Newfoundland and Labrador’s screen sector received a financial boost in the province’s 2022 budget with the introduction of a new tax credit, as well as $20 million invested to advance its labour force and support local producers.

The All Spend Film and Video Production Tax Credit covers 30% of eligible production costs and is capped at $10 million annually per project. The new incentive is in addition to the existing Newfoundland and Labrador Film Tax Credit, which covers up to 40% of eligible labour costs.

The tax credit was created to attract local and foreign-owned productions to Newfoundland and Labrador, according to a release from the provincial government.

The province has also committed $10 million toward the creation of a Film and Media Production Centre at the St. John’s College of the North Atlantic, to build its local labour capacity and meet increased demand.

The investment covers operating costs, renovations of the facility on Strawberry Marsh Road, and one-time investments of equipment, with classes expected to begin in September.

The centre will offer training through five different programs: TV and film technical production, creation, post-production, production management and visual effects. The college has also signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Toronto Film School, the Canadian Film Centre and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design that will allow local students to transfer credits for continued education between institutions.

The program was “created in close consultation with industry and unions,” according to Pope Productions founder Paul Pope in a statement.

The province estimates that there are currently 1,400 film and TV sector jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador. Recent local productions include CBC comedy Son of a Critch (pictured), Citytv’s Hudson & Rex and Syfy’s SurrealEstate and Astrid and Lilly Save the World.

The province has also injected $10 million into the Film and Television Equity Investment Program, which is administered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation. Now in its second year, the five-year program is available to production companies based in the province to help finance local productions.

“You can have a brilliant idea, you can have a spectacular location, you can even have the money, but until you have the labour to pull it off, you don’t have anything,” said Take the Shot Productions executive producer John Vatcher. “These investments from the province will support our industry in growing our labour force.”