CFC Comedy Series Lab

Eligibility and project requirements

TWO HARD GATES, AND THE SECOND IS UNUSUAL. Applicants must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, and must self-identify as a Black, Indigenous and/or racialized writer or creator. On top of that sits a credit gate that excludes most working writers: you must have professional comedy writing experience in any form, including sketch, standup, shorts, features, podcasts or theatre, AND you must have been in at least one broadcaster or streamer supported series development room. That second requirement is absolute, and it is what separates this from every other entry-level lab we carry. Attendance is full-time and in person, with standard hours of 10:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday and additional evening and weekend work expected. No pre-existing Toronto residency rule is published, and relocation from outside Ontario is contemplated. Application fee, required materials and feedback policy are not published anywhere we could reach.

Formats

TV Pilot

Genres

Comedy

Eligibility

Canada onlyUnderrepresented writers

Open to

Canada

Deadlines & fees

Dates and fees checked against the official site 9 Aug 2026. That is longer ago than we aim for; confirm on the official site before entering.

Prepare your entry

Required materials have not been confirmed. Check the official requirements

Prizes

No cash prize. Tuition of 10,000 Canadian dollars is covered in full by scholarship for every incoming resident, funded by CFC donors including longstanding endowment donors, so the participant never pays it. Unlike CFC's Film Program, the bursary here is stated unconditionally: participants receive a monthly bursary of 750 Canadian dollars, prorated for the half month, plus a fixed one-time relocation bursary of 1,500 dollars for those relocating from outside Ontario. These are bursaries rather than wages and no employment relationship is published. The substantive value is the produced proof of concept or television teaser made from your own pilot, which CFC pays for. RIGHTS, AND THIS IS THE ONE TO ASK ABOUT: participants must sign a Rights Agreement covering their participation in the story room component. Writers retain IP in original projects they bring in, but CFC retains ownership of the completed teaser made from your pilot, because the insurance, agreements and ongoing liabilities sit with CFC. The Rights Agreement text itself is not published, so its actual scope over story room material is unknown. No option, first refusal or exclusivity in favour of Bell Media or Blink49 appears anywhere, but with a broadcaster partner attached this is worth asking CFC directly before you accept a place.

Judging

Selectors are not published. Nelu Handa was named as showrunner and lead mentor for the 2026 cohort, with guest professionals engaged on short-term contracts. Feedback policy is not published. Note that CFC blocks automated fetching and serves its programme documents as forced downloads, so several details here come from the overview document rather than the web page, and the application fee, materials list and feedback policy appear in neither.

Frequently asked questions