The sudden end to New York’s tax credits has sent Fringe to Canada.

Warner Bros. Television said Tuesday that continuing uncertainty over the state’s tax credit means it will relocate the J.J. Abrams sci-fi to either Vancouver or Toronto if the Fox network picks up the series for a second season.

The Fringe pilot was shot in Toronto, though Warner moved the series to Long Island City’s Silvercup Studios to take advantage of generous tax incentives.

Now those Empire State production subsidies have dried up, and renewal of those credits in the next budget, due April 1, remains uncertain.

‘We did not come to this conclusion easily, but economic and practical imperatives dictated that this decision be made in a timely manner,’ Warner Bros. said in a statement.

Fringe has performed well for Fox and CTV in Canada, making a second season order likely.

Peter Leitch, president of Vancouver-based North Shore/Mammoth Studios, says he has been approached by Warner Bros. about hosting the Fringe shoot, but has yet to ink a deal.

‘It’s not at our studio at this point. We’re fairly busy at this time. I’ve heard that Toronto is a benefactor of that, and Canada, in general, as series move out of New York,’ Leitch says.

In Toronto, Filmport president Ken Ferguson says he spoke to Warner Bros. about servicing Fringe, but was told last Friday by the studio that the series will likely shift to Vancouver.

Fringe is set in Boston. And although Massachusetts has its own 25% tax credit on labor costs, what made the numbers work for a return to Canada was the falling value of the Canadian dollar against the American greenback.

‘The phone has been pretty active since the dollar went to 80 cents,’ Leitch says.

Cost-conscious studios are currently scouring North America for the most generous tax incentives and lowest location shooting costs for around 16 U.S. pilots or series set to go into production.

Canadian studio operators hope to get their share of that production. To that end, Ontario is preparing to make its tax credit for foreign producers permanent. California recently introduced its own subsidies to repatriate film and TV projects from New York City, Canada and elsewhere.

Filmport has already lined up for March the 20th Century Fox pilot Battle of Maggie Hill, a drama about a female doctor set in New York City, the ABC/Disney drama pilot Happy Town, and the CBS Paramount pilot Back, a drama about a man who returns home to find he was reported missing eight years earlier, after the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Other footloose series possibly looking to leave New York for tax credits and locales elsewhere include ABC’s Life on Mars, HBO’s In Treatment and NBC’s 30 Rock.

Filmport is also in the running to host David Cronenberg’s next film, MGM’s The Matarese Circle, which stars Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington, but no final decision on that project’s location has been made, according to Ferguson. Filmport is also hosting the Canadian movie The Love Child of Andy Warhol and Yoko Ono, from director Michael Melski, which stars Donald Sutherland. Alcina Pictures is producing the comedy, which will shoot this spring.