There was good news in Quebec’s provincial budget for both domestic and foreign producers on Thursday, easing industry concerns about a possible rollback to the labour portion of the province’s film and TV tax credit.

The government increased the credit for local productions and locally based coproductions from 28% to 32% and increased the tax credit rate for sound recording, film dubbing and the production of multimedia environments or events staged outside Quebec to 35%. The increases reverse a good portion of 2014’s rollbacks across the categories.

Equally as significant for the province’s film and TV industry is that the province’s 20% all-spend, no-cap tax credit for production services remains unchanged. In a report last week, the provincially appointed Godbout Commission recommended a $100,000 salary ceiling for labour incentives.

“Through such measurable actions, the Government of Quebec is acknowledging the fact that increased financial resources were necessary for these areas of our film and TV industry to be able to compete in an environment where access to foreign content is made that much easier by new, rapidly expanding technologies,” said Québec Film and Television Council (QFTC) GM Pierre Moreau in a statement.

The QFTC called the government’s decision to disregard the Godbout report’s recommendations a “wise and lucid decision indeed.”

The QFTC did take the opportunity to point out that the 5% rollback of its provincial tax credit, applicable to foreign productions, makes the province less competitive against its neighbour, Ontario, which has so far maintained its overall film and TV tax credit at 25%.

The government also boosted the tax credit for multimedia production (encompassing video games) from 30% to 37.5%, with a maximum credit of $37,500.

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