When Calls the Heart Sets Season 9 Premiere Date at Hallmark Channel

Hallmark Channel will return to Hope Valley this spring.

The cable network announced Wednesday that When Calls the Heart Season 9 will premiere Sunday, March 6 (at 8/7c) and consist of 12 episodes.

In the Season 8 finale, which aired May 9, Elizabeth at last realized that she was supposed to be with saloon owner Lucas — but the following teaser signals trouble ahead for the newly formed couple:

“Hope Valley is in a state of growth, with the foundry’s progress and the evolution of key relationships,” reads the Season 9 synopsis. “The Mayoral race has the town buzzing with a few members of the town running against one another. Elizabeth and Lucas focus on their relationship beyond courtship, and as she gets to know Lucas better, she learns about his past — which gives Elizabeth pause about their future.”

Former When Calls the Heart star Lori Loughlin recently reprised her role as Abigail Stanton on the spinoff When Hope Calls, which relocated from Hallmark Movies Now to GAC Family for Season 2. In the two-part premiere, which aired Dec. 18, Abigail and her adopted son Cody (Carter Ryan Evancic) arrived in Brookfield to deliver an orphan to Lillian’s orphanage. She was also reunited in a dream with the late Jack Thornton (fellow WCTH alum Daniel Lissing), who asked her to deliver a message to the widowed Elizabeth. (TVLine readers gave the Season 2 opener an average grade of “B+”; read our complete recap here.)

Are you looking forward to new episodes of When Calls the Heart? Hit the comments and share your hopes for Season 9.