OTTAWA – The Government of Canada is committed to supporting Canadian feature films and television productions because they tell our story and reflect our lives. We are modernizing our support for the audiovisual sector to connect better with Canadians, including through actions like the Online Streaming Act that help the sector adapt to the evolving creation ecosystem.
To respond to challenges facing the screen sector, Budget 2021 invested $105 million over three years in Telefilm Canada. This investment aimed to provide better access to a diverse range of creators and producers, support sustainable practices, and respond to the needs of an evolving audiovisual industry.
Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced a total investment of $100 million for Telefilm Canada over two years (2024–25 and 2025–26), to ensure that it can pursue the modernization of its suite of programs, continue to provide better access to a diverse range of creators and producers and continue to support sustainable practices.
This support will also ensure Telefilm maintains initiatives to improve support for creators from equity-deserving communities and measures to advance environmental sustainability, as introduced through temporary Budget 2021 investments. This commitment is crucial for maintaining the sector’s sustainability, fostering competitiveness and nurturing the growth of the creative economy.
The creation of screen content that reflects Canada and our diversity, such as the feature films Bones of Crows, Brother, Blackberry and Simple comme Sylvain, is key to developing our talents. Telefilm Canada played an essential role in the development and success of all of these stories, which reflect the very best of Canada.
Canada’s audiovisual industry is a major source of economic activity and jobs for Canadians across the country. The government remains committed to the success of Canadian audiovisual content production as we continue to modernize our support for the sector.
“When Canadians see and hear our stories reflected on screen, we feel the connectedness of unique, powerful, shared cultural touchstones. To support Canada’s creative sector better, we made a commitment to Canadians to increase the funding for Telefilm Canada. Today, we’re delivering. This investment is essential to maintain the positive impact of Telefilm and to enable its modernization and its overall support for our feature film sector. Our country needs a strong and vibrant industry to ensure that Canadians can continue to access high-quality audiovisual content that is made and owned by them and seen and experienced by all of us.” – Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage