2.6 Canada Media Fund
Canadian content production
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is funded by the Government of Canada, as well as cable-television, direct-to-home (DTH) satellite and Internet protocol television (IPTV) service providers (collectively also known as broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs)). It fosters, develops, finances and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual media platforms.
In 2024/25, the CMF had an overall program budget of $369 million.[9] Prior to 20204/25, the CMF provided funding in accordance with its Convergent and Experimental Streams model. Beginning in 2024/25, however, the CMF moved away from that model and began funding the production of screen-based media content across three platform-agnostic pillars: Ideation, Creation and Industry.
• Ideation includes the funding of pre-development and development.
• Creation includes all programs offering funding for projects ready to move into production.
• Industry funding supports initiatives designed to strengthen the infrastructure and efficiency of Canada’s audiovisual ecosystem.
CMF Highlights from 2024/25
• In the linear content space, CMF’s funding for creation (i.e. production) totalled $290 million and supported $1.71 billion[10] in content production in 2024/25 and generated an estimated 31,400 jobs (including direct and spin-off impacts) – an increase from 30,700 in 2023/24.
• While CMF funding for linear content creation declined by $13 million in 2024/25 to $290 million, the total value of supported content production budgets actually increased by $123 million or 7.8% to a total of $1.71 billion, or 45% of Canadian television content production.
• The total number of supported hours of production was lower in all categories except variety and performing arts (Exhibit 2 - 13). As a result of the decrease in the total value of supported production budgets, the CMF’s overall financial leverage also increased in 2024/25. Each dollar of CMF funding for linear content creation helped to attract $4.89 in additional financing, up from $4.23 in 2023/24.
While the CMF has experienced reduced revenues from BDUs in recent years due to decreasing subscriber levels, these reduced revenues have been partially offset by additional funding from the federal government.
• A stabilization fund was put into place in 2017 to compensate the CMF for decreases in BDU revenues to a maximum of $42.5 million; however, this cap was reached in 2023/24.
• Since 2021/22, the CMF has received various additional short-term allocations from the federal government to invest in projects and initiatives by Indigenous and equity-deserving communities, as well as French-language content. In 2024/25, the CMF received a total of $40 million for these initiatives.[11]
Exhibit 2-11 a) Volume of linear content production with CMF contributions
Source:
CMF.
Note:
* Other financing includes contributions from production companies, broadcasters, distributors and government sources other than CMF.
Exhibit 2-11 b) CMF-supported linear content production vs. total Canadian television production
Source:
CMF and estimates based on data collected from CAVCO.
Exhibit 2-11 c) CMF-supported linear content production as a share of total Canadian television production
Source:
CMF and estimates based on data collected from CAVCO.
Exhibit 2-12 Number of jobs (i.e. person-count) generated by CMF-supported production
Source:
Estimates based on data from the CMF and Statistics Canada.
Note:
See the Notes on methodology section for a description of the job-estimation methodology.
Exhibit 2-13 Number of CMF-supported hours of television production, by category
| 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Documentary | 1,041 | 1,045 | 831 | 959 | 1,051 | 1,035 | 1,142 | 990 | 1,025 | 955 |
| Children's and youth | 763 | 688 | 697 | 516 | 547 | 546 | 463 | 404 | 485 | 445 |
| Drama (i.e. fiction) | 757 | 728 | 724 | 727 | 760 | 674 | 947 | 908 | 856 | 817 |
| Variety and performing arts | 398 | 418 | 452 | 393 | 415 | 360 | 317 | 305 | 312 | 362 |
| Total | 2,959 | 2,878 | 2,704 | 2,595 | 2,773 | 2,615 | 2,869 | 2,607 | 2,678 | 2,580 |
Source:
CMF.
Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding.
Exhibit 2-14 CMF contribution to television production, by category
Source:
CMF.
Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding.
Interactive digital media includes innovative digital media content and software applications supported by the CMF. In 2024/25, the CMF provided $37.5 million in funding for the creation of 42 interactive digital media content assets with total production budgets of $63.9 million.[12]
Box 2 CMF-supported interactive digital media creation, CMF contribution and supported projects, 2024/25
Source:
CMF.
Note:
These figures are not included elsewhere in total numbers or figures in the report.