Corus Entertainment has kicked off Canada’s upfront season with the announcement of 35 renewals and greenlights across its factual, animation and kids specialty networks for the 2021/22 season.

The new slate includes the first Corus original at Adult Swim, nine new lifestyle and factual series across HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada and HISTORY – including eight Corus Studios originals – as well as five greenlit projects for kids channels YTV and Treehouse.

“Corus’ ongoing commitment to Canadian content and creators continues with this new wave of greenlights and renewals featuring a diverse mix of original lifestyle, factual, and children’s series, from Corus and its production powerhouses, Corus Studios and Nelvana,” said Colin Bohm, EVP, content and corporate strategies, in a statement. “We are proud to collaborate with our esteemed production partners to advance new formats, tell engaging stories, and champion voices that inspire audiences in Canada and abroad.”

The broadcaster has unveiled four new titles for HGTV Canada, including two from Thunderbird Entertainment-owned factual prodo Great Pacific Media and Corus Studios with Gut Job (8 x 60 minutes; pictured, right), with former athlete Sebastian Clovis helping homeowners demolish and rebuild their dream homes, and Styled (working title; 8 x 60 minutes), which follows the renovation and design work of partners Nicole Babb and Caffery VanHorne.

The other two new series are Trading Up (10 x 60 minutes; Scott Brothers Entertainment/Corus Studios), which features builder Mandy Rennehan renovating three properties in Nova Scotia, and Scott’s Own Vacation House Rules (4 x 60 minutes; McGillivray Entertainment Media/Corus Studios), a spin-off of Scott’s Vacation House Rules, where McGillivray applies his rules to his newly purchased waterfront property.

The six renewed series include season four of the channel’s most-watch series Island of Bryan (16 x 60 minutes separated in two blocks), and the revamped Making It Home with Kortney & Kenny (10 x 60 minutes). Additional renewals include second seasons of Farmhouse Facelift (8 x 60 minutes; Be Collective Media/Corus Studios), Property Brothers: Forever Home (17 x 60 minutes; Scott Brothers Entertainment/Corus Studios), Rock Solid Builds (10 x 60 minutes; Cineflix/Corus Studios) and season three of Scott’s Vacation House Rules (12 x 60 minutes; McGillivray Entertainment Media/Corus Studios).

HISTORY has four new series, including Hungry Eyes Media and Corus Studios’ BLK: An Origin Story, a four-part docuseries on the history of Black Canadians; 8 x 60-minute series Deadman’s Curse (working title; Great Pacific Television/Corus Studios; pictured, left) about a former MMA fighter, a young Indigenous explorer and an experienced treasure hunter seeking a lost gold mine; Lost Cars (6 x 60 minutes; Proper Television/Corus Studios), about a team of classic car hunters looking for finds in the remote North; and 90-minute film Black Liberators WWII (Yap Films), about Black Canadian soldiers in the Second World War. The two renewed series are Big Timber (8 x 60 minutes; EQ Media/Corus Studios) and Rust Valley Restorers (6 x 60 minutes; Mayhem Entertainment/Corus Studios).

Food Network Canada has ordered a spin-off version of Insight Production’s Wall of Chefs, titled Wall of Bakers (10 x 60 minutes), which tests home bakers under the shadow of the nation’s best bakers. The network has renewed seven series, including second seasons of Wall of Chefs (10 x 60 minutes), The Big Bake (11 x 60 minutes; Nikki Ray Media Agency/Corus Studios), Project Bakeover (10 x 60 minutes; eOne/Corus Studios), third seasons of Big Food Bucket List (14 x 30 minutes; Lone Eagle Entertainment/Corus Studios), Fire Masters (20 x 60 minutes in two blocks; Nikki Ray Media Agency/Corus Studios) and Great Chocolate Showdown (8 x 60 minutes; Nikki Ray Media Agency/Corus Studios), and season nine of Carnival Eats (13 x 30 minutes; Alibi Entertainment).

Adult Swim’s Canadian original

In the kids and animation front, Corus will premiere its Canadian original under Adult Swim with Psi Cops (26 x 11 minutes; pictured, right), produced by Wind Sun Sky Entertainment and Oddfellows Labs. The series follows two agents as they investigate paranormal and extraterrestrial phenomena.

YTV will premiere three new series, including Super Wish (52 x 11 minutes), produced by redknot, the joint venture between Nelvana and Discovery. The other series include Best & Bester (52 x 11 minutes; Nelvana/Eye Present/Gigglebug Entertainment) and ZJ Sparkleton (26 x 22 minutes; Nelvana/Nickelodeon). The channel’s renewals include BGM-produced Kid Food Nation: The Show (8 x 11 minutes), Big Fun Movies, The Zone and The Zone Weekend.

Treehouse will premiere new 26 x 22-minute series The Hamster Show (working title; Nelvana/Nickelodeon) as well as 90-minute film Toopy and Binoo: The Movie (Echo Media/Corus Entertainment), based on the original animated series. The channel has also renewed Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe (52 x 11 minutes; redknot) for a second season.