SPOTLIGHT
ALLEGIANCE RETURNS
Vince Brambilla (Enrico Colantoni) and Sabrina Sohal (Supinder Wraich) in Allegiance, season 3. The CBC police drama series is set in Surrey, BC.
Fans of Allegiance, the CBC police drama series set in Surrey, BC, about identity and belonging, policing and politics, and finding truth within the heart of a flawed justice system, will be happy to learn it’s back with its third season.
Creator Anar Ali and episode director Nimisha Mukherjee are both Grant’s Desi Achievers and cast members Adolyn Dar and Praneet Akila, have also been featured in Desi News.
While working as a writer on Transplant, Anar Ali was inspired by the power of procedural storytelling, and this experience ignited her creative process for Allegiance. As a novelist, Anar Ali has explored stories of newcomers, but for this series, she wanted to capture the perspective of BIPOC communities who have been here for multiple generations and how it pertains to identity and allegiances. Restorative justice is based on understanding, forgiveness and healing, and it was her key inspiration. Rather than punishment and pitting one against the other, it champions both the victim and the suspect, with the understanding that we need both perspectives to achieve true justice.
There are two main reasons why Allegiance came to be. For many, there are multiple loyalties that need to be balanced, and it’s a core conflict, especially for women of colour. Fascinated by this aspect, Ali took this opportunity to explore such allegiances through the lead character of Sabrina. Additionally, with her Indian roots and as a woman, she felt connected to Sabrina’s’s journey – as someone who is privileged, but not in all ways, it was a fascinating process to examine these ideas more closely.
The series follows lead character “Sabrina Sohal” (played by Supinder Wraich) and her unit as they investigate cases across Surrey and Metro Vancouver. More than your typical cop show (like Law & Order), Allegiance aims to complicate mainstream police show narratives by not only centering the show on a Sikh Punjabi Canadian lead character and her family, but it also offers a nuanced and thoughtful perspective in how it approaches what’s legal, what’s right and what’s fair when people of colour are policed. Allegiance has quickly become a fan favourite since its debut in February 2024 on CBC, and now airs around the world including in the UK, Australia, Europe and Asia.
The series sparked conversations in many communities across Canada about the topical issues it explores such as mental health, safe supply/addiction, youth crime, restorative justice, the policing of BIPOC communities, etc.
Each topical, relevant.
Season 3 will feature a range of thrilling cases involving gangs and informants, hostage situations, and a domestic assault case that hits close to home. After the high-octane finale of Season 2, Sabrina’s career is up in the air. She harnesses her trademark compassion and instinct while learning to trust the people around her. Over the course of Season 3, Sabrina learns the value of connecting with her family, her friends, and her fellow officers instead of working in isolation. She’ll renew her sense of purpose in both her job and her identity.
Without giving too much away, Wraich shares that season 3, with new showrunners, has a different energy, a different vitality.
“Mark and Stepahnie really contributed to the show, and now we have a new set of writers helming the show – two women! If in season 1 Sabrina didn’t know where she belonged, at work, in her family, in her community, and in season 2, she was a lone wolf, in this season, you’ll see Sabrina looking at how she accomplishes what she wants. Women are forced to have this perspective, to figure out who’s with us out in the open. Because sometimes our allies are in secret.”
Wraich brings that experience and insight to the characters she plays. Sabrina is a third-generation Canadian, her father was born in Canada. He would have needed a lot of grit and smarts to get ahead in Canadian politics and those are qualities he imbued his daughter with. Qualities Wraich says she didn’t have as an immigrant herself. “That was part of building Sabrina, absorbing that confidence, the sense of belonging.”
When and where: Season 3 of Allegiance premieres Wednesday, January 7, 2026 at 9 a.m. EST on CBC Gem, CBC’s free streaming service, followed by broadcast at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC TV.