Telefilm Canada has outlined its financial contributions to the audiovisual industry for 2024-25, and also provided an update on its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan.

According to Telefilm’s 2024-25 annual report, released Thursday (Oct. 17), the Crown corporation provided $144.5 million in financial support over the fiscal year, a 4% increase from $138.8 million the year prior. However, the level of direct funding to the sector has remained relatively stable, if not slightly decreased compared to the previous period.

In 2024-25, Telefilm allocated $106.3 million to the audiovisual industry, down slightly from $106.4 million in 2023-24.

Broken down, $81.1 million went to production (up 2% from $80 million), $11 million to development (down 7% from $11.8 million), $6.6 million to theatrical documentary (down 9% from $7.3 million), $3.6 million to Talent to Watch (down 13% from $4.2 million), $2.3 million to international funds (up 9% from $2.1 million), $535,000 to community engagement (down 14% from $621,000) and $455,000 toward recommendations of projects to Canadian Heritage for treaty coproductions (up 9% from $419,000).

Another $30.9 million went to promotional support, a decrease of 5% from $32.3 million in 2023-24.

More than a third of the spend ($12.8 million) went to marketing and audience engagement, up 11% from $11.5 million in the prior fiscal year. A total of $7.9 million went to national and international promotional activities (down 7% from $8.5 million), while $7.3 million went to festivals and industry events (down 13% from $8.4 million), $1.7 million to international promotion (down 6% from $1.8 million) and just under $1 million to theatrical exhibition (down 33% from $1.5 million).

Telefilm did not allocate any funds toward export assistance in the fiscal year, compared to $641,000 in the prior period. The Export Assistance Program was revamped in June into the International Promotion Program – Distribution Support, which is open for applications until Feb. 11, 2026.

The boost in the total funding contributions for the fiscal year came from the administration of government funds toward TIFF: The Market and National Canadian Film Day. A total of $7.5 million was allocated across the two events. The government had directed $1 million in funding to National Canadian Film Day for 2025 and $23 million over three years to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to launch its content market.

The annual report also outlined the level of diversity among key creatives in funded projects under the Production Program. For directors, 43% identified as women, 26% as Black or a person of colour, 23% as 2SLGBTQIA+, 13% as a person with a disability and 8% as gender diverse.

For screenwriters, 47% identified as women, 23% as Black or a person of colour, 22% as 2SLGBTQIA+, 15% as a person with a disability and 8% as gender diverse. As for producers, 39% identified as women, 20% as Black or a person of colour, 19% as 2SLGBTQIA+ and 7% each for those identifying as gender diverse or a person with a disability.

According to the report, projects including at least one racialized or Black key creative accounted for $22.2 million in funding. Projects including a key creative with a disability accounted for $14.3 million, and those from 2SLGBTQIA+ creatives accounted for $34.4 million.

Telefilm supported seven projects from Indigenous creators via the Indigenous stream of the Production Program, totalling $3.9 million in funding.

Those statistics factored into Telefilm’s update on its 2022-24 EDI strategy, which was released on Tuesday (Oct. 14). The report outlined how Telefilm had achieved or partially achieved many of its goals under the four pillars set out in the three-year strategy, which were focused on program equity, EDI decision-making based on data, becoming a more effective ally to the industry, and creating a stronger sense of belonging internally.

Some of the objectives achieved under the pillars include increasing accessibility to its programs, which led to an increase in applications from teams from “EDI communities.” According to the report, 77% of applicants to Talent to Watch in 2024-25 were through the Filmmaker Apply-Direct Stream, which requires that all members of the creative team identify as either Indigenous, Black, a person of colour, a woman, gender diverse, 2SLGBTQIA+ or a person with a disability, or be a member of an Official Language Minority Community.

Telefilm also saw the number of applications from EDI communities increase in the Theatrical Documentary Program after removing a requirement to have a distributor for projects with a budget under $500,000. The funder saw 58 applicants in 2024-25 (out of 109 eligible applicants) compared to 25 in 2022-23.

The Crown corporation also exceeded its goal of funding 16 projects with one key creative identifying as Black or racialized, hitting 22 in 2023-24 and 21 in 2024-25.

Telefilm only partially achieved its goal to attain gender parity, which it defines as 40% or more funded projects involving women as key creatives. While the level of funding for women writers and directors was above 40% in 2022-23 and 2023-24, it did not meet the goal for 2024-25. Women producers achieved 40% of funding in 2022-23, but did not pass the bar in the following fiscal years.

One goal that was not achieved was creating development opportunities through mentorship programs, which Telefilm said is “still under study.”

Telefilm is currently developing its next EDI action plan, according to the report.

The full annual report is available here, and the EDI update can be found here.

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