The Alberta government has given another financial boost to its Film and Television Tax Credit, investing an additional $100 million over the next three years.

The increase was revealed through the province’s 2023 budget announcement on Tuesday (Feb. 28), which includes $4.2 billion in health care-related infrastructure.

The tax credit’s total 2023-26 budget now comes to $335 million. The budget for 2023-24 totals $125 million, followed by $105 million each for 2024-25 and 2025-26.

“Alberta’s government is proud to support our growing film and television industry by offering the Film and Television Tax Credit, which has been highly successful in attracting productions to our province,” said a spokesperson for the Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Northern Development in a statement to Playback Daily. “Since this program was launched in 2020, we have attracted 111 film and television projects that highlight the beauty of Alberta while securing local jobs and facilities for use by future productions.”

The Alberta government has continued to increase its financial support of the tax credit since it was formed as replacement of the Screen-Based Production Grant. In 2021 the province removed the $10-million production cap on the tax credit to attract big-budget productions to the sector.

The province’s biggest success story of late has been with HBO’s The Last of Us (pictured), which the government has stated is one of the largest television productions in Canada’s history. The series premiered on Jan. 15 and was renewed for a second season on Jan. 27. It has not been confirmed whether season two will be shot in Alberta as of press time.

The Last of Us was also noted in the 2023 budget as a “tourism-related success,” with the government announcing a $10 million increase over two years for rural tourism investment, and $15 million over three years for increased marketing support for Travel Alberta.

Alberta is also home to long-running CBC series Heartland, produced by Calgary’s SEVEN24 Films. The prodco is a coproducer with Toronto’s Blink49 Studios on Hallmark Channel’s first Alberta-shot original series, Ride, which premieres on the U.S. channel on March 16.

The province’s Ministry of Culture has also unveiled plans to increase support for the Alberta Made Production Grant. A business plan published by the ministry last month states that the “Alberta Made Screen Industries Program will make $4 million in additional funding available to eligible Alberta-made film productions in 2023-24.”

The Alberta Made Production Grant covers 25%, or a maximum of $125,000, of eligible production costs for small-scale productions owned by Alberta producers. Eligible projects must have a budget between $50,000 to $500,000, according to the grant guidelines.

Image courtesy of Bell Media