Canadian Crossing

2022 FIFA World Cup preview for Team Canada

Group F 🇧🇪🇨🇦🇲🇦🇭🇷#CANMNT #WeCAN #FinalDraw pic.twitter.com/cypz9cTTx0

— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) April 1, 2022

For the first time since 1986, Canada is relevant in a men's World Cup of football (soccer). Canada is in Group F in Qatar, site of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Canada's opponents in order of appearance are Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco. Canada went 0-3 in games and 0-5 in goals in 1986, the only other World Cup appearance for the men's team.

Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich) and Jonathan David (Lille) led the Canada squad.

Midfield stars include Stephen Eustaquio (FC Porto) and Atiba Huchinson. Hutchinson would be the oldest player ever to play at a World Cup at 39 years, 9 months, and 3 days.

Canada will not be at full strength. Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau fractured his leg while playing for LAFC in the MLS Cup. His team had a better day, pulling off the comeback. Centre back Scott Kennedy suffered a shoulder injury with German club SSV Jahn. Toronto FC centre back Doneil Henry was injured during warmups before a friendly match with Bahrain.

The goalkeepers will be Milan Borjan (Red Star Belgrade) and Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United) along with CF Montréal goalkeeper James Pantemis, who replaces Crepeau.

John Herdman will lead the way as head coach of the Canadian men's national soccer team.

YOUR #CANMNT WORLD CUP SQUAD. 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/Kzq0auPgJw

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 13, 2022

Here is the Canadian schedule:

Date	Opponent	Time	Stadium	City	U.S. TV
November 23	Belgium	2p	Ahmad bin Ali Stadium	Al Rayyan	Fox
November 27	Croatia	11a	Khalifa International Stadium	Al Rayyan	FS1
December 1	Morocco	10a	Al Thumama Stadium	Doha	FS1

Times listed are Eastern time. Qatar time is 8 hours ahead of EST.

CTV and TSN have the coverage in Canada with both outlets carrying the Canadian matches. The Bell Media outlets have extensive pregames for the Canada games and coverage starting 15 minutes before the times listed in the above table.

Fox Sports has the coverage of games in the United States. JP Dellacamera, Cobi Jones, and Geoff Shreeves will have the first Canada match on Fox. Dellacamera and Jones call the other Canada matches on Fox Sports 1. 

The tournament starts tomorrow though Canada won't play until Wednesday.

Toronto, Vancouver in; Edmonton out for FIFA 2026 World Cup host cities

Canada played Morocco in 2016, a friendly game that Morocco won 4–0. The countries played 2 other matches against each other. The only time Canada played Belgium was a friendly game in 1989. Belgium won 2–0. Canada has never played Croatia.

Canada, ranked at 41, is the lowest seed based on October 2022 FIFA rankings in Group F. Belgium is ranked at 2, Croatia is at 12, and Morocco ranks at 22.

Toronto Life has a bandwagon guide for those catching up on football (aka soccer). 

Canada draws Group F for the 2022 World Cup

CanadianCrossing.com soccer coverage

The Canadian women's team in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup learned its opponents: Australia (co-host), Ireland, and Nigeria in Group B.

The women's team has made 8 World Cup appearances since its debut in 1995. The team's best result was 4th in 2003. The women's team is the defending gold medal champions from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Twitter captures: @CanadaSoccerEN; @Sportsnet
photo credit: FIFA

Vassy Kapelos leaves CBC for CTV for Power Play and Question Period

CTV News picked a CBC News person to host Power Play and Question Period in 2015. This time, CTV News hired a current CBC person: Vassy Kapelos, who started on Power & Politics when she joined CBC in March 2018.

Kapelos will replace Evan Solomon, who became the publisher at the online political news outlet Gzero Media in New York City. Solomon had been with Bell Media since 2015 after being fired by the CBC for ethical violations.

Kapelos will also get a 2-hour daily radio show on iHeartRadio Canada Talk Network stations.

So … plot twist? I’m hosting @PnPCBC tonight. We are on for 3 hours to provide special coverage of the US midterm elections. It all starts at 5 eastern on CBC NN.

— David Cochrane (@DavidWCochrane) November 8, 2022

David Cochrane, CBC senior parliamentary reporter, is a good possibility to replace Kapelos. David Common would be another good choice from within CBC. Rosemary Barton, the host before Kapelos, is also a great option. The competition is not limited to those 3 people.

CBC could also bring in former CTV national news anchor Lisa LaFlamme, who were unceremoniously dumped from CTV National News in August. Citytv hired LaFlamme as a special correspondent for the Queen Elizabeth II coverage though that was temporary.

Lisa LaFlamme out as CTV National News anchor

Canadian journalism notebook: Canadian cities losing Monday newspaper editions

Kapelos never seemed like a good fit on CBC since she skews to the right. When Jayme Poisson has Kapelos on Front Burner, their conservative leanings are collectively stronger.

CBC fires Evan Solomon for conflict of interest over art sales

CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage

This might be a move that benefits everyone. Kapelos goes where she will be more comfortable. CBC gets a chance to rethink its political show with a more appropriate host.

photo credit: Bell Media/CTV
Twitter capture: @DavidWCochrane

Lisa LaFlamme out as CTV National News anchor

I have some news... pic.twitter.com/lTe3Rs0kOA

— Lisa LaFlamme (@LisaLaFlamme_) August 15, 2022

Lisa LaFlamme, the CTV chief news anchor and senior editor since September 2011, did not have her contract renewed by the parent company Bell Media. LaFlamme, in a statement in the above video, said she was told this was a "business decision" on June 29. The time between then and yesterday was that she was asked to not talk about the decision until matters were settled.

LaFlamme cited her 35 years of news experience with Bell Media, most of that time with CTV. She started on the national level as a weekend anchor/reporter in 1997 for CTV News Network.

"At 58, I still thought I had a lot more time to tell more of the stories that impact our daily lives." LaFlamme said in the video.

We would normally not give a person's age in a story. LaFlamme mentioned she is 58. The idea of a "business decision" will likely lead to a younger and cheaper replacement at a sacrifice to the news audience at CTV. The experience in covering elections is crucial.

Bell Media was proud of LaFlamme earlier this year for winning her second straight Canadian Screen Award for Best News Anchor, National.

Omar Sachedina, CTV News national affairs correspondent who joined the network in 2009, will be the new top anchor as of September 5.

The Bell Media release language is that LaFlamme is "departing the network." Given that LaFlamme noted "I was blindsided" makes this a one-sided decision.

"Recognizing changing viewer habits, CTV recently advised LaFlamme that it had made the business decision to move its acclaimed news show, CTV National News, and the role of its Chief News Anchor in a different direction."

Who knows what that means in English.

Canadian journalism notebook: CBC News will launch a streaming channel

Canada has been rather remarkable in that the nightly news anchors have been female. Adrienne Arsenault has anchored with Andrew Chang Mondays-Thursdays on The National and will be the solo anchor in the fall. Dawna Freisen has been the Global News anchor since 2010.

I'm at a loss for words. Lisa is among the very best at what she does. I know surprisingly arbitrary decisions can be made in this business but Lisa, you deserve better than this. Way better. https://t.co/VlpseimCbk

— Ian Hanomansing (@ianhanomansing) August 15, 2022

Lloyd Robertson had been co-anchoring (1976-1984) or anchoring (1984-2011) the CTV nightly news for a very long time. He anchored The National on CBC from 1970-1976. There was a significant transition time between Robertson and LaFlamme.

Tim and Sid as well as Jay and Dan are separating

Bell Media and Rogers (owners of CityTV, which doesn't have a national newscast) have gone back and forth laying off sports personalities on TV and radio during the pandemic as "business decisions."

This decision feels worse in that news is more important than sports (sorry, sports fans) and that credibility is really important in news delivery.

Canada will join U.S. in having two nightly female anchors

CanadianCrossing.com CTV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage

CBC News gave Wendy Mesley a Sunday morning show before she bounced out of her journalism career. That could be a good spot for LaFlamme at CBC.

We would watch CBC over CTV in Canada yet recognising that LaFlamme was very good at her job. CBC or even Global would be smart to hire LaFlamme in some role. If CityTV wants to run a national newscast, which is doubtful, she would be a good choice.

Editor's note: Canadaland weighed on this story. Worth reading. 

Twitter captures: @LisaLaFlamme_; @ianhanomansing
photo credit: CTV News

2022 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

While CBC carries more Canadian TV shows than the 3 Canadian private networks combined, we are curious what CTV, Global, and Citytv have for the upcoming 2022-2023 TV schedule.

CTV/Bell Media

Sullivan’s Crossing is coming to CTV. Morgan Kohan is the lead along with American actors Chad Michael Murray and Scott Patterson. The cast features Canadian actors Tom Jackson, Andrea Menard, Amalia Williamson, Lynda Boyd, and Allan Hawco. The latter two actors worked together in Republic of Doyle. The series will shoot in Nova Scotia.

Shelved is a single-camera, workplace comedy set in the Jameson Public Library in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood. Think 1300 block of Queen Street West (west of BMO Field). I did spend some time at a a different Toronto library in 2016. That was a really nice location. Also, waiting for the headline once this show ends that says, "Shelved is shelved."

Sight Unseen is about a former homicide detective who has lost her vision. She meets a professional seeing-eye guide through a visual assistance app. They try to solve crimes.

The Spencer Sisters is about Darby Spencer, who quits her job as a police officer, and her mystery novelist mother Joan teaming up to solve crimes.

Little Bird is on Crave, not CTV, but sounds fascinating. Bezhig Little Bird is removed from her home in Long Pine Reserve in Saskatchewan and adopted into a Montréal Jewish family at the age of 5, becoming Esther Rosenblum. She goes back to her roots to discover who she is. Jennifer Podemski is the showrunner.

We don't normally talk about unscripted shows but a couple of notable shows are worth mentioning. Battle of the Generations is a game show featuring different generations (Baby Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z) for how much they know about all the generations. This is notable given Family Feud Canada and watching old Talk About episodes and why there aren't more Canadian game shows.

Farming For Love features 5 Canadians "searching for their soulmates open up their farms – and their hearts – to a select group of urban singles." We love farmers and they deserve love. Like most unscripted shows, this feels like more about humiliation than love.

Bell Media renewals of note include Children Ruin Everything (Season 2), Transplant (Season 3), Surrealestate (Season 2 CTV Sci-Fi Channel), Letterkenny (Season 12 though Season 11 hasn't aired), and Mary Makes It Easy (Season 2) with Mary Berg, which might end up on the Food Network in the United States.

The press release notes an 1-hour Jann holiday special. Season 3 aired in Canada but is still not on Hulu in the United States.

2022 CBC television upfront preview

2021 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

Global/Corus

We already know about Family Law with Jewel Staite and Victor Garber. Season 2 will air this fall on Global while Season 1 airs in the U.S. on the CW this fall. The show is shooting Season 3 in Vancouver.

Global will also have Season 3 of the Canada/Ireland co-production Departure. The show featured the late Christopher Plummer. The show runs in the United States on Peacock.

Robyn Hood, a modern adaptation of the classic Robin Hood story, comes from filmmaker Director X and Boat Rocker. The show will shoot this summer in the Toronto and Hamilton areas.

The Global release didn't mention a Season 3 for Nurses. The show ran 2 seasons on Global. NBC carried Season 1 in the United States.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Citytv/Rogers

Citytv is known for Hudson & Rex, its only scripted Canadian TV show on the network.

Season 5 arrives this fall with a 2-episode arc in Northern Ontario. The show normally shoots in St. John's, Newfoundland. The drama runs Sunday nights at 8 pm ET/PT.

Citytv has a new drama called Wong & Winchester, a female-driven buddy detective procedural, debuting in the winter. The partnership is unlikely (Pretty Hard Cases?) with Marissa Wong (Grace Lynn Kung) and Sarah Winchester (Sofia Banzhaf).

The cast also includes Joe Cobden and Anthony Lemke.

We have a soft spot for Grace Lynn Kung. Kung has been in so many Canadian TV shows: Mary Kills People, Sort Of, Transplant, Frankie Drake Mysteries.

Are show titles required to have an ampersand to be on Citytv?

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

The TV-eh.com Web site is a great resource on Canadian TV. We like promoting them because they are such a valuable resource on this topic. There is no relationship of any kind; we are just generous.

Please let us know any corrections or updates to this list.

photo credit: Children Ruin Everything/CTV

Canadian TV notebook: CW picks up Season 1 of the Global TV series Family Law

Editor's note: This story has been updated with the date for the BET+ debut of The Porter.

The CW network in the United States has picked up Season 1 of the Global TV series Family Law. The 10-episode Season 1 does not have a start date.

The Canadian show premiered in Italy even before the show aired in Canada. The Nine Network carries the series in Australia.

Jewel Staite stars as lawyer and recovering alcoholic Abigail Bianchi. The premise is that she has to work at her estranged father Harry’s (Victor Garber) law firm as a condition of her probation. She also has to form relationships with her half-siblings (Zach Smadu and Genelle Williams).

Staite was the star of the not-so-great Canadian film A Frosty Affair and the much better Canadian film How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town.

Garber has a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Lead Actor, Drama Series for Family Law.

CW had carried Burden of Truth so the show could fit into a late spring or summer timeslot. The U.S. network also carries Coroner (CBC) and did carry CBC shows Trickster and Fridge Wars.

There have been Global shows that aired in the United States. Ion television carried the first 2 seasons of Private Eyes (5 seasons on Global) and Lifetime television carried the first 2 seasons of Mary Kills People. Hulu doesn't even have the final season of the show.

2021 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

Trickster coming to the U.S. on the CW in January

Transplant fans are used to subtitles with Bash (Hamza Haq) and other characters speaking in Arabic. In Season 2, Episode 3 (Sever), we heard the French language.

Dr. Mags Leblanc (Laurence Leboeuf) had a scene where she joins her sister Camille (Mylène Mackay) for lunch. They speak in French and English in the scene. Leboeuf crosses over easily from French to English and Canada and the United States.

Anglophones watching Transplant on CTV and NBC may not have known Mags is fluent in French. As we've noted, French speaking actors are more likely to cross over to English in Canada. Leboeuf has also worked in Montréal on the English language show 19-2. Even though Transplant is set in Toronto, the show is actually filmed in Montréal.

Leboeuf played one of the many Tremblays in French Immersion, a Canadian film co-written and directed by Kevin Tierney (Jacob Tierney's father). The elder Tierney also co-wrote and produced Bon Cop, Bad Cop, another film that plays on the French-English divide.

Letterkenny is one of the few anglophone shows that acknowledges French Canada. Jared Keeso, who co-created the show with Jacob Tierney, also starred on 19-2.

Mackay was the lead in Nelly.

Transplant Season 2 airs on CTV and NBC.

Canadian TV notebook: Transplant Season 2 debuts Sunday on NBC

Bilingual Canadian actors tend to flow from French to English

Ion Plus, a streaming service of sorts, may be a good resource for Canadian TV shows. According to the Wikipedia listing, Ion Plus "linear broadcast is found on Samsung TV Plus and Vizio WatchFree without advertisements."

The channel has Murdoch Mysteries, Hudson & Rex, Saving Hope, and Private Eyes.

The problem is that you have to know when the show is on; these programs are not available on demand. Unless we did something wrong. We consider ourselves to be reasonably technically aware and are confused by how this works.

If we can figure this out, we will update this story. If Ion Plus makes sense to you, let us know in the comments.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

The Porter will debut in the United States on BET+ on May 5. We wondered back in March as to when the show would arrive on the U.S. streaming service.

Season 1 has been running on CBC since February 21. The Season 1 finale airs next Monday (April 11) at 9 pm local time on CBC.

Canadians can catch up on past episodes through CBC Gem. There are 8 episodes in Season 1.

We saw the first episode and found the show gripping and well told.

photo credit: Family Law/Global

Canadian TV notebook: Transplant Season 2 debuts Sunday on NBC

Season 2 of Transplant starts up on NBC starting Sunday at 10 pm Eastern. Season 2 of Transplant is currently running on CTV with 8 episodes aired so far. Transplant runs on CTV on Tuesday nights at 10 pm Eastern.

CTV did a sim sub in Season 1 when the program aired on NBC. That sim sub later moved to CTV2. A sim sub may not be practical for Season 2.

The show did surprisingly well in the United States, ranking as the #2 new drama in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Transplant is nominated once again for Best Drama Series at the Canadian Screen Awards, one of 9 nominations for the show. Hamza Haq (Best Lead Actor, Drama Series), Laurence Leboeuf (Best Lead Actress, Drama Series), and Ayisha Issa (Best Supporting Actress, Drama) were nominated in individual acting categories. The show and Haq won awards for Season 1.

Transplant has been renewed for Season 3 on CTV and NBC.

2022 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

Sort Of will be back for Season 2 on CBC and HBO Max. Season 1 was some of the best television we have seen in some time. Intrinsic characters and interaction. Children who didn't behave like TV children often do.

The 8 episodes in Season 1 left us wanting more about Sabi (Bilal Baig). Will Bessy (Grace Lynn Kung) be back to where she was before the accident? Will Sabi get to Berlin even just to visit?

The Toronto International Film Festival ran Season 1 episodes as a preview. CBC Gem had the episodes streaming before they even aired on Canadian TV. We will be curious if Season 2 runs relatively normal (by 2022 standards).

Sort Of received 13 Canadian Screen Awards nominations, including Best Comedy. Still stunned that there are no individual acting nominees.

Canadian TV notebook: Sort Of makes its CBC television debut

You might have seen Mary Berg on Mary Makes It Easy on the Food Network in the United States. If you have seen her before, that was likely on Season 3 of MasterChef Canada, which Berg won.

The Food Network is running episodes of Mary Makes It Easy on Saturdays at noon Eastern.

Your humble narrator surprised himself by watching more of MasterChef Canada because of Berg's charm.

In Mary Makes It Easy, Berg presents dishes as if they are easy. Novice and even decent cooks might need to tape the show and pause quite often because she goes very fast. She also has a knack of shortening words such as "parm" for parmesan.

Berg's relates well to cooks who want to learn. The show is good entertainment even if you aren't much into cooking.

One year after Fox acquires Diggstown rights, unknown when episodes will air

Missed the premiere? Stream it free on CBC Gem and see what everyone's talking about!

— The Porter (@ThePorterSeries) February 24, 2022

The Porter is off to a good start from all the reports we have seen. The series covers the world of Black porters on train lines from Chicago to Toronto to Montréal. Oscar Peterson’s father was a porter.

Got a chance to see the pilot episode. Wow. The story is intensive but very well done. As my friend Leroy pointed out, really nice production. He is definitely correct. Ronnie Rowe Jr., who was tremendous in Black Cop, is really good here. Always good to see Kevin Hanchard in the production.

The program is also a BET+ production. The issue is finding out what shows BET+ currently carries. A free trial might be worthy if we knew The Porter was currently running. If nothing else, you can take a free trial to see Diggstown since Fox isn't in a hurry to show the program to the U.S. audience.

Black History Month came and went quickly since somehow the shortest month (February) is attached to Black history. We should learn about that year round. Help us out BET+: we might even buy in for a month if we know what we can watch.

Canadians can catch up on The Porter on CBC Gem.

The Black Academy will have an awards show on CBC in 2022

Tom Power Q interview with Alfre Woodard on The Porter (CBC Radio One)

2022 CBC television winter preview

Got a chance to see the debut of Children Ruin Everything, running on CTV Wednesdays at 8 pm. Loved seeing Nazneen Contractor and Lisa Codrington work well against previous casting and Ennis Esmer in that great supporting role where he excels.

A pilot episode is such a rough way to judge a TV show. I would say closer to Run the Burbs than Strays. Meaghan Rath and Aaron Abrams are good as the parents and the children aren't annoying. Worth trying out from our perspective, especially if you are parents with children.

Children Ruin Everything has been renewed for Season 2 and the Roku Channel will pick up both seasons.

Canadians can stream CTV shows through the CTV Web site.

Got an opportunity to see the Son of a Critch debut. Promising. The public broadcaster said Son of a Critch scored its highest rating for a comedy premiere since the Kim’s Convenience debut in October 2016. That CBC show has also been renewed for Season 2.

Son of a Critch has a deal with Lionsgate for U.S. and international distribution rights. Netflix would be a nice landing spot, given that the streaming service carries fellow Newfoundland show Republic of Doyle.

Run the Burbs also renewed for Season 2.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

Brioux.tv is a good source of Canadian TV information. The Web site reported that Murdoch Mysteries is now Canada's longest running hour-long drama, beating out Heartland in number of episodes. Murdoch Mysteries aired its 233nd episode Monday night. Heartland has 232 episodes.

The key is hour-long drama. The Beachcombers, a 30-minute program, ran on CBC from 1972-1990 with 19 seasons and 387 episodes.

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

We love the folks at tv-eh.com and read them often. They used to have podcasts every so often. This particular break has been quite long. The newest podcast talks about season renewals for Transplant and Sort Of, among other topics.

photo credits: Transplant; Sort Of
Twitter capture: @ThePorterSeries
video credit: The Porter/CBC

2022 MLS Canadian teams preview

The 2022 MLS season will be notable in Canada because the Canadian MLS teams get to play all of their home games in Canada. The 2020 and 2021 seasons were filled with "home" games on U.S. soil from Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, Oregon, and Utah.

Wilfried Nancy is the senior coach of the MLS Canadian teams, having served as the coach for CF Montréal in 2021.

Vanni Sartini took over the Vancouver Whitecaps on August 27, going 7-5-3 in the regular season.

Bob Bradley, father of captain Michael Bradley, is the new Toronto FC head coach. The senior Bradley was the initial coach of Los Angeles FC and served as the coach from 2018-2021.

Been a long time since a Toronto FC squad didn't have Jozy Altidore. Altidore is now with the New England Revolution after a buyout. Justin Morrow retired from MLS soccer.

Lorenzo Insigne is the most popular MLS offseason signing. The Italy national team starter won't get to Toronto until July on a free transfer. Insigne will be a viable 31 years old when he arrives.

Carlos Salcedo is another huge pickup for Toronto FC after being away from the MLS for 7 years. Salcedo is only 28.

CF Montréal will be glad to have Alistair Johnston on defence after acquiring Johnston from Nashville SC for $1 million in General Allocation Money.

Vancouver got a new right-sided centre back in Tristan Blackmon via Charlotte and ultimately LAFC.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC eliminated from 2021 MLS playoffs

2021 MLS playoffs preview: Vancouver Whitecaps FC as the #6 seed

Vancouver scored 1 playoff goal while CF Montréal barely missed the playoffs. Toronto FC didn't come close to the 2021 MLS playoffs.

Toronto FC, CF Montreal get to cross back into Canada

ABC and ESPN released their full schedules. Fox and Fox Sports 1 gave a press release but not a full schedule.

The Canadian MLS teams in 2021 did not appear on U.S. television, English or Spanish, in the regular season.

TSN will carry Toronto FC and Vancouver FC matches as well as 16 CF Montréal contests. TVA Sports will carry all CF Montréal matches en Francaise.

CTV will simulcast the TSN feed on Saturday (Sunday for May 8) telecasts this spring:

March 19 DC United @ Toronto FC, 3 pm
April 2 NYCFC @ Toronto FC, 4 pm
April 16 Vancouver @ CF Montréal, 3 pm
April 23 CF Montréal @ Philadelphia, 3 pm
April 30 Cincinnati @ Toronto FC, 3 pm
May 8 Toronto FC @ Vancouver FC, 4 pm
May 14 Orlando SC @ Toronto FC, 3 pm
May 21 Toronto FC @ DC United, 4 pm

ESPN+ will carry all English language feeds. This is where we note that ESPN+ carries the MLB, CFL, and NHL.

CanadianCrossing.com soccer coverage

Vancouver starts out the season in Columbus this afternoon. Toronto FC is in Dallas today. CF Montréal is in Orlando on Sunday.

The Canadian teams open their home schedule on March 5. Toronto FC has its home opener against the New York Red Bulls at BMO Field. CF Montréal opens its home schedule against Philadelphia at Olympic Stadium. The Stade Saputo schedule starts in April. Vancouver Whitecaps FC host New York City FC at BC Place. 

Charlotte FC is the newest expansion team. Nashville SC moves to the Western Conference.

logos credits: individual teams/MLS

2022 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

The loss of Schitt's Creek and the classification of Pretty Hard Cases as a comedy has changed the dynamic for the Canadian television nominations for the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards.

Letterkenny got more acting nominations as a result with Jared Keeso being joined by Lisa Codrington and Kaniehtiio Horn, both up for Best Supporting Actress, Comedy.

Karen Robinson and Amanda Brugel are repeat nominees with different shows, now on Pretty Hard Cases. Peter Keleghan and Jann Arden have drama and comedy nominations.

This is the last run for Kim's Convenience, Private Eyes, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Burden of Truth, and Wynonna Earp.

Comedy

Best Comedy Series
Jann (CTV)
Kim's Convenience (CBC)
Letterkenny (Crave)
Sort Of (CBC)
Strays (CBC)

Best Lead Actor, Comedy
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Kim's Convenience
Simu Liu Kim's Convenience
Jared Keeso Letterkenny
Darryl Hinds Overlord and the Underwoods
Jason Priestley Private Eyes

Best Lead Actress, Comedy
Jann Arden Jann
Jean Yoon Kim's Convenience
Andrea Bang Kim's Convenience
Meredith MacNeill Pretty Hard Cases
Dani Kind Workin' Moms

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy
Andrew Phung Kim's Convenience
Al Mukadam Pretty Hard Cases
Jonathan Torrens Vollies
Ryan Belleville Workin' Moms
Peter Keleghan Workin' Moms

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy
Lisa Codrington Letterkenny
Kaniehtiio Horn Letterkenny
Jayne Eastwood Overlord and the Underwoods
Karen Robinson Pretty Hard Cases
Enuka Okuma Workin' Moms

Best Guest Performance, Comedy
Michael Bublé Jann
Ben Beauchemin Kim's Convenience
Tricia Black Pretty Hard Cases
Amanda Brugel Pretty Hard Cases
Kim Coates Pretty Hard Cases

A thinner year for comedy, but Strays as one of the 5 best comedies in Canada. Really??

That said, Sort Of was everything Strays was not. Bilal Baig should have been nominated for an acting award. The awards are split by gender. Well, that door needs to be open sooner or later.

Drama

Best Drama Series
Coroner (CBC)
Moonshine (CBC)
The North Water (Super Channel)
Transplant (CTV)
Vikings (History)

Best Lead Actor, Drama Series
Peter Mooney Burden of Truth
Roger Cross Coroner
Victor Garber Family Law
Yannick Bisson Murdoch Mysteries
Hamza Haq Transplant

Best Lead Actress, Drama Series
Kristin Kreuk Burden of Truth
Serinda Swan Coroner
Vinessa Antoine Diggstown
Laurence Leboeuf Transplant
Melanie Scrofano Wynonna Earp

Best Supporting Actor, Drama
Meegwun Fairbrother Burden of Truth
Mpho Koaho Diggstown
Kevin Hanchard Hudson & Rex
Peter MacNeill Moonshine
Tim Rozon Wynonna Earp

Best Supporting Actress, Drama
Natasha Henstridge Diggstown
Rebecca Liddiard Frankie Drake Mysteries
Emma Hunter Moonshine
Ayisha Issa Transplant
Tamara Podemski Unsettled

Best Guest Performance, Drama Series
Tamara Podemski Coroner
Jully Black Diggstown
Wendy Crewson Frankie Drake Mysteries
Peter Keleghan Murdoch Mysteries
Jann Arden Wynonna Earp

Tamara Podemski left Coroner for Unsettled and remained in the same category. Podemski also got nominated for her brief time on Coroner.

Murdoch Mysteries filled in some of the gaps in the major categories.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Canadian Screen Week will take place April 4-10. The Sunday night televised event returns to CBC and CBC Gem on April 10.

Click below to access Canadian film and the overview.

Overview Canadian television Canadian film

photo credits: Sort Of; Transplant

2021 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

We don't spend much time on the upfronts from CTV, Global, and Citytv because most of the programming is American or Canadian copies of American shows. The announcements come with shows on the over-the-air networks as well as their cable channels.

We have also noted that most Americans can't get a CTV signal, even on cable. Buffalo and Bellingham, WA are grand exceptions.

Transplant (CTV) and Nurses (Global) — Canadian dramas on U.S. television — will have a Season 2. NBC will carry Transplant and we're waiting on the status of Nurses on the U.S. network. The latter show had a problematic episode in Season 1.

Let's look at some of the intriguing tidbits from the upfronts:

CTV/Bell Media

Jann has also been renewed, hoping that ends up on Hulu in the United States. Letterkenny is shooting the next 2 seasons and there is a spinoff Shoresy.

Surrealestate, which we wrote about last month, will run on Syfy in the United States and CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada.

Children Ruin Everything covers the world of parents and their 2 young children and the struggles of juggling all of that chaos. The show has 8 episodes and stars Meaghan Rath, Aaron Abrams, Ennis Esmer, and Nazneen Contractor.

Corner Gas Animated will have its fourth and final season on the CTV Comedy Channel starting July 5. Season 4 will have 13 episodes.

Global/Corus

Family Law is a new Canadian drama starring Jewel Staite as a recovering alcoholic lawyer forced to work for her estranged father (Victor Garber). The show also features Zach Smadu and Genelle Williams as her half-siblings.

Departure will be back for Season 2. This includes the late Christopher Plummer, who filmed his scenes before his death in February. Departure is a British-Canadian co-production with English actor Archie Panjabi, Plummer, and Kris Holden-Ried. The show airs on Peacock in the United States.

Canadians can watch Season 2 of Nurses with 10 new episodes starting June 21. Season 5, the final season, of Private Eyes starts July 7. The adventures of Matt Shade (Jason Priestley) and Angie Everett (Cindy Sampson) are sadly coming to a close. Seasons 1-2 aired on Ion television in the United States but the U.S. cable channel or anyone else hasn't aired any new episodes.

Citytv/Rogers

Hudson & Rex is an example that not every Canadian TV show makes a way to the U.S. What little I know about the show is that there is a German shepherd, the show is shot in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the cast includes John Reardon, Mayko Nguyen, Kevin Hanchard, and Justin Kelly. The show is shooting Season 4 this summer.

Canadian presence on 2021 U.S. TV upfronts

2021 CBC television upfront preview

The Canadian upfronts don't focus as much on specific schedules with simsubs at play. There is also the issue where what counts as Canadian programming in terms of the CRTC is rather lenient. Having a majority U.S. show lineup isn't as much of an issue as simply having more Canadian TV shows on the private networks.

The private networks are skirting the rules but not violating the rules.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Our critiques of CBC running British seat fillers is the same concept: run more Canadian TV on Canadian television.

photo credit: Departure TV show

2021 MLS preview

The 2020 Major League Soccer (MLS) season had the Canadian teams start out "normal" before the COVID-19 pandemic. Each Canadian MLS team had a home game before the shutdown and then 3 home games on Canadian soil in September. Otherwise, they were wandering nomads in the U.S. desert.

Vancouver even had to play Portland in a "home game" in Portland.

2021 still has the Canadian teams in the United States. Toronto FC will start the 2021 season playing home matches in Orlando.

The Reds were in East Hartford, Connecticut as their U.S. base following the brief trip on Canadian soil. Like the Toronto Blue Jays, the logic of playing in Florida in the spring makes a lot of sense. The team might be back in East Hartford, Connecticut later in the season if not BMO Field in Toronto.

CF Montréal is playing at the Inter Miami CF stadium in Fort Lauderdale after playing in Harrison, NJ last season. Montréal got a home game at Olympic Stadium before the pandemic and 3 at Stade Saputo in the late summer.

Vancouver will establish a base at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah outside Salt Lake City as a base until the team can get back to BC Place.

The Montréal Impact have rebranded as Club de Foot Montréal, or CF Montréal. CF Montréal has a new logo as well as part of the rebranding.

Wilfried Nancy, an assistant coach with the team since 2016, takes over for Thierry Henry, who left after a single season. Henry was mentioned in the rumour mills to leave to coach Bournemouth.

While that team decided to retain its interim manager, Henry then left CF Montréal for family reasons.

Henry's single season for Montréal led to a 8-13-2 record and a playoff game, the first for the team since 2016.

Toronto FC, Montreal Impact gone from 2020 MLS Playoffs

Chris Armas is the new Toronto FC coach. Armas replaces Greg Vanney, who resigned. Vanney is now the coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Armas was the New York Red Bulls head coach for slightly over 2 years from 2018-2020.

Vanney took over Toronto FC in August 2014, the team's 9th coach in 8 years. He provided a much needed stability and brought success to the team. Vanney finished his Toronto career with a regular-season record of 87-68-48. The team went to 3 MLS Cups in his tenure: 2016, 2017, and 2019 winning the title in 2017.

The Reds qualified for the playoffs under Vanney in all but one of his 6 full seasons.

2017 was a stellar year for Vanney: MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield, and the Canadian Championship.

This makes Marc Dos Santos the longest running coach of a Canadian MLS team. Santos has been in charge of the Vancouver Whitecaps since November 7, 2018. The Whitecaps haven't made the MLS playoffs since 2017.

2020 MLS playoffs preview

Toronto, Montreal make 2020 MLS playoffs

2020 MLS preview

Montréal "hosts" Toronto to start the MLS season on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale. Vancouver hosts Portland in Utah on Sunday. The Toronto "home" opener in Orlando will be next Saturday against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

CanadianCrossing.com soccer coverage

The only U.S. TV appearances for the Canadian MLS teams in 2020 came as a result of the Orlando tournament. The COVID-19 pandemic took out the spring TV schedule for CTV in 2020.

None of the English and Spanish channels in the U.S. have any telecasts with Canadian teams, again. Ugh.

TSN will carry Toronto FC and Vancouver FC matches as well as select CF Montréal contests. TVA Sports will carry all CF Montréal matches en Francaise.

CTV will simulcast the TSN feed on Saturday telecasts this spring:

April 17 Toronto FC @ CF Montréal, 2 pm
April 24 Vancouver FC @ Toronto, 3 pm
May 1 Columbus @ CF Montréal, 3 pm
May 8 CF Montréal @ Vancouver FC, 3 pm
May 15 Toronto FC @ New York City FC, 1 pm
May 22 Cincinnati @ CF Montréal, 1 pm
May 29 Toronto FC @ Columbus, 3 pm

All games are available on ESPN+. Once (if) the CFL resumes, ESPN+ is a better acquisition for your humble narrator.

MLS Canadian teams playoffs results

Year	Date	Teams	Winner	Score
2020	November 24	Nashville @ Toronto	Nashville	1-0 (ET)
2020	November 20	Montréal @ New England	New England	2-1
2019	November 10	Toronto @ Seattle	Seattle	3-1
2019	October 30	Toronto @ Atlanta	Toronto	2-1
2019	October 23	Toronto @ New York City FC	Toronto	2-1
2019	October 19	D.C. United @ Toronto	Toronto	5-1 (ET)
2017	December 9	Seattle @ Toronto	Toronto	2-0
2017	November 29	Columbus @ Toronto	Toronto	1-0
2017	November 21	Toronto @ Columbus	Tie	0-0
2017	November 5	New York Red Bulls @ Toronto	NY Red Bulls	1-0
2017	November 2	Vancouver @ Seattle	Seattle	2-0
2017	October 30	Toronto @ New York Red Bulls	Toronto	2-1
2017	October 29	Seattle @ Vancouver	Tie	0-0
2017	October 25	San Jose @ Vancouver	Vancouver	5-0
2016	December 10	Seattle @ Toronto FC	Seattle	0-0 (5-4 PK)
2016	November 30	Montréal @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	5-2 (ET)
2016	November 22	Toronto FC @ Montréal	Montréal	3-2
2016	November 6	Montréal @ New York Red Bulls	Montréal	2-1
2016	November 6	Toronto FC @ NYCFC	Toronto FC	5-0
2016	October 30	NYCFC @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	2-0
2016	October 30	New York Red Bulls @ Montréal	Montréal	1-0
2016	October 27	Montréal @ D.C. United	Montréal	4-2
2016	October 26	Philadelphia @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	3-1
2015	November 8	Portland @ Vancouver	Portland	2-0
2015	November 8	Montréal @ Columbus	Columbus	3-1 (ET)
2015	November 1	Vancouver @ Portland	Tie	0-0
2015	November 1	Columbus @ Montréal	Montréal	2-1
2015	October 29	Toronto FC @ Montréal	Montréal	3-0
2014	October 29	Vancouver @ Dallas	Dallas	2-1
2013	October 31	Montréal @ Houston	Houston	3-0
2012	November 1	Vancouver @ LA Galaxy	LA Galaxy	2-1

logo credits: MLS