Looking to revamp how it supports its film and television industry, Manitoba is the latest province poised to enact a refundable tax credit program piggybacking on federal efforts.

Carole Vivier, gm of Manitoba Film and Sound, says her agency is currently reviewing tax credit options with the province’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Citizenship and she’s optimistic that the results of the review will be announced by the beginning of the next fiscal year on April 1.

‘The ministry is very supportive of expansion of our entertainment industry and they are committed to increasing our production activity,’ says Vivier. ‘We don’t want to reinvent the wheel; we do want to tie into the federal system.’

Currently, Manitoba Film and Sound provides assistance to Manitoba producers in the form of equity investments. The agency may provide up to 50% of the development budget (to a maximum of $25,000), 20% of production costs (to a maximum of $400,000) and up to 50% of marketing costs (to a maximum of $15,000). It’s still unknown whether the agency will continue this assistance in conjunction with a refundable tax program.

Cheryl Ashton, executive director of the Manitoba Motion Picture Industries Association, says the government’s biggest concern is insuring that the program piggybacks on the federal system as much as possible, avoiding large amounts of labor-intensive paperwork for provincial bureaucrats. She also believes there may be provisions in the eventual credit for new media projects.

Other incentives may be in the works, including the possibility of a venture capital corporation being established (subject to recent changes in the province’s Securities Act), and a generous incentive to encourage growth of Manitoba’s production infrastructure. Ideally, an infrastructure expansion would spur development of larger projects in the province and increase service work.