5.2 Canadian television
Financing
Exhibit 5-2 a) Financing of Canadian television production: All languages
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private broadcaster licence fees | 292 | 564 | 599 | 443 | 431 |
| Public broadcaster licence fees | 338 | 397 | 399 | 420 | 434 |
| Federal tax credit (1) | 250 | 372 | 399 | 342 | 337 |
| Provincial tax credits (1) | 443 | 705 | 749 | 615 | 614 |
| Canadian distributors (2) | 305 | 404 | 462 | 345 | 416 |
| Foreign pre-sales and advances (3) | 309 | 460 | 464 | 409 | 340 |
| Canada Media Fund (4) | 278 | 280 | 281 | 290 | 283 |
| CIPFs (5) | 50 | 52 | 42 | 40 | 35 |
| Other public (6) | 65 | 155 | 195 | 134 | 121 |
| Other private (7) | 48 | 161 | 200 | 183 | 144 |
| Total | 2,376 | 3,550 | 3,789 | 3,220 | 3,155 |
Source:
Estimates based on data obtained from CAVCO, CMF, Telefilm Canada and CIPFs.
Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding. Data includes an estimate of CRTC-certified television production.
(1) Canadian production companies receive federal and provincial tax credits based on their eligible expenditures, and, in almost all cases, invest their tax credits directly into their television projects, in order to complete their project financing.
(2) Canadian distributors’ financing includes minimum guarantees and advances invested in television programs and theatrical feature films in exchange for rights to market, license and exhibit the audiovisual productions in Canada, unsold territories outside of Canada or on global distribution platforms.
(3) Foreign pre-sales and advances include broadcast licence fees, minimum guarantees, advances and other forms of financing from broadcasters, distributors or other organizations based outside of Canada.
(4) Only programming in the fiction, children’s and youth, documentary and variety and performing arts categories is eligible for CMF funding.
(5) Includes data from the Bell Fund, Eastlink TV Independent Production Fund Program, Independent Production Fund, Indigenous Screen Office Fund, Quebecor Fund, Shaw Rocket Fund and TELUS Fund. Excludes data for Black Screen Office Fund, and Canadian Independent Screen Fund for BPOC Creators.
(6) ‘Other public’ includes financing from provincial governments (excluding SODEC), and other federal government departments and agencies; excludes federal and provincial tax credits, Canadian public broadcasters’ licence fees and funding from Telefilm Canada.
(7) ‘Other private’ includes financing from production companies (excluding the tax credit contribution), broadcaster equity and other Canadian private investors.
The decline in Canadian television production in English, bilingual format or non-official languages (–3.9%) in 2024/25 was attributable to lower levels of financing from foreign pre-sales and advances, private Canadian broadcaster licence fees, and other Canadian public and private financing. Financing from Canadian distributors and Canadian public broadcasters, however, did increase in 2024/25.
Exhibit 5-2 b) Financing of Canadian television production: English-language, bilingual format and non-official languages
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private broadcaster licence fees | 139 | 259 | 302 | 204 | 185 |
| Public broadcaster licence fees | 155 | 206 | 199 | 178 | 185 |
| Federal tax credit (1) | 173 | 259 | 285 | 230 | 225 |
| Provincial tax credits (1) | 333 | 550 | 593 | 468 | 457 |
| Canadian distributors (2) | 301 | 397 | 454 | 331 | 410 |
| Foreign pre-sales and advances (3) | 309 | 450 | 463 | 404 | 336 |
| Canada Media Fund (4) | 187 | 189 | 188 | 187 | 182 |
| CIPFs (5) | 35 | 36 | 31 | 28 | 26 |
| Other public (6) | 17 | 71 | 131 | 100 | 71 |
| Other private (7) | 16 | 105 | 129 | 126 | 93 |
| Total | 1,664 | 2,523 | 2,775 | 2,256 | 2,169 |
Source:
Estimates based on data obtained from CAVCO, CMF, Telefilm Canada and CIPFs.
Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding. Data includes an estimate of CRTC-certified television production.
(1) Canadian production companies receive federal and provincial tax credits based on their eligible expenditures, and, in almost all cases, invest their tax credits directly into their television projects, in order to complete their project financing.
(2) Canadian distributors’ financing includes minimum guarantees and advances invested in television programs and theatrical feature films in exchange for rights to market, license and exhibit the audiovisual productions in Canada, unsold territories outside of Canada or on global distribution platforms.
(3) Foreign pre-sales and advances include broadcast licence fees, minimum guarantees, advances and other forms of financing from broadcasters, distributors or other organizations based outside of Canada.
(4) Only programming in the fiction, children’s and youth, documentary and variety and performing arts categories is eligible for CMF funding.
(5) Includes data from the Bell Fund, Eastlink TV Independent Production Fund Program, Independent Production Fund, Indigenous Screen Office Fund, Quebecor Fund, Shaw Rocket Fund and TELUS Fund. Excludes data for Black Screen Office Fund, and Canadian Independent Screen Fund for BPOC Creators.
(6) ‘Other public’ includes financing from provincial governments (excluding SODEC), and other federal government departments and agencies; excludes federal and provincial tax credits, Canadian public broadcasters’ licence fees and funding from Telefilm Canada.
(7) ‘Other private’ includes financing from production companies (excluding the tax credit contribution), broadcaster equity and other Canadian private investors.
Exhibit 5-2 c) Financing of Canadian television production: French-language
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private broadcaster licence fees | 152 | 306 | 297 | 239 | 246 |
| Public broadcaster licence fees | 184 | 192 | 200 | 241 | 249 |
| Federal tax credit (1) | 77 | 113 | 114 | 112 | 112 |
| Provincial tax credits (1) | 109 | 155 | 155 | 147 | 157 |
| Canadian distributors (2) | 4 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 5 |
| Foreign pre-sales and advances (3) | 0 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Canada Media Fund (4) | 91 | 91 | 92 | 103 | 101 |
| CIPFs (5) | 15 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 9 |
| Other public (6) | 48 | 83 | 64 | 34 | 50 |
| Other private (7) | 32 | 56 | 71 | 57 | 51 |
| Total | 712 | 1,028 | 1,014 | 964 | 986 |
Source:
Estimates based on data obtained from CAVCO, CMF, Telefilm Canada and CIPFs.
Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding. Data includes an estimate of CRTC-certified television production.
(1) Canadian production companies receive federal and provincial tax credits based on their eligible expenditures, and, in almost all cases, invest their tax credits directly into their television projects, in order to complete their project financing.
(2) Canadian distributors’ financing includes minimum guarantees and advances invested in television programs and theatrical feature films in exchange for rights to market, license and exhibit the audiovisual productions in Canada, unsold territories outside of Canada or on global distribution platforms.
(3) Foreign pre-sales and advances include broadcast licence fees, minimum guarantees, advances and other forms of financing from broadcasters, distributors or other organizations based outside of Canada.
(4) Only programming in the fiction, children’s and youth, documentary and variety and performing arts categories is eligible for CMF funding.
(5) Includes data from the Bell Fund, Eastlink TV Independent Production Fund Program, Independent Production Fund, Indigenous Screen Office Fund, Quebecor Fund, Shaw Rocket Fund and TELUS Fund. Excludes data for Black Screen Office Fund, and Canadian Independent Screen Fund for BPOC Creators.
(6) ‘Other public’ includes financing from provincial governments (excluding SODEC), and other federal government departments and agencies; excludes federal and provincial tax credits, Canadian public broadcasters’ licence fees and funding from Telefilm Canada.
(7) ‘Other private’ includes financing from production companies (excluding the tax credit contribution), broadcaster equity and other Canadian private investors.
Foreign pre-sales and advances, and Canadian distributors remained the largest sources of financing for Canadian TV movie production in 2024/25. Canadian broadcasters, the CMF, direct public funding and other private sources also contributed to the financing of Canadian TV movie production, but at much smaller levels than the two largest sources.
Exhibit 5-2 d) Financing of Canadian television production: TV movies (all languages)
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private broadcaster licence fees | 8 | 9 | 19 | 13 | 7 |
| Public broadcaster licence fees | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Federal tax credit (1) | 43 | 47 | 65 | 50 | 44 |
| Provincial tax credits (1) | 97 | 109 | 147 | 113 | 105 |
| Canadian distributors (2) | 93 | 102 | 129 | 113 | 94 |
| Foreign pre-sales and advances (3) | 146 | 152 | 209 | 159 | 129 |
| Canada Media Fund (4) | 3 | 8 | 15 | 12 | 6 |
| Other public (6) | 6 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 18 |
| Other private (7) | 11 | 23 | 26 | 15 | 37 |
| Total | 407 | 467 | 631 | 493 | 440 |
Source:
Estimates based on data obtained from CAVCO, CMF, Telefilm Canada and CIPFs.
Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding. Data includes an estimate of CRTC-certified television production.
(1) Canadian production companies receive federal and provincial tax credits based on their eligible expenditures, and, in almost all cases, invest their tax credits directly into their television projects, in order to complete their project financing.
(2) Canadian distributors’ financing includes minimum guarantees and advances invested in television programs and theatrical feature films in exchange for rights to market, license and exhibit the audiovisual productions in Canada, unsold territories outside of Canada or on global distribution platforms.
(3) Foreign pre-sales and advances include broadcast licence fees, minimum guarantees, advances and other forms of financing from broadcasters, distributors or other organizations based outside of Canada.
(4) Only programming in the fiction, children’s and youth, documentary and variety and performing arts categories is eligible for CMF funding.
(5) Includes data from the Bell Fund, Eastlink TV Independent Production Fund Program, Independent Production Fund, Indigenous Screen Office Fund, Quebecor Fund, Shaw Rocket Fund and TELUS Fund. Excludes data for Black Screen Office Fund, and Canadian Independent Screen Fund for BPOC Creators.
(6) ‘Other public’ includes financing from provincial governments (excluding SODEC), and other federal government departments and agencies; excludes federal and provincial tax credits, Canadian public broadcasters’ licence fees and funding from Telefilm Canada.
(7) ‘Other private’ includes financing from production companies (excluding the tax credit contribution), broadcaster equity and other Canadian private investors.
Canadian broadcasters played a significant role in the financing of lifestyle and human interest, and variety and performing arts production in 2024/25. In the fiction, and children’s and youth categories Canadian distributors played a relatively larger financing role than Canadian broadcasters. While in the documentary category, Canadian producers relied almost equally on Canadian broadcasters (25%) and Canadian distributors and foreign sources (21%).
Exhibit 5-3 a) Financing of Canadian television production, by category, 2024/25: All languages
| Fiction | Children's and youth | Documentary | Lifestyle and human interest (1) | Variety and performing arts | All categories | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private broadcaster licence fees | 147 | 13 | 57 | 181 | 34 | 431 |
| Public broadcaster licence fees | 192 | 49 | 38 | 110 | 45 | 434 |
| Federal tax credit (2) | 182 | 43 | 38 | 55 | 20 | 337 |
| Provincial tax credits (2) | 364 | 89 | 75 | 59 | 28 | 614 |
| Canadian distributors (3) | 226 | 132 | 42 | 14 | 1 | 416 |
| Foreign pre-sales and advances (4) | 275 | 20 | 38 | 5 | 2 | 340 |
| Canada Media Fund (5) | 160 | 30 | 72 | 0 | 21 | 283 |
| Other public (6) | 73 | 15 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 121 |
| Other private (7) | 120 | 11 | 9 | 32 | 7 | 179 |
| Total | 1,738 | 401 | 379 | 471 | 166 | 3,155 |
Source:
Estimates based on data obtained from CAVCO and CMF.
Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding. Data includes an estimate of CRTC-certified television production.
(1) Includes magazine programming and a small amount of programming that was previously allocated to the educational/instructional category.
(2) Canadian production companies receive federal and provincial tax credits based on their eligible expenditures, and, in almost all cases, invest their tax credits directly into their television projects, in order to complete their project financing.
(3) Canadian distributors’ financing includes minimum guarantees and advances invested in television programs and theatrical feature films in exchange for rights to market, license and exhibit the audiovisual productions in Canada, unsold territories outside of Canada or on global distribution platforms.
(4) Foreign pre-sales and advances include broadcast licence fees, minimum guarantees, advances and other forms of financing from broadcasters, distributors or other organizations based outside of Canada.
(5) Only programming in the fiction, children’s and youth, documentary and variety and performing arts categories is eligible for CMF funding.
(6) ‘Other public’ includes financing from provincial governments (excluding SODEC), and other federal government departments and agencies; excludes federal and provincial tax credits, Canadian public broadcasters’ licence fees and funding from Telefilm Canada.
(7) ‘Other private’ includes financing from production companies (excluding the tax credit contribution), broadcaster equity and other Canadian private investors.
In English-language Canadian television production, Canadian broadcasters played a significant role in the financing of lifestyle and human interest, and variety and performing arts production in 2024/25. Meanwhile, in the fiction, and children’s and youth categories, Canadian broadcasters played an even smaller financing role than observed across all Canadian television production. Canadian distributors and foreign sources played a relatively larger financing role those categories. The production of English-language documentary television production also relied more heavily on financing from Canadian distributors, foreign sources and the CMF.
Exhibit 5-3 b) Financing of Canadian television production, by category, 2024/25: English-language, bilingual format and non-official languages
| Fiction | Children's and youth | Documentary | Lifestyle and human interest (1) | Variety and performing arts | All categories | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private broadcaster licence fees | 65 | 7 | 36 | 67 | 10 | 185 |
| Public broadcaster licence fees | 110 | 9 | 20 | 44 | 1 | 185 |
| Federal tax credit (2) | 140 | 32 | 27 | 23 | 3 | 225 |
| Provincial tax credits (2) | 295 | 66 | 56 | 35 | 4 | 457 |
| Canadian distributors (3) | 222 | 132 | 42 | 14 | 0 | 410 |
| Foreign pre-sales and advances (4) | 275 | 20 | 37 | 4 | 0 | 336 |
| Canada Media Fund (5) | 109 | 16 | 50 | 0 | 7 | 182 |
| Other public (6) | 47 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 71 |
| Other private (7) | 92 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 119 |
| Total | 1,355 | 295 | 281 | 209 | 29 | 2,169 |
Source:
Estimates based on data obtained from CAVCO and CMF.
Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding. Data includes an estimate of CRTC-certified television production.
(1) Includes magazine programming and a small amount of programming that was previously allocated to the educational/instructional category.
(2) Canadian production companies receive federal and provincial tax credits based on their eligible expenditures, and, in almost all cases, invest their tax credits directly into their television projects, in order to complete their project financing.
(3) Canadian distributors’ financing includes minimum guarantees and advances invested in television programs and theatrical feature films in exchange for rights to market, license and exhibit the audiovisual productions in Canada, unsold territories outside of Canada or on global distribution platforms.
(4) Foreign pre-sales and advances include broadcast licence fees, minimum guarantees, advances and other forms of financing from broadcasters, distributors or other organizations based outside of Canada.
(5) Only programming in the fiction, children’s and youth, documentary and variety and performing arts categories is eligible for CMF funding.
(6) ‘Other public’ includes financing from provincial governments (excluding SODEC), and other federal government departments and agencies; excludes federal and provincial tax credits, Canadian public broadcasters’ licence fees and funding from Telefilm Canada.
(7) ‘Other private’ includes financing from production companies (excluding the tax credit contribution), broadcaster equity and other Canadian private investors.
In French-language Canadian television production, Canadian broadcasters played a significant role in financing across all categories in 2024/25, particularly in the lifestyle, and human interest and variety and performing arts categories. Meanwhile, Canadian distributors and foreign sources had a much more limited role (compared to English-language television production) in all categories.
Exhibit 5-3 c) Financing of Canadian television production, by category, 2024/25: French-language
| Fiction | Children's and youth | Documentary | Lifestyle and human interest (1) | Variety and performing arts | All categories | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private broadcaster licence fees | 82 | 5 | 22 | 114 | 24 | 246 |
| Public broadcaster licence fees | 82 | 40 | 18 | 66 | 44 | 249 |
| Federal tax credit (2) | 42 | 11 | 10 | 33 | 16 | 112 |
| Provincial tax credits (2) | 69 | 22 | 18 | 24 | 24 | 157 |
| Canadian distributors (3) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Foreign pre-sales and advances (4) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Canada Media Fund (5) | 51 | 14 | 22 | 0 | 14 | 101 |
| Other public (6) | 26 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 50 |
| Other private (7) | 28 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 6 | 60 |
| Total | 383 | 106 | 98 | 262 | 137 | 986 |
Source:
Estimates based on data obtained from CAVCO and CMF.
Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding. Data includes an estimate of CRTC-certified television production.
(1) Includes magazine programming and a small amount of programming that was previously allocated to the educational/instructional category.
(2) Canadian production companies receive federal and provincial tax credits based on their eligible expenditures, and, in almost all cases, invest their tax credits directly into their television projects, in order to complete their project financing.
(3) Canadian distributors’ financing includes minimum guarantees and advances invested in television programs and theatrical feature films in exchange for rights to market, license and exhibit the audiovisual productions in Canada, unsold territories outside of Canada or on global distribution platforms.
(4) Foreign pre-sales and advances include broadcast licence fees, minimum guarantees, advances and other forms of financing from broadcasters, distributors or other organizations based outside of Canada.
(5) Only programming in the fiction, children’s and youth, documentary and variety and performing arts categories is eligible for CMF funding.
(6) ‘Other public’ includes financing from provincial governments (excluding SODEC), and other federal government departments and agencies; excludes federal and provincial tax credits, Canadian public broadcasters’ licence fees and funding from Telefilm Canada.
(7) ‘Other private’ includes financing from production companies (excluding the tax credit contribution), broadcaster equity and other Canadian private investors.