The Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC) will have an “expanded role” in supporting the cultural sector in Quebec, according to the province’s 2023-24 budget.

The funder will receive an envelope of $200 million as part of the expansion, which the budget says will bring “new financial instruments… to enrich its financing offer, particularly in the form of private placements.”

Further information on what this expanded role for SODEC will look like is expected to be announced by Minister of Culture and Communications Mathieu Lacombe “at a later date,” read the budget.

The overall Quebec budget, announced Tuesday (March 21), unveiled $24 billion in new spending, including $2.3 billion to “develop the potential of youth.”

A total of $649.3 million has been allocated to “promote Quebec culture and the French language” over the next five years, with $561.4 million invested across three initiatives. Within those initiatives, $415.4 million will go toward a “new impetus to cultural development,” $95 million to support cultural content in the digital space, and $51 million to promote cultural works and increase accessibility.

Of the $415.4 million investment, $101.1 million has been allocated to public broadcaster Télé-Québec to “reaffirm its role in youth programming” and provide “an original and renewed offering” on its various platforms. It also includes $297.5 million to continue Quebec’s culture action plan, which was first established in 2018.

The $95 million investment in the digital sector includes adjustments to the current tax credit for multimedia. The changes include an expanded scope of what counts as eligible labour, and an increase on the cap on labour expenditures from 50% to 60%.

The budget also mentions the establishment of “an online presence for Québec’s cultural content, with the help of a new digital action plan for culture,” with the Minister also expected to unveil further details at a later date.

Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM) expressed disappointment that the budget did not include a request from them to adjust the Refundable Tax Credit for Film Production Services.

The producers association said the request included a permanent measure to contend with increased production costs, including raising the cap on labour expenditures from 50% to 65%, as the temporary production support put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic expires at the end of this month. The association said it provided an estimate that the measures could have led to $80 million injected into productions over the next year.

AQPM also called on the ministry to deliver details on measures announced in the new budget in the next few days.

SODEC, which administers the tax credit, and the Ministry of Culture and Communications have not responded to a request for comment as of press time.

The Quebec government initiated the temporary production relief in 2020 to contend with increased production costs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was extended in 2021 and 2022.

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