Before the show premiered in 1998 there was an ongoing mystery concerning the disappearance of dozens of Vancouver area prostitutes which did not stop until the arrest of a Port Coquitlam. B.C. pig farmer - Robert "Willy" Pickton - for multiple murder of some of these prostitutes. The three part opening episode was based on this mystery.
The character of Dominic Da Vinci was based on the real-life B.C. Chief Coroner Doctor Larry Campbell, who after his tenure of coroner acted as a technical advisor on the show. In 2002 Larry Campbell was elected mayor of Vancouver.