Ryan Reynolds is setting up a production center in his home country of Canada.

Maximum Effort, the production and advertising company that the “Deadpool” star co-founded and runs with George Dewey, is part of an ownership group for a new 1.2 million square foot studio under construction in Markham, Ontario, Canada, just outside of Toronto.

The studio is one of the first projects of a $1.5 billion private equity fund that will focus on real estate, sports, media and venture capital. Leading the investment surge, which is already halfway committed, is Markham-based property development company Watford Group.

“Maximum Effort has grown in ways and directions we never imagined,” Reynolds said in a statement. “Launching a fund and building a 1.2 million square foot studio in Ontario is both mind-boggling and humbling. Regardless, I’m excited to expand our storytelling capabilities in new directions and bring more production work to Ontario.

Construction is expected to begin shortly on the new production studio, which developers say will become the largest film and television production center in Canada. There is no expected date for the studio’s completion. The facility is described as a fully integrated production studio for motion pictures, scripted and unscripted reality television, drama series, live action and animated feature films. It will also include a technical incubator and a “virtual production campus” offering professional training.

The Markham studio complex site was originally planned for a 400,000 square foot development dubbed First Studio City, which was to include 20 soundstages and was scheduled to open in 2020. That project never came to fruition.

Before forming Maximum Effort in 2018, Reynolds and Dewey teamed up on the “Deadpool” films. Maximum Effort’s production credits include 20th Century Studios’ “Free Guy,” “The Adam Project” for Netflix, “Spirited” for Apple TV+, “Shotgun Wedding” for Amazon Studios and the documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham,” which follows the takeover of Welsh football club Wrexham AFC by Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, for FX and Disney+.

In May 2021, Maximum Effort Productions signed a three-year first look development agreement with Paramount Pictures for feature film projects.