Vancouver: A leading immigration lawyer in Vancouver says the number of inquiries from Americans in the entertainment business seeking resident status in Canada has doubled in the past two years.

Catherine Sas, who handles most of the movie business immigration on the West Coast, says fear of strikes by u.s. writers and actors is fueling part of the new rush of immigration applications, but the dramatic increase is also a response to growing production business in Canada.

‘Last year, people didn’t mention the strikes,’ says Sas. ‘They’d say, ‘There is no work in l.a. It has all gone to you.’ Now, they always talk about the potential strikes.’

Sas’s casework in the film sector expanded from 9% of her overall volume in 1999 to 17% in 2000. Prospects are strong enough that Sas went to l.a. for a marketing trip in November and has advertised in the u.s. entertainment trades.

While she gets three or four inquiries from u.s. entertainment workers each week on average, she says volumes of calls have spiked on occasion to three or four inquiries a day – especially from those afraid of runaway production from l.a. and looming u.s. writers and actors strikes.

Less reactionary reasons for moving to Canada have to do with overall business and versatility. The increased level of u.s. production in Canada is the main driver. ‘There are more and more projects being done in Canada and the u.s. companies want their people on board,’ says Sas.

Then there are the perqs of being landed. By relocating to Canada on a permanent basis, landed immigrants who happen to be above-the-line production personnel qualify for Canadian content points, domestic tax incentives and federal funding.

Jeff McCracken, a producer/director in l.a., is awaiting his final interview to move his family to Vancouver. When he moves here as early as this summer, the principal of Apaloosa Productions will bring with him two series for American television and three features with budgets between $10 million and $18 million. He enters Canada as a director with such credits as NYPD Blue under his belt.

Financing independent production is becoming increasingly difficult in the u.s., says McCracken, who produced Quiz Show for Disney and the independent feature Pastime, distributed by Miramax.

‘By being a dual citizen, I can maximize production,’ he says, acknowledging he will be eligible for the Canadian tax incentives and funding opportunities.

He refuses to be labeled a ‘turncoat’ by his American colleagues and denies the move is an end-run strategy to avoid looming strikes. As a dgc and sag member, he says he will not cross picket lines.

There are two ways American moviemakers can enter Canada as landed immigrants.

Under the independent category, applicants must be skilled workers, who are expected to have the qualities needed to participate in the Canadian labor market. They are evaluated on a point system for factors such as age, level of education, occupation, experience, language ability and the subjective ‘personal suitability,’ with 70 points required for eligibility. And Canada views movie-sector workers as high value.

In the education/experience category, applicants can collect a maximum 18 points. Foreign directors, directors of photography, film and video camera operators, film editors, film and television producers, stunt co-ordinators, special effects technicians, art directors and makeup artists are worth 15 points each. Script assistants are valued at seven points and creative writers are worth only one point.

Applicants in other film industry job categories not included in the official occupations list will not qualify.

Under the self-employed category, applicants must be able to establish or buy a business in Canada that will provide employment for themselves and will make an economic or cultural contribution to Canada (read movie-sector workers with a proven track record). Similar to independent immigrants, self-employed applicants also need to amass 70 points, but are granted 30 bonus points for meeting the self-employed definition threshold.

Sas says she often has to disappoint new American actors and other film novices looking to make a break in Canada. If Americans don’t have a proven track record in their professions, they won’t qualify as self-employed – and actors are not included on the official occupations list. *

-www.canadianvisalawyer.com/

-www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigr/index2.html