The Motion Picture Association Canada (MPAC) has published a new report examining the impact of global streamers and studios on the audiovisual sector in Canada.

The report, published on Monday (June 3) and prepared by KPMG for MPAC, touted the “significant role” foreign players have played in the development of the industry. It highlighted $7.58 billion in foreign investment in production (FIIP) in 2021-22, citing data from the Canadian Media Producers Association’s Profile 2022, and its impact on employment and the economy in Canada.

MPAC represents The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount, Netflix, Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal Media and Warner Bros. Discovery. The findings in the report are framed in the context of the Online Streaming Act and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) process for its implementation, outlining its current impact before any regulatory changes have been made.

“How the OSA [Online Streaming Act] is implemented by the CRTC will therefore impact their [studios and streamers’] operations in this country and the effects are likely to be felt throughout the sector’s value chain,” read the report.

The report comes ahead of a decision by the CRTC this week on base contributions by the global players to the Canadian broadcast system.

The $7.58 billion FIIP figure from 2021-22 includes $6.71 billion in foreign location and services (FLS) production and $874 million in Canadian-owned productions. Of the latter amount, $519 million represents pre-sales, advances and licensing agreements, representing about 13% of total investment in Canadian content. In 2022, FLS accounted for 57% of the total production volume, which hit $11.7 billion.

The report argued that “the growing presence of foreign production in Canada has not happened at the expense of Canadian-owned production, which has also grown in absolute terms.”

Between 2012-13 to 2021-22, global series production saw an increase of more than 18.5% and global movies more than 11%, while the increase for Canadian-owned series and movies was more than 4.8% and roughly 0.2%, respectively, according to the report.

The study also said that global production “fueled employment at a rate three times higher than that of domestic production” over a 10-year period.

FLS productions also generated $6.434 billion in labour income in 2021-22, noted the report.

Based on data received from the MPA Studios covering calendar year 2022, the report said the total spend on local businesses was more than $4.8 billion impacting 38,965 businesses.

The report entitled, Impact of global studios and streamers on Canadian creatives and cultural ecosystem, includes information from interviews with industry representatives such as union leaders, producers and executives which were carried out by KPMG during September and October 2023.

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