Canada’s screen industry has continued to garner support from provincial governments in the rollout of annual budgets this week.

The government of Ontario’s budget, tabled Thursday (March 23), provided further details to the previously announced modernization of the province’s tax credits. Namely, a change to the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit (OFTTC) and the Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC) to expand eligibility to digital-exclusive content, including those found on streaming platforms.

Digital content must meet certain requirements, according to draft amendments published on the province’s Regulatory Registry. Among them are a budget threshold of $250,000 (raised to $500,000 for productions “not exhibited on a third-party platform”), a minimum $2,000 per minute runtime budget requirement, and an agreement in writing with an eligible exhibitor for the production to be available in Ontario within two years of completion.

The requirements were put in place to “ensure the OFTTC only supports professional productions,” according to a summary of the draft amendments. Once passed, the amendments would apply to productions that commenced principal photography on or after Nov. 1, 2022.

The amendments also include a requirement that productions using the tax credits must include on-screen acknowledgement in the end credits. The draft amendments are currently available for public comment until April 11.

The expanded eligibility is expected to provide an estimated “$58 million in additional support to the industry from 2022-23 to 2025-26,” according to the Ontario budget.

Financial boosts for Atlantic provinces

The government of Nova Scotia has invested an additional $14 million toward the province’s Film and Television Incentive Fund for the 2023-24 fiscal year, bringing the total budget to $39 million. The additional funds were in the 2023-24 budget, unveiled on Thursday.

The incentive fund has an annual budget of $25 million, but has received additional support in recent years as the province continues to attract local productions. The budget was raised to $41.4 million in 2022-23, with the government also raising the per-project cap to $10 million from the previous $4 million.

The province also saw $20.9 million added to the More Opportunity for Skilled Trades program, which gives skilled workers under the age of 30 in certain industries a refund on their provincial income tax. The program was expanded to include a variety of production crew roles in 2022.

The Newfoundland and Labrador 2023 budget, also tabled on Thursday, announced that the province’s All Spend Film and Video Production Tax Credit will now cover 40% of eligible production costs, up from 30% when it was launched in the previous year.

The tax credit was introduced in 2022 as an additional incentive to the existing Newfoundland and Labrador Film Tax Credit, which covers 40% of eligible labour costs. It was created to attract more domestic and service productions to the region.

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