The federal government has injected more than $450 million into Canada’s film and TV sector over the next three years, though it has not made the funding permanent.

Minister of Finance François-Philippe Champagne tabled the budget on Tuesday (Nov. 4), which includes $280 billion in spending on the country’s infrastructure, housing, defense and competitiveness over the next five years.

Telefilm received $150 million over three years, beginning in 2026-27, which falls short of the film industry’s strong calls to the government to make Telefilm’s $50-million annual top-up permanent. The prior $100-million allocation expires on March 31, 2026.

The Canada Media Fund is receiving $127.5 million over the same period to support audiovisual content, while the National Film Board of Canada has been allocated $26.1 million over three years “to produce and share Canadian content with the world.”

The budget includes a one-year top-up of $150 million to CBC/Radio-Canada for the 2025-26 fiscal year. According to the budget, the government will “explore modernising CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate to strengthen independence,” and is also working with the national pubcaster to help Canada participate in Eurovision.

During its spring election campaign, the Liberal government said it would increase CBC/Radio-Canada’s annual funding by $150 million. Prime Minister Mark Carney said at the time that the government would “enshrine and protect” the national public broadcaster.

Prior to the election, former Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge had proposed a plan to modernize CBC/Radio-Canada, which included prohibiting advertising on news and public affairs programming and eliminating subscription fees to digital services. To do so, Heritage proposed nearly doubling its per capita funding to $62.20 from the current $33.66.

A few months after the election, the government asked CBC and other Crown corporations to propose spending cuts over three years. At the time, a spokesperson for CBC/Radio-Canada said the proposal was separate from the $150 million commitment and any budgetary cuts at the pubcaster wouldn’t take place until 2026.

Other audiovisual-related measures in the budget include $6 million over three years to support the French-language streaming platform TV5MONDEplus, and $6 million to the Canada Council for the Arts.

The budget comes as Canada’s economy has been worsened by tariffs from the U.S., which have impacted several industries in the country, including steel, lumber, automotive and aluminum. While the tariffs haven’t directly impacted the film and TV sector, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-shot films.

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