By Justin Anderson

Canadian home improvement retailer Rona has announced its return to television with the reality competition show Le Grand chantier Rona.

The series is created in partnership with Bell Media’s French-language network Noovo and produced by Montreal’s Zone3. It is slated for broadcast in 2024.

Rona is the primary brand partner on the series and some of the retailer’s partners are likely to be integrated as well, Bell Media spokespeople for the series told MiC. Outside of that, “we do have opportunities available for product placement and in-show features,” the spokesperson confirmed. Promotion of the series – and Rona’s participation – will be “amplified across [Bell Media’s] digital, social, radio, podcast, and OOH platforms for max brand exposure.”

The reno show will pit 12 couples against each other over 10 weeks of home improvement-related challenges to complete a new house, fully furnished and decorated, worth $700,000. At the end of the season, the winning couple will win the house they built. Le Grand chantier Rona will be hosted by Marie-Lyne Joncas (pictured) and the rest of the participants are currently being cast.

The project is a reunion between Zone3 and Rona, with the prodco having previously produced the original Ma Maison Rona in 2004, which ran for seven seasons in Quebec on TVA. There were also a pair of English-language versions: Rona Dream Home, which ran for two seasons on Global from 2004 to 2005, and My Rona Home, which aired on Citytv in 2009 with a second season in 2011.

“We’ve been toying with the idea of returning to TV in Quebec with this type of project for a long time, and in the current housing crisis, it’s even more meaningful for us to be able to help a couple to gain access to homeownership,” said Catherine Laporte, Rona’s VP of marketing, in a statement.

From Playback / Image courtesy of Noovo