‘Star Trek’ now a Canadian enterprise. What made it so?

Olivia Chow has a model starship in her office.

It’s the USS Toronto, a Parliament-class vessel slightly bigger than her hand. An accompanying plaque features a quote from her husband, Jack Layton, who died in 2011.

“Always have a dream that will outlast your lifetime,” it reads.

Layton, the former federal NDP leader, was a fan of “Star Trek.”

Chow, the mayor of Toronto, says her fandom began in the 1960s, when she was still living in Hong Kong.

She remembers watching “Star Trek: The Original Series,” then known simply as “Star Trek,” every day after school, along with “Batman” and “Mission: Impossible.”

Chow arrived in Canada in 1970.

“Captain Kirk with his yellow uniform was what I remembered,” she says of the iconic character played by Canadian actor William Shatner.

Today, Chow leads a city that has become a second home to the “Star Trek” franchise.

“Star Trek: Discovery,” which premièred in 2017 on CBS All Access and ran for five seasons, was filmed at Pinewood Toronto Studios just east of the downtown Distillery District.

During production of its final season, one of Pinewood Toronto’s sound stages was renamed the Star Trek Stage in honour of the studio’s connection with the sci-fi franchise. The stage is 18,000 square feet, slightly larger than an NHL rink.

The upcoming “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” series on Paramount Plus — already renewed for a second season — is also being shot at Pinewood, as was the movie “Star Trek: Section 31,” releasing on Jan. 24 and starring Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh.

“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” a spinoff of “Discovery,” is shot at a CBS film studio in Mississauga, west of Toronto.

John Weber, president and CEO of Toronto-based Take 5 Productions, says many factors would have compelled CBS, which falls under the Paramount corporate umbrella, to bring “Star Trek” north, including a familiarity with the Canadian market.

“It’s not any one factor. It’s kind of having the whole ecosystem of factors that makes a film and television jurisdiction strong,” says Weber, an executive producer on “Discovery” and “Strange New Worlds.”

The local industry also has a level of depth, diversity and talent that isn’t always seen elsewhere, he says.

“A lot of jurisdictions around the world may have two or three crews and, if the fourth show comes into that town, they may not get the best crew,” Weber says, referring to people like camera operators, gaffers and art directors.

Ontario’s film commissioner says the province offers a wide variety of locations.

“We’ve been really excited that ‘Star Trek’ has used so many locations across the province, including places like Stelco in Hamilton and conservation areas and quarries in search of interesting, otherworldly locations,” says Justin Cutler, whose office falls under the provincial government agency Ontario Creates.

The Greater Toronto Area has played host to many major television and film productions.

The horror movies “It” and “It: Chapter Two,” based on a Stephen King novel, were shot in and around Toronto, including the nearby communities of Port Hope and Oshawa. The clown Pennywise’s sewer lair was built at Pinewood.

“The Expanse,” which aired on Syfy and later Prime Video, and superhero show “The Boys,” another Amazon property, were both shot in Toronto. Roy Thomson Hall, a downtown concert venue known for its curved glass roof, appears as the United Nations headquarters in one and the Manhattan home of a powerful corporation in the other.

For Prime Video’s action crime drama “Reacher,” a fake town was constructed in a field in Pickering, Ont. — complete with a diner, police station, town square and more — to serve as the fictional rural Georgia community of Margrave.

Toronto icons including the CN Tower, Royal Ontario Museum and Eaton Centre appeared in an episode of “Strange New Worlds” that aired in 2023.

The province also has 3.8 million square feet of studio space, the overwhelming majority which is in the Greater Toronto Area, says a 2023 report from Ontario Creates. That number is set to grow to 6.3 million square feet by 2026.

By comparison, Los Angeles has 7.3 million square feet of sound stages, says a February 2024 report from the real estate firm CBRE.

The provincial and federal governments also offer tax incentives that Cutler says are highly competitive.

Toronto’s film office, which Chow calls a “one-stop shop,” plays a key role in attracting productions to the city.

At the helm is Marguerite Pigott, the city’s film commissioner and director of entertainment industries.

Pigott isn’t surprised “Star Trek” has found a home in Toronto, with so many other major productions in the area, including the TV shows “The Handmaid’s Tale” from Hulu, Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” and the 2016 superhero movie “Suicide Squad.”

“This is how good we are, and L.A. knows it and the world knows it, so they shoot here,” Pigott says.

“I don’t know how much Toronto knows it, and that is part of our work.”

Toronto’s mayor is thrilled “Star Trek” appears to be staying in town for the long term.

“It creates a large number of jobs, economic benefits in the millions and millions of dollars, so it’s absolutely wonderful and we’ll get the blessings, right?” Chow says as she gives a Vulcan salute with her left hand.

“We’ll all live long and prosper.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2025.

Curtis Ng, The Canadian Press