On June 4, theCBC season previewwas held in Toronto, Canada to announce the 2025–2026 programming slate. Hosted by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and Tom Power, the event offered a first look at new and returning series such asThe AssemblyandNorth of North.Small Achievable Goals, Son of a Critch, Running Smoke,This Hour Has 22 Minutes,Locals Welcome,Plan B, Allegiance, andHeartlandare also among the shows set to air during the upcoming broadcast season.
In addition, CBC provides a wide range ofsports coverageand is currently gearing up for the Olympic year. Barb Williams serves as the Executive Vice-President, while Sally Catto is CBC’s General Manager of Entertainment, Factual, & Sports. In a world where linear content has shifted tostreaming services, the two acknowledge the importance of making news and entertainment content available on multiple platforms.
I chatted with Williams and Catto about developing CBC’s 2025–2026 programming slate,North of Northseason 2,The Assembly’sunique format, and what sports fans can expect from the broadcast platform.
North Of North Is Full Of Universal Themes
“I think that they’re very relatable and yet very distinct, and I think those authentic voices and the beauty of the landscape was captured so well.”
ScreenRant: With TV continuing to evolve, what was most important when you were approaching CBC’s 2025–2026 slate?
Barb Williams: That’s a great question because you’re right. We’re in a steady and constant state of evolution from the traditional linear over into the streaming world. So I think from a strategy point of view, there are a few things. One is that we have to recognize that all of our content has to be everywhere. We don’t make stuff just for linear. If it’s going to be on linear, that’s great, but it also needs to be on our streaming channel.
It needs to be on Gem, our streaming platform. It needs to be on one of our fast channels if that’s where it fits. We really know that our audience is all over YouTube, so we’re putting all this content on YouTube now and connected TVs, and wherever they find us. The game is constantly changing. So strategically, we’re thinking about where and how people are finding us and making sure we can get our content out on all those platforms to them.
North of Northwas the most-watched show on CBC Gem, and it has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. What do you think makes it resonate with so many people, and how do you hope that this upcoming season continues the legacy that it’s already creating?
Sally Catto: I think it’s impossible not to fall in love with North of North. I think the unique perspective, of course. You’re really bringing people into a world they have not seen before, and it was really important to the creators and the producers to tell a contemporary story, to tell a story that showcased the humor that you see in indigenous communities that they felt was not really reflected enough. There were universal themes there in terms of “Who am I? What am I going to be? What’s my identity?”
I think that they’re very relatable and yet very distinct, and I think those authentic voices and the beauty of the landscape was captured so well. The attention to detail in that series is remarkable. From the music to the landscape to the wardrobe, to the writers, to the casting—all of it is exquisite. It was a very, very special show for us, and we’re really excited to be able to make a season 2 out of it because it is just being discovered around the world now, and we think season 2 can be even bigger and stronger than season 1.
To jump over to sports, we are heading into an Olympic year, so what can fans expect from CBC in terms of coverage?
Barb Williams: The Olympics is huge for us at CBC. We are the official Olympic network, have been for many Olympics in a row now. We do share some of our Olympic content. It will end up on some of the other broadcast platforms in the country because there’s frankly too much coverage for us to carry all of it ourselves, but we are the home, and it’s just been massive. Paris was a huge, huge success for us.
We now have technology that allows our audiences to track the sports they care most about on Gem, and to be able to pull those sports and watch them uniquely whenever they want. We have complete coverage top to bottom of everything that’s going on, and it’s going to be huge. I think Canadians have come to trust that we tell a unique Canadian Olympic story. We cover the whole Olympics, but we feature Canadian athletes for months and months leading up into the Olympics.
We’re telling the stories of those athletes, we’re profiling them, we’re getting the Canadian public excited about the possibility of winners in certain sports. It’s a really big deal, and we’re really excited to have the Olympics coming. And then, of course, there’s hockey in this Winter Olympics and the NHL players are playing in this Olympics, and that is always a very big deal for Canadians. So that’s going to be a particular feature of this Winter Olympics that we’re excited about.
The Assembly Gives A Platform To Neurodivergent Voices
“They ask unexpected questions that really actually lend themselves to these very meaningful conversations.”
You have such amazing stars set to appear inThe Assembly. What do you think works best about the format of this show?
Sally Catto: The fact that you’re handing over this platform to neurodivergent voices—voices that we haven’t really shined a light on in this way before is really new and important, but I think it’s the fact that they are uncensored. They can ask whatever they want, and they do, and they just cut to the chase.
And they ask unexpected questions that really actually lend themselves to these very meaningful conversations, sometimes funny, sometimes emotional. These celebrities are not asked about their credits or their shows. They’re asked about their life. They’re asked questions that you just would not expect, and it’s very moving and very funny, and we’re really happy to be doing it.
Is there anything else you would like to say to CBC viewers and what they can look forward to as the season comes up?
Barb Williams: All I might add is that we take very, very seriously our responsibility, and it becomes our opportunity too, but our responsibility to really reach out into communities that maybe, as Sally was saying about The Assembly, who have just not had their time on the stage. And for sure, we did that with North of North very, very successfully. The Assembly will do it in its own way.
I think Small Achievable Goals, a little comedy about menopause, is doing it in its own way. That is very funny, it’s got a bit of raunch to it, but it is talking to women about something that every single woman is going to go through, and that has not been talked about publicly ever, and turned it into an opportunity for people to learn something and have a laugh. And I think wherever we, as a public broadcaster can see a community like that that could use a voice, we try to lean in and do it.
And sometimes that’s about a region, whether our show Allegiance that happens out in Surrey, BC, which is a community that’s never really been talked about on TV except when it’s in the news for a bad reason, and we attempt to understand that community through this show, the challenges it faces, as well as the opportunities it has. And so I guess, with this slate, we think we’re doing it again with a whole bunch of new shows and new communities and new voices, and that’s what the public broadcaster is all about. We’re very excited about the new slate coming.
About CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)/Radio Canada
Officially Established In 1936
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country.
Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages: Dëne Sųłıné, Dene Kǝdǝ́, Dene Zhatıé, Eastern Cree, Dinjii Zhuʼ Ginjik, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun and Tłı̨chǫ. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
