Sesame Park Sesame Park is the Canadian co - production of " Sesame Street " , which aired under that name from 1996 until 2002 . However , the production has a much longer history , dating to initial five minute segments of the US series which aired in 1972 over the CBC as interstitials . In January 1973 , " Sesame Street Canada " debuted , an edited version of the one - hour American program , occasionally including specially filmed Canadian cartoon and film inserts . Examples included " A Quarter Has a Caribou on It , " a 1982 animated song explaining the value and appearance of the Canadian quarter . By the 1980s the show ' s title had been modified to " Canadian Sesame Street " . Episodes . Including packages of " Sesame Park Snippets " , there were 340 episodes produced . American version . In February 1971 , the Canadian Radio - Television Commission created quotas on how much imported television content that the CBC and other broadcasters could air , at 30 % maximum . Given that " Sesame Street " ran each weekday , the total five hours was a significant amount of the quota . The matter was even discussed in Canadian Parliament . One TV columnist suggested educational programs be exempt , given the quota was to limit American dramas and comedy series . Canadian expansion . In 1987 , executive producer Michel Lavoie , who had overseen the film inserts since 1975 , initiated an expansion of " Canadian " content . That spring , new segments , filmed in Toronto , debuted , introducing three new Muppet characters : Basil the polar bear , Louis the Francophone otter , and Dodi , an elderly but active bush pilot and mail carrier . The segments aired as inserts between the American " street " storylines and footage , and occasionally involved celebrities , such as Andrea Martin teaching the importance of practice . The puppeteers for these segments included several veterans of " Fraggle Rock " and " Follow That Bird " ( filmed in Toronto ) , such as Tim Gosley ( Basil ) , Rob Mills ( Dodi and many others ) , and Gord Robertson . Bilingual puppeteer and voice actor Pier Paquette was cast as Louis . At this point , rather than a co - production , the CBC was buying the footage from CTW , and by contract was only allowed to delete 23 minutes of the original American footage . The replaced scenes were often those stressing bilingualism through Spanish . In contrast , in the new footage , French was used heavily , and occasionally the characters , especially Louis , would alternate between the two languages . In 1988 , a host of new characters were added , including Dr . Bouzouki ( a parody of David Suzuki who would teach science lessons ) , Robert , Fern , and most notably , Katie , a girl in a wheelchair who still remains active and cheerful . Katie ( puppeteered by Trish Leeper ) would continue until the end of the series . Other new segments included Dodi in her plane , flying over Calgary during the outdoor rodeo Stampede , or Toronto while witnessing the Caribbean carnival Caribana . In 1990 , the original trio were joined by Elmo for the Canadian series ' first television special , " Basil Hears a Noise " . By 1993 , the cast had expanded to include a number of based specifically on Canadian personalities , especially CBC reporters and talk show hosts . The roster included reporter Barbara Plum ( Barbara Frum ) , horticulture expert Hana Gardener ( interviewer Hana Gartener ) , sports pundit Garth Burmengi ( radio comic Ralph Benmergui ) , " Rhyme Time " news anchor Peter Londonbridge ( Peter Mansbridge , who also guest starred on the series ) , and storyteller Margaret Redwood ( author Margaret Atwood ) . Just as with the American version , some of the new characters proved short - lived , such as Gordon Brightfoot ( a take - off on singer Gordon Lightfoot ) . New Name , Locale . In 1996 , the show was revamped and renamed " Sesame Park " , with the new " premiere " airing on October 21 . Instead of inserting Canadian elements into the hour - long " Sesame Street " episodes , the series was trimmed to a half hour , dominated by the Canadian scenes with only occasional American inserts . This setting would be an ecological , lush green public park , as opposed to a city street , with an accessible playground and a Canadian flag proudly waving . The change was explained by CBC children ' s program executive Peter Moss : " My own kids grew up on the original " Sesame Street " but we decided it was time to put the pro - social messages of the show and its wonderful pedagogy - the skills of literacy and numeracy - into a Canadian context . There isn ' t a Canadian city where you can go more than about six blocks without finding a safe , green park . So it became Sesame Park . " The recycled footage reflected the change ; Bert and Ernie , and to a lesser extent Big Bird and Grover , among others , continued to appear , but the urban , grungy Oscar the Grouch was deemed more representative of a U . S . streetscape and dropped entirely . Chaos the kitten ( played by Karen Valleau ) was added to the Canadian Muppet cast , and more Canadian celebrities appeared , often as fairytale or nursery rhyme characters . Most of the original puppeteers were also recast at this time , with Bob Stutt playing Basil and Noreen Young played Dodi . Dodi ' s General Store was among the new location on the show . At some point , a human cast member was added , Ray ( Derek Ritschel ) , who assisted Dodi . In July 1998 , 25 people from CTW and CBC gathered to review the 200 new Canadian segments produced for the show , to figure out which ones would make the cut . At the time , its 22 minutes per episode of local Canadian material was the record , according to Joan Lufrano , executive producer of the CTW international group . At the time , CBC Montreal was home base for the show , despite its being filmed in Toronto . Nine CBC outlets produced segments , including Vancouver , Winnipeg , Toronto and Halifax , however the 1996 credits listed the show as being " produced in " Winnipeg , Toronto , and Montreal . Though the new version had a popular following amongst children and received several Gemini Awards and nominations , the ratings were affected by the increased availability of PBS broadcasts via cable , allowing nostalgic parents to revisit the now forbidden Oscar and others on the American series . By 2002 , the series had been canceled . " Sesame Street " now airs on Treehouse TV , a Canadian channel aimed at preschoolers . Various segments , including " Global Grover " and " Elmo ' s World " , have aired separately on the channel , for many years .