Notes on methodology

Estimates of Canadian production

The estimates of Canadian production are based on data from the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) of the Department of Canadian Heritage. In order to account for the fact that there is a 42-month window in which producers may submit their application to CAVCO, Nordicity applied the following gross-up factors to the raw production data supplied by CAVCO.[32]

  • Gross-up factors applied to the raw production data supplied by CAVCO:
    • 2022/23: 2.9%
    • 2023/24: 5.4%
    • 2024/25: 22.4% (television) 16.4% (theatrical)

Note that the gross-up factor for 2024/25 is higher than the rate previously used (11%) in Profile 2023 and earlier editions. This is due to the fact that this version of the Profile was prepared using a dataset from CAVCO from the spring rather than fall and therefore would be subject to a larger lag adjustment, since it was missing six months of data in comparison to the historical fall datasets supplied by CAVCO.

The above rates were based on historical rates of under-coverage observed in the CAVCO statistics between 2012/13 and 2018/19 (i.e. before the COVID-19 pandemic), with particular weight given to the rates of under-coverage observed in the latter years of this 7-year period.[33] The rates for 2024/25 include further adjustment to reflect the historical changes in volume observed between the spring and fall datasets prepared by CAVCO.

Revisions to historical statistics

Due to the 42-month application lag at CAVCO, it is possible that the data from CAVCO may not provide a comprehensive indication of production volume until up to four years after the end of a particular fiscal year. As a result, the Canadian production statistics reported in Profile 2025 for the previous three years (2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24) have been revised to reflect all currently available data from CAVCO.

Estimates of Canadian television production certified by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

The estimates of Canadian television production include an estimate of television production certified by the Canadian Radio-television and telecommunications Commission (CRTC) (i.e. television production exclusively certified by the CRTC). Research conducted by Nordicity and the Department of Canadian Heritage in 2009 indicated that CRTC-certified television production accounted for an estimated 13.5% of total Canadian production. This rate was used in Profile 2025 to estimate the total volume of CRTC-certified production.

Short films

Short films include films under 75 minutes in length. In Profile 2012 and earlier editions, data for theatrical short films was included in the overall statistics for Canadian theatrical production. Beginning in Profile 2013, data for theatrical short films was included in the statistics for Canadian television production. In Profile 2024, data for theatrical short films has been included in Canadian television production for all years – 2013/14 through 2024/25.

Although the definition of theatrical short films would imply that they should be included in the Canadian theatrical production statistics, by removing them, we can better isolate data on theatrical feature films. Furthermore, we note that the low volume of theatrical short film production reported in earlier editions of Profile suggests that applicants had, in fact, reported many theatrical short films in the Canadian television production category.

Canada Media Fund

Statistics for CMF funding and supported production are reported on a fiscal-year basis, April 1 to March 31. Data is collected by the CMF during pre-production. In this report, if the source of the data is CMF alone, the data represents a pre-production year. If the source refers to CMF data with other sources, such as CAVCO, a project’s fiscal year is adjusted accordingly. The statistics reported for the CMF include data for linear content creation supported by the CMF in 2024/25 and Convergent Stream production supported by the CMF in prior fiscal years.

Broadcaster in-house production

A complete set of provincial statistics was not available for private broadcaster in-house production in the Prairie Provinces and Atlantic Canada. For the Prairie Provinces, Nordicity developed estimates based on the historical shares observed in the CRTC statistics prior to 2001 – before the CRTC began to suppress the provincial statistics. The breakdown of private broadcaster in-house production among the provinces in Atlantic Canada was also based on the development of estimates. Because no historical data existed, each province’s share of Atlantic Canada’s total gross domestic product (GDP) was used as the proxy variable for the estimate.

Reconciliation with statistics published by federal and provincial funding agencies

Certain federal and provincial funding agencies, including Telefilm Canada, also publish statistics for film and television production activity. The statistics published by these funding agencies may differ from those in Profile 2025 for a variety of reasons.

  • Reasons the statistics published by these funding agencies may differ from those in Profile 2025:
    • Provincial funding agencies typically report production activity based on the amount of production spending left in the province (i.e., paid to persons and businesses resident in the province). The statistics in Profile are derived from CAVCO data and report 100% of a project’s spending in the province in which the lead producer is located. For the purpose of Exhibit 2-6b, CAVCO’s spend-based statistics report 100% of a project’s spending in the province that accounted for the majority of that’s project’s filming days.
    • Certain provincial funding agencies publish production statistics on a calendar-year basis rather than on a fiscal-year basis, as they are reported in Profile.
    • Statistics reported by Telefilm Canada only include feature films that either received financial support from the agency or were recommended under one of Canada’s audiovisual coproduction treaties.
    • Some funding agencies report production activity on the basis of the fiscal year in which a film or television project receives approval for its tax credit application or other type of funding award, rather than the year in which the project’s principal photography starts (i.e. the practice used by CAVCO). For example, Telefilm Canada reports feature film production activity based on the fiscal year in which a project receives its funding commitment from the agency.
    • Statistics reported by funding agencies exclude broadcaster in-house production.

Foreign investment in production

Foreign investment in production (FIIP) tracks the value of international financial participation in the film and television production industry in Canada. FIIP includes foreign presales and distribution advances for all projects certified by CAVCO; estimates of presales and distribution advances for non-CAVCO-certified productions; and the total value of foreign location and service (FLS) production in Canada. FIIP as opposed to just exports better reflects the nature of film and television production in Canada. It acknowledges that film and television productions are intangible products and portions of the copyright can be exported to foreign countries. It also accounts for the budgets of productions shot in Canada, even when the copyright is held by a foreign entity.

The data used to estimate FIIP only includes the financing of the Canadian budget of treaty coproductions. As a result, the foreign budgets for treaty coproductions do not directly contribute to FIIP. Treaty coproductions contribute only to FIIP if the financing of the Canadian budget includes a foreign presale or distribution advance.

Estimation of person-count employment

To estimate the number of people employed in film and television production (i.e. direct employment) as well as the spin-off employment generated by film and TV production, Nordicity developed multipliers for converting the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) into headcount. (See below for description of the methodology for estimating FTEs).

For direct employment, these multipliers were developed based on research of aggregate wages, days worked, and the number of people currently registered with unions and guilds to work in film and TV production in Canada. In total, data was collected from seven local unions, and three broader labour organisations (i.e. ICG, ACTRA, DGC) representing workers in multiple parts of Canada.

These calculations were based on labour force participation measured in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and may change over time depending on labour market conditions and changes in the overall composition of the film and TV production workforce by department.

For spin-off employment, Nordicity developed a separate multiplier based on the economy-wide ratio of employees to full-time equivalents. This economy-wide ratio was based on data published in Statistics Canada Tables 14-10-0043-01 and 14-10-0327-03.

Estimation of full-time equivalent (FTE) employment

Nordicity calculated the number of direct jobs by estimating the share of total production volume that was paid as salaries and wages to cast and crew, and then dividing this estimate by an estimate of the average salary of an FTE in the film and television production sector.

Nordicity multiplied total production volume by 57%, to estimate the portion of production budgets that was paid as salary and wages to cast and crew members. This assumption of 57% is based on data provided by CAVCO on the average portion of production budgets comprised of Canadian labour expenditures.

The average FTE salary assumption for 2024/25 was $86,052. Nordicity developed the average FTE salary assumption based on data from Statistics Canada’s 2016 Census. From 2016 onwards, Nordicity has made annual adjustments to the average FTE assumption by applying the average rate of change in the economy-wide average hourly wage (excluding overtime) of employees paid by the hour in Canada (see Statistics Canada, Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours, Table 14-10-0206-01).[34]

Average FTE

Spin-off employment impact

The number of spin-off FTEs is equal to the sum of indirect and induced FTEs.

Based on previous reviews of Statistics Canada’s 2004 multiplier tables and data for the Motion Picture and Video Production, Distribution, Post-Production and Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (which was the closest industry grouping to film and TV production); Conference Board of Canada, Canada Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy (2008); and adjustments to take into account wage inflation.

Economic impact of production

Labour income

Direct labour income in the film and television production sector was derived by multiplying the number of direct FTEs by the average production-sector FTE cost of in the film and television production industry (see above). The estimate of spin-off labour income was derived by multiplying the number of spin-off FTEs by an economy-wide average FTE cost of $65,520.

Gross domestic product

Given the prominence of wages and salaries within the direct impact of film and TV production, direct GDP was calculated by multiplying direct labour income by 1.02. Spin-off GDP was derived by applying the GDP-wage ratio of 1.49 implied by the analysis in Conference Board of Canada, Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy (2008).

[32]Under the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) program, producers can submit their CPTC application to CAVCO up to 42 months after the end of the fiscal year in which principal photography started.
[33]The higher weighting given to more recent years (i.e. in the years leading up to 2018/19) is intended to reflect the fact that producer-application practices in those more recent years would likely be more reflective of the application lag situation than in earlier years within that seven-year period.
[34]To better reflect the labour market and production-cost conditions within the film and television production industry, for 2020/21, Nordicity applied the implied average annual rate of change in the average hourly wage (excluding overtime) within the Information and Cultural Industries (14.7%).