The CBC has announced that more than 50% of the episodes on five of its new and returning shows, such as Murdoch Mysteries and Workin’ Moms, will be directed by women.

From a total of 65 episodes (across Baroness von Sketch Show, This Life, Heartland, Workin’ Moms and Murdoch Mysteries), 37 of the episodes will be female-directed.

The initiative is part of Women in View’s program 2xMore which aims to increase the number of female directors in scripted Canadian projects from 17% to 35% within two years. On Friday it was announced that applications for the second round of the 2xMore/Sinking Ship Director’s Lab program are now open.

The 18-episode tenth season of Murdoch Mysteries, which is currently in production, will see nine of the episodes being directed by women, including Norma Bailey, Eleanore Lindo, Jill Carter and Lesley Hope. The fifth female director is yet to be confirmed. Heartland, also going into its tenth season, will also see nine of its 18 episodes being directed by women, with Gail Harvey, Norma Bailey and Eleanore Lindo among those confirmed. New seasons of both Heartland and Murdoch will premiere on CBC this fall.

The second season of This Life will see seven of 10 episodes being directed Line Charlebois and Ruba Nadda, while Frantic Films half-hour comedy Baroness von Sketch Show will be directed entirely by Aleysa Young. As well, Workin’ Moms, a 13-part comedy created by and starred in by Catherine Reitman, will see six of its episodes directed by either Reitman or Aleysa Young.