“Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent” may

be the biggest original TV series premiere Canada

has ever had. That means, when that famous “dun-dun”

opens the series on Feb. 22 via Citytv, the pressure is on.

It’s notoriously hard to get a show greenlit in Canada. Funding challenges, market size and competition from U.S. acquisitions mean few, if any, Canadian series debut on the Big 3 commercial networks (CTV, Global and Citytv) each season. Even public broadcaster CBC, which boasts the highest number of originals on a major network, still relies on acquisitions to fill out its primetime programming grid

.

Figuring out how to make noise with a new series in a crowded landscape isn’t a uniquely Canadian challenge, but there are more hurdles here. That’s why from the beginning, a Canadian adaptation of “Criminal Intent” felt like a win — at least from a viewership and marketing standpoint. It’s a recognizable franchise with a built-in fanbase and a solid formula. Rogers Sports & Media is also debuting the series on Citytv immediately following a new episode of NBC’s “Law & Order,” and right before new installments of that U.S. network’s “Law & Order: SVU” and “Law & Order: Organized Crime.”