The Canadian federal government has provided an additional $40 million in support to the Canada Media Fund (CMF) over the next two fiscal years.

The new funding was revealed in the 2023 budget, tabled by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland (pictured) on Tuesday (March 28).

The $40 million, which will be allocated across 2023-24 and 2024-25, is meant to “make funding more open to traditionally underrepresented voices, and to increase funding for French-language screen content,” read the budget.

CMF president and CEO Valerie Creighton said the “new investment is a first step towards the government’s commitment to double its annual contribution to the CMF” in a statement.

The commitment was made by the Liberal Party during the 2021 federal election campaign. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also directed Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez in a mandate letter in December 2021, following the election, to increase funding to CMF and Telefilm Canada “to support Canadian feature films and television productions.”

While no additional financial support was included for Telefilm in the 2023 budget, the 2021 budget previously provided an additional $105 million over three years. Within that investment, $50 million was allocated for 2023-24.

The additional investment for CMF was “applauded” by Canadian Media Producers Association president and CEO Reynolds Mastin, adding that “we strongly support the CMF’s efforts to advance equity, diversity and inclusion within the audiovisual sector.”

The Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM) said the $40 million investment toward CMF is “insufficient” in supporting French-language content, citing another campaign commitment to change the English and French allocation from the current two-thirds English and one-third French, to 60% English and 40% French.

Other screen sector investments mentioned in the bill include approximately $9 million across 2023-24 and 2024-25 to support the National Film Board of Canada “to continue to produce and share Canadian content with the world,” and $4 million to Quebec streaming platform TV5MONDEplus across 2024-25 and 2025-26 to “ensure that French-speaking Canadian audiovisual producers have access to new markets.”

Advocacy group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting criticized the budget for not including additional funding for CBC/Radio-Canada.

“During the last federal election, the Liberals promised to increase funding to our national public broadcaster to reduce its reliance on advertising dollars. Now, two budgets later, Canadians and, more to the point, the CBC, are still waiting,” said executive director Marla Boltman in a statement.

The organization issued a pre-budget submission to Deputy Prime Minister Freeland in February, calling for a 10-year investment of “sustainable and steadily rising funding” to support CBC/Radio-Canada.

“Only a commitment of this magnitude will send the much-needed message to Canadians that our government believes in a strong national public broadcaster. Without it, there is little counter-voice in Ottawa to the ill-informed calls to defund the CBC,” said Boltman.

Photo by Adam Scott