The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has reported a decrease in the level of industry activity triggered by its programs during fiscal.

The funder published its annual report on Wednesday (Sept. 20), revealing it triggered $1.7 billion in industry activity overall, down from the record high of $1.9 billion in the previous fiscal year.

A total of 1,334 television and interactive digital media projects were financed to the tune of $360.3 million through 30 programs and six international incentives, according to the report. Every dollar invested generated $4.85 in production activity across the country, lower than the $5.16 reported in 2021-2022.

CMF received 1,746 funding applications in 2022-2023, which was 15% less than the 2,062 received in 2021-2022, when the funder invested $359.3 million in 1,472 projects. The number of overall projects supported fell by 9% year-over-year.

CMF president and CEO Valerie Creighton said in a statement that the funder “adapted to challenges and seized opportunities during a year of disruption and uncertainty.”

She wrote in the report that CMF “maintained a balance between stability during a transitory period and preparing to hit the ground running once regulatory changes and industry modernization take effect.”

English-language productions accounted for 64.9% of CMF program funding, followed by French productions at 31.1%, Indigenous at 2.9%, and diverse languages at $1.1%.

Production volume triggered by-English language productions amounted to $974.6 million, a slight drop from the post-pandemic high of more than $1 billion in 2021-2022. French language projects, meanwhile, triggered $628.6 million, down from $653.9 million last year. The production volume triggered by Indigenous-language productions was $25 million.

The total production volume triggered from the Pilot Program for Racialized Communities, which was launched in 2021-2022, was $50.6 million, with English-language projects accounting for $38.7 million and French-language projects for $11.9 million.

Total sales from funded projects for all languages was $201.5 million, up from the $150.5 million reported in 2021-2022. Notably, the number of sold projects slightly fell, coming to 986 compared to 997 in the previous fiscal year, despite the monetary increase. Dramas accounted for 77% of the sales, with children’s and youth programming taking the second biggest share with 14.1%.

Documentary accounted for 8.8%, with the remaining 0.2% of sales coming from variety and performing arts programming.

CMF’s total revenue decreased by 3.9%, coming to $388.6 million in 2022-2023 from $404.3 million in the previous year.

Federal government funding to the CMF increased by 2.5%, hitting $188.3 million during the fiscal year compared to $183.8 million in 2021-2022. The report noted that since 2018-2019, the government has increased its funding to the CMF to offset the decline in BDU contributions, which continued to decrease in 2022-23. Contributions from BDUs fell by 6.4%, coming to $171.3 million in 2022-2023 from $183 million in 2021-2022.

Revenue reported from the recoupment of production investments increased by 52.9%, coming to more than $9 million during the fiscal year compared to $5.9 million in 2021-2022, while revenue from tangible benefits decreased by 12.3%, falling year-over-year to just under $2 million compared to $2.3 million in the previous fiscal.

Meanwhile, total expenses decreased by 5.3%, falling to $380.8 in 2022-2023 compared to $402.1 million in the prior year. Program commitments accounted for 92.4% of total expenses.

Earlier this week, the funder announced that it has been authorized by Canadian Heritage to modernize its funding models and programs, which, according to a statement by Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge, will be “more flexible and content-focused.” Changes to its programs will be introduced over the next two fiscal years.

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