blink49 Studios, 5×60’), a behind-the-scenes look at the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s 2026/27 season.

The new factual slate also includes Snow King: From Olympian to Narco (Visitor Media, 3×60’), tracing former Olympian Ryan Wedding’s alleged transformation into an international drug kingpin, and Running Smoke (Muse Entertainment, in association with Campside Media, 3×60’), examining NASCAR driver Derek White’s legal battle following one of North America’s largest tobacco-smuggling busts.

On the kids front, CBC has greenlit Butterfly Academy (26×11’, CarpeDiem Film & TV, AgentDouble Productions), On Track with Andre De Grasse (10×5’, Windy Isle Entertainment), Cool Indigenous Stuff (13×6’, Kejic Media), Clifford the Big Red Dog (26×22’, 9 Story Media Group and Brown Bag Films for CBC, PBS Kids and Sky Kids) and Little Margo Stories (50×30’, Lightcatcher Media for CBC and Disney Jr).

Elsewhere, the Canadian pubcaster has acquired the BBC’s Lord of the Flies (4×60’) TV adaptation, as well as Channel 4 travelogue A Very Modern Odyssey (4×60’) and Canadian documentary You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution.