Credit agency Export Development Canada (EDC) allocated more than $250 million in support for the Canadian media and entertainment industry in 2024.
The Crown corporation provided $254.2 million for the year in the form of direct financing and loan guarantees, a notable increase from $161.6 million in 2023 and $150.6 million in 2022, according to a spokesperson for EDC.
The boost is part of EDC’s 2030 strategy to improve Canada’s position as a global trade partner. The strategy was established in 2020 after Canada’s share in global exports fell from 4% in 2000 to 2.3% in 2018.
Guillermo Freire, EDC’s SVP, mid-market group, tells Playback Daily that the agency has targeted medium-sized companies – defined as companies that generate between $10 million to $300 million in annual revenue – to help “close that trade gap.” He says mid-sized companies represent about 8% of Canadian exporters, but 21% of actual domestic exports.
EDC highlighted three companies that received support in 2024: Cineflix Media, Lionsgate Canada and Sphere Media. The financial support included Sphere’s acquisition of Abacus Media Rights. The agency could not disclose the full list of companies it supported for 2024 due to confidentiality concerns.
CJ Hervey, a senior relationship manager who specializes in entertainment and media at EDC, says M&A activity partially drove up the volume of support in 2024. “[Film and TV] has definitely been an active sector [in 2024] because there’s been a lot of opportunity for Canadian companies to grow internationally,” he says.
Hervey adds that many of the requests out of the entertainment sector include working capital to scale up sales and support for M&A activity.
“One of the things that I try to do with customers in this space is to help them take advantage of growth opportunities internationally quickly,” he says. “A lot of times what we can do is help them work with their banks and with finances to help them shoulder the risk of that international expansion.”
Looking forward, Hervey says he’s seeing more opportunities for established companies to set up international projects without the use of a domestic broadcaster.
“There’s a lot of new ways that people are getting things to market quickly,” he says. “The tax credit component of it is really important, and being able to help people monetize their existing work that’s been done to date. We’ve done library financing, we are financing tax credits; giving people more flexibility so that they can make content with partners around the world.”
With the optimism comes a level of uncertainty. U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated plans to implement 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1, though which exports will be hit with tariffs is still to be seen. An analysis from EDC pointed to steel and aluminum as exports targeted in the prior Trump administration.
“We’re all waiting for February 1 to see what happens,” says Freire, adding that he would not speculate on any impact to entertainment exports. “The reality is the U.S. and Canada are the world’s largest trade partners. Tariffs will make Canadian products more expensive for American consumers and vice versa.”
Hervey says he is unaware of past tariffs on IP products like film and television. “It’s much more difficult to say when and where and how they cross the border, so it’s not as easy to put a function in place on it,” he explains. “It’s something that companies are concerned about, because it is part of the conversation around how streamers are treated in Canada, but there’s just no way to know at this point.”
As for any uncertainty with a federal election, Freire says EDC is focused on continuing to execute the 2030 strategy until a new direction is provided by the government.
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