The series was created by Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebner, who both served as executive producers. MacRury had previously co-created 'Republic of Doyle' for CBC, while Brebner had co-created 'Rookie Blue' for Global Television Network.

Saving Hope draws on a three-part newspaper series also titled 'Saving Hope,' written by Ian Brown and published in The Globe and Mail in 2005.

CTV picked up the pilot episode in November 2011, and principal photography for the pilot took place in Toronto, Ontario in the spring of 2011.

Executive producers traveled to Los Angeles to pitch the series to U.S. broadcasters, and their efforts convinced NBC to pick up the show for American airing alongside CTV in Canada.

The Los Angeles Times described the show as an attempt to combine a doctors-in-love medical soap opera modeled on 'Grey's Anatomy' with a paranormal ghost story featuring elements of 'A Gifted Man' and 'Ghost Whisperer'.

NBC pulled the final two episodes of season one from its broadcast schedule and instead made them available only on the network's official website.

Saving Hope received mixed reviews, scoring 49 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 15 critics, with reviewers criticizing its 'cheesy montages' and 'sloppy sentimentality' while others called it a sturdy, reliable drama.

The Canadian premiere achieved the highest summer season ratings recorded in 2012, while the American premiere drew 3.1 million viewers on NBC, a figure some critics found unimpressive.