It gets even more interesting when you realise that "Cold Case" is a Jerry Bruckheimer series, while "Cold Squad" was produced by Alliance-Atlantis, which is the production company that makes the "CSI" shows, which are also Jerry Bruckheimer productions.

Here we go (sorry about the double post):
"Last week, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported that Meredith Stehm, the creator of the American series, attended a seminar on TV writing at the Canadian Film Centre in 2002 where the concept of Cold Squad was explained to her. Both shows feature a female detective who works on unsolved cases but who is deeply resented by male colleagues. In a letter to the Toronto newspaper, Carole Handler of O'Donnell's law firm wrote: "Our clients are very concerned about many striking similarities and have retained counsel to investigate the situation and if necessary, to take appropriate action."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138959/news

Cool piece of trivia: Helo from Battlestar Galactica was on the cast of Cold Squad.

The main difference between the two shows is that one is quite good (Cold Case) and the other is another awful example of Canadian dramas (Cold Squad).

I read about there being a wirting seminar where one of the speakers was the creator/writer of Cold Squad and apparently one of the audience members was (tadaa) the creator of Cold Case! I'll have to see if I can find that article...

Sunky blonde?

OMG your kidding right? Hollywood is stealing any and all show ideas rather than coming up with something original?? Say it isn't so !!

This all sounds like New Tricks with Amanda Redman, the BBC cop dramedy. In New tricks, the leader is a sunky blonde, but her squad is ex-detectives long since retired, brought out to revive old & cold cases. It started in early 2003.