In recent years, Space made the push to original programming, with shows like Bitten, Killjoys and, most famously, Orphan Black. Many of these shows have been picked up for broadcast by Syfy in the United States, in particular, Killjoys was the first official co-production between the two networks. While it's common for a program airing on Syfy to also air on Space, being the two foremost science-fiction networks in North America, several Syfy shows have either been produced by or have also aired on Showcase, owned by rival broadcaster Corus Entertainment.
Space is better known by Canadian Trekkies for being "the Star Trek channel", due to their obsession with the franchise. (This stems from the original Citytv in Toronto airing all the new Trek shows, branding themselves as "Your Federation Station". They even sponsored a screening of the TNG finale at the SkyDome to a crowd of Trekkies!) Not only were they the first channel to air all four syndicated series, but reruns of the franchise's shows remain a staple on the channel's schedule. Even Space itself poked fun at the amount of Star Trek it has aired
. Naturally, they premiered the franchise's first television series in over a decade, Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard, subsequently making Canada the only country where you could watch both series without signing up for a streaming service.note
In 2007, the channel, along with the rest of CHUM's specialities, split from Citytv when they were purchased by CTVglobemedia, now known as Bell Media. Since then, the channel has moved away from airing sci-fi programming exclusively, and moved towards fantasy and paranormal programming. It all culminated with a 2013 rebrand, which emphasized the channel's move away from its "galactic" origins. Though nowhere near as bad as what happened to Syfy note , Space's recent programming - which has included weekend action blockbusters, shows like The Following & Castle, and some cheap fixes to fulfill CanCon requirements - have a turned a few heads.
Also has a French counterpart in Z, originally launched on January, 31, 2000 as Canal Z.
First-run Canadian series and Original programming seen on Space includes:
- Aftermath — 2016 Canadian apocalyptic drama
- Bitten
- Being Human (US)
- Beyond — 2005 Documentary series
- Blood Ties (2007) — Also aired on Citytv
- Charlie Jade
- Dark Matter (2015)
- The Girly Ghosthunters
- Grand Star — Canadian/French/Belgian co-production based on the novel series La Compagnie des glaces ("The Ice Company") which also inspired Overman King Gainer
- Killjoys
- Orphan Black
- Primeval: New World — a Spinoff of ITV's Primeval
- Rabbit Fall — 2007 Supernatural drama
- Sanctuary
- Shadow Hunter — 2005 Documentary series
- Steve Smith Playhouse — Starring Steve Smith of The Red Green Show fame
- Todd and the Book of Pure Evil
- Tripping the Rift
- Wynonna Earp — Beginning with Season two; Season one was broadcast on CHCH-DT in Hamilton
