MISSISSAUGA, ON — The grand opening of CBS Stages Canada took place Thursday, with local dignitaries, provincial representatives and cast members from CBS-produced television series on hand to take part in the ribbon cutting on the 260,000-square-foot TV and film production facility located west of Toronto in Mississauga, Ont.
Situated on a 12-acre property, the multi-use CBS Stages Canada facility includes six soundstages, production offices, support facilities and auxiliary services for large-scale TV and film production. CBS is the first major US media company to open a branded production entity in Canada.
Among those in attendance for the official ribbon cutting were Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie and Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Representatives from CBS included: Armando Nuñez, president and CEO, CBS Global Distribution Group; David Stapf, president of CBS Television Studios; John Orlando, executive vice-president, global government affairs for CBS Corporation; and John Weber and Frank Siracusa, CBS’s Toronto-based executive producers on Star Trek: Discovery and co-executive producers on In The Dark, who have been in charge of developing and managing the CBS Stages Canada property. The event also included local broadcasters, industry executives, Toronto-based production teams and representatives from Canadian film and television unions.
“CBS is a global company that has had a storied history and broad footprint throughout the provinces, both as a producer and distributor. With the addition of the new studio space, we will be able to diversify and expand in ways that were not previously possible,” Nuñez said, in a news release issued to accompany the facility’s grand opening.
Stapf was quoted as saying: “We’ve been producing premium programming in the province since 2002, and we came to the realization that we not only needed additional production space, but that Mississauga, with its strong production infrastructure and long history of crafts expertise, was the perfect location for our international expansion.”
“I couldn’t be more delighted to be opening the doors to CBS Stages Canada right here in Mississauga,” said Mayor Crombie, in the news release. “As the second busiest filming location in the province, Mississauga is quickly becoming known as ‘Studio City North.’ This new facility will not only bring hundreds of highly skilled jobs to our city but will put us on the international map for film and television.”
The new CBS Stages Canada facility will provide additional production space for CBS Television Studios’ expanding roster of TV programming across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. Currently, CBS Television Studios shoots Star Trek: Discovery and In The Dark in Toronto, in addition to several other productions in Canada, including the reboots of Charmed and Nancy Drew.
According to a CBS fact sheet, daily employment through productions at the new CBS Stages Canada facility will exceed 300 people per day when at capacity. In addition, the facility will create direct local production spending for labour and services of more than $200 million annually, CBS said.
