Summary

• Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent is the latest spinoff in the franchise, set entirely in Canada's largest city.
• The show will feature a star-studded Canadian cast and is scheduled for a spring 2024 release.
• While it's unlikely that existing Law & Order characters will have major roles, guest appearances or cameos are possible. The show will focus on real-life events, potentially adopting a true-crime style.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, the latest spinoff in the ever-expanding Law & Order, franchise is coming, and there's already been a great deal of news revealed about the show’s cast, story, and possible release date. Law & Order is a television property that has been adapted a number of times for other countries, building a global audience and finding huge success thanks to the different styles and settings of the spinoff series. Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent will take place entirely in Canada, exploring the crime scene in the country’s largest city.

Like the other programs in the franchise, Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent will be overseen by the show’s creator, Dick Wolf. All the news so far around the Law & Order spinoff suggests it’ll follow a pretty similar structure to the other branches of Dick Wolf's franchise while maintaining its own independence and gathering its own separate audience. The announcement of Toronto’s Law & Order spinoff was hugely exciting for the city’s fans of the show, as it will take place almost entirely in the Ontario capital.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent Latest News

The most recent Law & Order Toronto news arrived on October 16, 2023, when CityTV finally announced the cast for the Law & Order Canada spinoff (via Deadline). Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent will feature a star lineup of known Canadian TV actors including Rectify's Aden Young, City on Fire's Kathleen Munroe, and Karen Robinson of Schitt's Creek fame. It was also confirmed that directors across the 10 episodes of Law & Order Toronto season 1 include FUBAR and Batwoman's Holly Dale as well as The Phantoms director Sudz Sutherland.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent Production Status

There still isn’t an exact Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent release date, but the show is currently scheduled for spring 2024. Since the first season was only ordered for 10 episodes, it shouldn’t take too long to film and produce, so it’s likely that CityTV will be able to air the show fairly early in the year. Every Law & Order property was renewed in April 2023, proving that NBC clearly has faith in the property, so it’s likely that the premiere of Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent will arrive as soon as NBC and CityTV are able.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent Cast

The core cast of Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent has been revealed, and contains many familiar faces for the last few decades of Canadian and U.S. television. When the show was announced, Citytv confirmed that their new spinoff will "showcase original Canadian stories written and produced by, and starring, Canadians" (via Variety). This was a promise kept, as the full Law & Order Toronto show is a solid lineup of Canadian talent, and includes:

• Aden Young (Rectify) as Detective Sergeant Harry Graff
• Kathleen Munroe (City on Fire) as Detective Sergeant Frankie Bateman
• Karen Robinson (Schitt’s Creek) as Inspector Vivienne Holness
• K.C. Collins (The Cleaning Lady) as Deputy Crown Attorney Theo Forrester
• Nicola Correia-Damude (Shadowhunters) as Forensic Pathologist Dr. Lucy Da Silva
• Araya Mengesha (Nobody) as tech expert Mark Yohannes

There will also of course be many ing cast throughout Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent playing various criminals and their victims. There hasn't been any announcements about who will be making an appearance in this capacity yet though.

Will Any Existing Law & Order Characters Appear?

While it’s unlikely that any existing Law & Order characters will play a large role in Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, it’s definitely possible that some guest appearances or cameos could happen throughout the series. The locations of the two shows are actually very close, with Law & Order taking place in New York City, so it wouldn’t be implausible for characters such as Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson or Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler to travel over the border. The show has previously attempted crossovers between shows, as with Benson and Stabler appearing in both Law & Order: Organized Crime and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent Story Details

According to the official press release for Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, the show will “follow an elite squad of detectives who investigate high-profile crime and corruption​​​​​​," which is essentially the premise of every Law & Order series. It’s a mostly episodic format, with each installment centering around a different case that can be wrapped up within its runtime. However, long-running arcs and character relationships will likely maintain a narrative thread between episodes. There have only been 10 episodes commissioned, so it’s likely that most of those continuous ideas will bleed through into a potential second season, with even more crimes and higher character stakes.

The Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent story decision to focus on real-life events also opens the door for some high-profile cases to make their way into the show. Law & Order has often been inspired by true crime, but it’s also heavily fictionalized. Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent could shake things up a little and adopt a more overt true-crime style.