The thirteenth season of the Canadian teen drama television series Degrassi, formerly known as Degrassi: The Next Generation, premiered on July 11, 2013, concluded on July 29, 2014, in Canada and the United States, and consists of 40 episodes.^[1] Although only four school years have passed in the story timeline since season six, this season was split into 4 parts. The first part is set in the summer. The second part is set in the fall/winter semester. The third and fourth part is set during the first term of the Spring semester. Writers have been able to use a semi-floating timeline, so that the issues depicted are modern for their viewers. This season depicts the lives of a group of high school freshmen, sophomores, seniors and graduates as they deal with some of the challenges and issues that teenagers face such as cancer, texting while driving, death, sexism, sleep disorders, cyber bullying, domestic violence, rape, racial profiling and relationships.

The thirteenth season was announced November 30, 2012,^[2][3] and production for the season began in April 2013 at Epitome Pictures' studios in Toronto, Ontario.^[4] This season departs from the telenovela/soap opera format used in the previous three seasons. This also marks the first time in Degrassi history that a season aired for a full year as the season began airing in early July 2013 and ended in late July 2014 and was split into 3 parts.

Initially broadcast in Canada on MuchMusic,^[5][6] the show moved to sibling channel MTV Canada on October 3, 2013.

The thirteenth season has 26 actors receiving star billing with 20 of them returning from the previous season. Starting this season, cast members are only credited for the episodes they appear in. Returning cast members include:

Joining the main cast this season are:

The six actors from season twelve who did not return this season were:

All left the series.

Season thirteen is produced by Epitome Pictures in association with Bell Media. Funding was provided by The Canadian Media Fund, The Shaw Rocket Fund, RBC Royal Bank, The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit.

Linda Schuyler, co-creator of the Degrassi franchise and CEO of Epitome Pictures, serves as an executive producer with her husband, and President of Epitome Pictures, Stephen Stohn. Matt Huether is also credited as a co-executive producer, Karen Hill as consulting producer, Sarah Glinski an executive producer, and Ella Schwarzman an executive post producer. Stefan Brogren is series producer, while David Lowe is credited as producer, and Stephanie Williams the supervising producer. The casting directors are Larissa Mair and Krisha Bullock Alexander, and the editors include Jason B. Irvine and Gordon Thorne.

The executive story editor is Matt Schiller, the story editors are Ian Malone and Sadiya Durrani, and Courtney Jane Walker is the senior story editor. Episode writers for the season include Ramona Barckert, Karen Hill, Michael Grassi, and Matt Schiller. The director of photography is Mitchell T. Ness, and the directors include Stefan Brogren and Bruce McDonald.

The summer block began with a one-hour special, and aired weekly with an after show, After Degrassi.^[7] The fall block ran from October 3 to November 21, 2013, on MTV in Canada, and on TeenNick in the United States. The winter block began on January 28, continued through spring, and ended on April 22, 2014, on MTV in Canada, and TeenNick in the United States. Unlike previous seasons, the thirteenth season continued through until summer and has a second summer block, which began on June 3, 2014, on MTV in Canada, and TeenNick in the United States, making this season the first to have new episodes from the same season airing a year after the first episode premiered.

With many questions regarding the lack of a DVD release, executive producer Stephen Stohn posted on Twitter and Facebook:

The decision to kill off Adam Torres, the only transgender character in the show's history, during this season garnered fan backlash.^[11][12][13] In a statement, LGBT media watchdogs GLAAD said:^[14]

When Degrassi introduced its large and loyal audience to Adam Torres, an authentic, multi-dimensional transgender character, the show not only made television history, but set a new standard industry standard for LGBT inclusion. With so few transgender characters on television, we are disappointed that Adam's story had to end this way, and we hope other shows will follow Degrassi's lead in bringing stories like his to viewers...^[14]

Linda Schuyler, one of the show's creators, defended the choice to kill the character, saying in a statement:

The combination of Adam being a favorite character, and Jordan being at the end of her contract, presented a unique opportunity to tell this story through such a beloved character. As saddened as we are to say goodbye to Adam, we feel this storyline will affect even more lives in an authentic way...^[15]