The Fifth Estate

Name: The Fifth Estate
Genre: Documentary, News
Released: 1976-01-02
Rating: 6.8
Cast: Bob McKeown, Gillian Findlay, Mark Kelley

RETURNING17 Seasons170 Episodes★ 6.8

The Fifth Estate is a documentary and news series on CBC Television that premiered in 1976, with 17 seasons and 170 episodes to date. It has been renewed for Season 18, and a premiere date has not been announced yet.

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NetworkCBC Television

First AiredJan 2, 1976

Last AiredApr 17, 2026

GenreDocumentary, News

Runtime60 min

LanguageEnglish

CountryCanada

Each week the fifth estate brings in-depth investigations that matter to Canadians – delivering a dazzling parade of political leaders, controversial characters and ordinary people whose lives were touched by triumph or tragedy.

RENEWED

The Fifth Estate has been renewed but a premiere date has not been announced yet. Track this show to get an alert when a date is confirmed.

Cast

Bob McKeown

Host

Gillian Findlay

Host

Mark Kelley

Host

Seasons & Episodes17 seasons · 186 episodes

0% complete

The season features in-depth investigative reports on major Canadian and international issues, including corporate accountability for a massive B.C. data breach, the toxic drug crisis, and an exposé on Canadian charitable donations supporting controversial international settlements.

E1The Denial Machine

Oct 10, 2025

A data breach at B.C.'s Interior Health involving tens of thousands of employees' most sensitive information is for sale on the dark web; health-care workers' identities are repeatedly stolen while the agency denies the breach ever happened.

E2Funding the occupation

Oct 17, 2025

We're in the occupied West Bank on the trail of millions in Canadian tax deductible charitable donations. We reveal funds are supporting Israeli settlements deemed illegal under international law.

E3Dying to Recover.

Oct 24, 2025

Investigation into for-profit, privately owned residential substance use treatment facilities across Canada that, according to the investigation, operate with little government regulation or oversight, which critics say puts the lives of patients at risk.

E4Dawson Creek: Behind the Fear

Oct 31, 202545m

We return to small-town Dawson Creek, B.C., where residents feel besieged by violence and murder. The RCMP failed to meet the deadline it set for answers, so we return to investigate yet more killings and reveal what is behind this crime wave.

E5The War on Safe Drugs

Nov 14, 202545m

Canada’s opioid crisis has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, costing the health and justice systems billions. Many health providers say there were solutions that could have helped. We reveal how politics got in the way.

E6Smash & Grab

Nov 21, 2025

Smash-and-grabs are going viral on social media, but the culprits remain unknown; revealing how adults are playing the system by luring kids into violent crime with lifelong consequences.

E7Trapped on the Water

Nov 28, 2025

Lobster is a billion-dollar industry on the East Coast; who gets to trap and when is tearing communities apart; the federal government is being blamed for doing too little to help ease tensions.

E8Vanished

Jan 16, 2026

A vacation to Quebec's Mont Tremblant turned into a nightmare. Last February, 22-year-old Liam Toman vanished without a trace. All that remains of his last moments are CCTV footage and his wallet.

E9Missing Black Boys

Jan 23, 2026

Reports of Black boys going missing have gone viral on social media; so have theories about what is happening to them; investigating who or what is luring these boys to remote communities.

E10

E10Canada's Crypto Fugitive

Jan 30, 2026

An international search is underway for a Canadian who allegedly stole millions in crypto; we go from Hamilton, Ont., to Bosnia looking for a man with academic promise who may have turned criminal.

E11

E11Last Breath

Feb 27, 2026

Designed to protect law enforcement and health-care workers, spit hoods have been linked to deaths; banned in parts of the world, in Canada, they're used countrywide, sometimes even on minors.

E12

E12The Business of Bigotry

Mar 20, 2026

Online extremist content is influencing real-life violence. To creators, it's free speech; it's also big business. We go from Nashville to Calgary to eastern Europe on the trail of two Canadian companies that help creators turn hate into profit.

E13

E13Critical threat

Mar 27, 2026

Threats to annex resource-rich Greenland shook Canadians. We reveal an American firm closely linked to Trump has secured a controlling stake in a massive rare earth mining project in Quebec.

E14

E14The Dissident & The Spy

Apr 3, 202645m

In November 2022, the body of a Chinese dissident was found near Gibsons, B.C. Was it a simple drowning or the result of a Chinese secret police operation? A former spy details how China uses covert means to threaten and intimidate.

E15

E15The Ostrich Con

Apr 10, 202645m

A small ostrich farm in rural B.C. became the centre of an international firestorm in the lead-up to a controversial cull after a bird flu outbreak. Was it necessary or government overreach? Locals say there's more to the story.

E16

E16Corruption, Crime & Cricket Canada

Apr 17, 2026180m

Cricket Canada is under fire amid allegations of corruption and fixing, even at the World Cup. We investigate claims of mistreatment of players and infiltration and death threats by organized crime.

About The Fifth Estate

The Fifth Estate is a documentary, news series on CBC Television. The show first aired on Jan 2, 1976 and currently has 17 seasons and 170 episodes. The Fifth Estate has been renewed for Season 18, and a premiere date has not been announced yet. It has a rating of 6.8/10 based on 11 votes. The cast includes Bob McKeown, Gillian Findlay, Mark Kelley.