BBDO Canada has agreed to work exclusively with Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) performers for all commercial projects.

Announced March 28, the move by one of Canada’s larger advertising agencies, is effective immediately, says ACTRA, the national union representing the interests of 30,000 professional performers working in recorded media in Canada.

On LinkedIn, ACTRA Toronto offered BBDO a “welcome back” message saying the agency has a long legacy of working with the union and thanked ACTRA National and its national executive for getting the deal across the line.

In a video message, Marie Kelly, ACTRA national executive director and chief negotiator, praised union efforts to bring work back to its membership after a lengthy labour dispute, which had kept thousands of unionized commercial actors in Canada from working.

At issue, The National Commercial Agreement (NCA), which establishes the terms and conditions for on-and-off-camera performers engaged in English-language commercial production, and whether it functions as a collective agreement or simply a contract.

The Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA), representing Canadian brands, and the Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA), representing the creative agencies that produce ads on behalf of brands, were signatories to the longstanding NCA, until talks with the latter broke down in 2022, leading to a number of demonstrations, including one outside strategy‘s Marketing Awards in 2023, that direct went after agencies which ACTRA said were locking out its members – a claim ICA disputes.

Last year, ACA ratified a one-year renewal of the NCA which will be in effect until May 31, 2025.

This story by Christopher Lombardo originally appeared in strategy

Image: Unsplash