An upcoming episode of a new Canadian reality show will feature TTC chair Karen Stintz, the woman tasked with managing the system's fare increases and image problems, donning a costume and joining transit system employees on the front line.

Stintz will be featured on an upcoming episode of Undercover Boss Canada, wearing a dark wig and assuming a false identity while taking a hard look at the TTC's daily affairs, as cameras capture a behind-the-scenes look at Canada's largest transit systems.

Stintz says she agreed to do the show in order to give viewers a fresh look at the TTC – a system frequently dismissed as broken and dysfunctional by a frustrated ridership.

"That was why I agreed to participate," Stintz said in a telephone recent interview. "I think people will see a side of the TTC that is new to them, and I think that will be positive. I think the employees will feel motivated that they will be shown in a light that will be very positive.

"I wanted to tell a story about the TTC that most people wouldn't usually see. Customers have their experience with the TTC, but not many people see what the employees do to keep the system working and operating."

When Undercover Boss Canada hits airways in February, it will follow in the footsteps of popular British and U.S. versions that have high-powered executives trying, and often failing, to accomplish tasks their employees do with ease.

The show has grown popular with blue-collared audiences who have flocked at the chance to see their professional superiors dropped down a peg and, in most episodes, learn a valuable lesson along the way.

The Canadian show will be no different, with executives from the Toronto Zoo, Pizza Pizza and Cineplex Entertainment among the participants.

In her episode, Stintz went undercover with the intention of finding efficiencies in Toronto's transit system and finding out ways to improve customer service.

Stintz spent a total of 10 days wearing glasses, a brown wig and a nose ring while posing as "Ruth Bear" while being trained to do a variety of common tasks by TTC workers. To explain why a camera crew was following her, Stintz said she was filming a documentary about women returning to the workforce.

Stintz did not know what jobs she was going to be given going in and ended up working in five areas of the massive system that even the most frequent riders may overlook.

Stintz learned to drive a subway train and also worked as a station custodian and a bus cleaner during a grueling overnight shift. She also ran the TTC's lost and found, a segment that was ultimately cut from the program.

"It was hard to go undercover and hard to stay in the role that I was supposed to be staying in," Stintz said. The chair added that she accidentally introduced herself by her real name at one point.

Stintz added that the wig she wore was quite uncomfortable and she feared someone would realize she was wearing it. Her coworkers did spot the fake hair, she said, but like polite Canadians never mentioned it.

Stintz said she came out of the experience a little wiser and felt the stark look inside the transit commission's daily operations would help smooth the edges with frustrated riders.

It has already helped form a modernization strategy that is set for release next month.

The plan will change the way the TTC measures success, she said, and establish a customer charter meant to reform the system to meet the demands of the public.

"We are all people, we are all trying to do a good job and we are all trying to build a better system, build a better city and provide for our families. Those are the things that connect us," Stintz said. "There are lots of differences in the city but there are also lots of things that keep us pulled us together."

Undercover Boss Canada premiers on the W Network on Feb. 2 at 9 p.m. The TTC episode is scheduled to air in March.