1 Overview of the screen sector in Canada

The film and television production industry in Canada consists of four key segments:

Canadian television production includes television programs made largely by independent production companies, but also television programs made by production companies affiliated with Canadian broadcasters. All of these television programs are certified as Canadian content by the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) of the Department of Canadian Heritage, or the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).^[1]
Canadian theatrical feature film production includes feature-length films made by independent production companies that are certified as Canadian content by CAVCO.
Foreign location and service (FLS) production largely consists of feature films and television programs filmed in Canada by foreign producers or by Canadian service providers.^[2] For the vast majority of FLS projects, the copyright is held by non-Canadian producers.
Broadcaster in-house production includes television programs made by Canadian television broadcasters in their own facilities as opposed to being made by an external production company that is either independent or affiliated with the broadcaster. Broadcaster in-house production primarily comprises news, sports and current affairs programs.

Canada's film and television production industry is very much integrated into the global entertainment and media sector. The annual volume of production in segments 1 to 3 (listed above) is affected by the annual levels of foreign investment in the Canadian film and television production industry. The majority of this foreign investment in production (FIIP)^[3] flows into the FLS production segment; however, both the Canadian television and Canadian theatrical feature film production segments also attract FIIP, given the export of Canadian content for distribution outside of Canada.

Highlights 2024/25

Total volume^[4] of production in Canada increased by 4.6% to $10.17 billion, although it was still 15.8% below the peak of $12.07 billion reached in 2022/23.
Total volume grew both in real 2015 dollars and current dollars. On an inflation-adjusted real dollar basis, total volume increased by 5.3% in 2024/25 (measured in 2015 dollars).
Canadian content production decreased by 2.2% to $3.62 billion.
Canadian television production decreased by 2.0% to $3.16 billion.
Canadian television production was 16.7% below the peak volume of $3.79 billion reached in 2022/23.
Canadian theatrical feature film production decreased by 3.2% to $460 million.
Broadcaster in-house production increased by 5.4% to $1.23 billion, impacted significantly by the production activity involved with the coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
FLS production increased by 9.5% to $5.32 billion.
The value of foreign investment in production (FIIP) in Canada increased by 8.2% to $6.12 billion.
The total gross domestic product (GDP) impact of production in Canada increased by 4.6% to $11.72 billion.
Production generated employment for 181,360 Canadians (including direct and spin-off impacts), an decrease of 0.3%.
The entire screen sector value chain (including film and television production, distribution, exhibition, television broadcasting and broadcasting distribution) generated an estimated 264,420 jobs (5.1% decrease), $15.00 billion in labour income (2.3% increase) and $19.91 billion in GDP (1.3% decrease) for the Canadian economy (both direct and spin-off impacts).^[5]

1.1 Film and television production in Canada

Overview of the screen sector in Canada

The total volume of film and television production in Canada increased by $443 million in 2024/25.

Exhibit 1-1 a) Total volume of film and television production in Canada

Source:
Estimates based on data collected from the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO), the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and the Association of Provincial Television and Film Agencies.

Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding.
*Canadian television includes an estimate of CRTC-certified television production; see Notes on methodology for more information.
*Excludes ‘online-first’ Canadian audiovisual production; see Box 1 for definitions and statistics.

Total volume of film and television production in Canada, by segment, 2024/25

Source:
Estimates based on data collected from the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO), the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), CBC/Radio-Canada and the Association of Provincial Television and Film Agencies.

Total volume of film and television production in Canada, annual growth by segment, 2024/25 ($ millions)

	2023/24 ($) Total	Growth ($M) 2024/25	Growth (%) 2024/25
Foreign location and service (FLS)	4,861	461	9.5
Canadian television*	3,220	-65	-2
Canadian theatrical feature film	475	-15	-3.2
Broadcaster in-house	1,166	63	5.4
Total	9,722	443	4.6

Source:
Estimates based on data collected from the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO), the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), CBC/Radio-Canada and the Association of Provincial Television and Film Agencies.

FLS production continues to make up 50% or more of the total volume of film and television production in Canada. Its share of production rose slightly by 2% to 52%, remaining lower than it was a few years ago in the COVID period, where it peaked at 59% in 2020/21. Having rebounded since that period, Canadian television’s share did drop by 2% to 32%, albeit remaining in a consistent range over the last 3 to 4 years.

Exhibit 1-1 b) Total volume of film and television production in Canada, share by segment

Source:
Estimates based on data collected from CAVCO, CRTC, and the Association of Provincial Television and Film Agencies.

Exhibit 1-2 Total volume of film and television production in Canada (nominal vs. inflation-adjusted real 2015 dollars)

Source:
Estimates based on data collected from CAVCO, CRTC, the Association of Provincial Television and Film Agencies, and Statistics Canada.

Prior to 2017, Canadian producers received the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) only for audiovisual content that was certified by CAVCO, and ultimately shown in Canada by a licensed broadcaster, in a movie theatre, or by release on Blu-ray or DVD, although that content could also be shown online. However, with the proliferation of online and on-demand services in recent years, many Canadian producers have been increasingly premiering their films and television programs on online platforms, as well as producing content primarily intended for online consumption.

This type of audiovisual production may be referred to as “online-first” production. “Online-only” production is a subset of online-first production and includes audiovisual content that, during its first two years after completion, is released in Canada only on one of the many online platforms on CAVCO’s list of acceptable online services pursuant to CAVCO Public Notice 2017-01.

Box 1: Volume and number of Canadian online-first audiovisual content

	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25
Volume ($M)	69	181	119	202	98	107	119	109
Number of projects	100	136	99	120	128	106	98	74
Average budget ($M)	0.69	1.33	1.2	1.68	0.77	1.01	1.21	1.48

Source:
Estimates based on data collected from CAVCO.

Note:
Statistics for online-first production do not incorporate CAVCO application-lag adjustment.

Box 1: Volume of Canadian online-first audiovisual content, by language and category, 2024/25 ($ millions)

Source:
Estimates based on data collected from CAVCO.

Note:
Some totals may not sum due to rounding.
*Includes lifestyle and human interest, and variety and performing arts categories. Projects in these other categories have been combined to avoid disclosure of amounts for individual projects.

^[1]See Box 1.

^[2]Canadian service providers are Canadian producers who provide production and/or post-production services in Canada on behalf of non-Canadian producers.

^[3]Foreign investment in production (FIIP) includes the value of foreign broadcasters’ and distributors’ pre-sale financing, as well as the value of Canadian distributors’ financing of Canadian television and theatrical feature film production, which is largely linked to Canadian distributors’ ability to license that content outside of Canada.

^[4]“Volume” or “total volume” refers to the sum of production budgets.

^[5]Direct economic impacts refer to the employment and gross domestic product (GDP) generated directly within Canada’s film and television value chain. Spin-off economic impacts refer to the employment and GDP generated within other industries in the Canadian economy on account of the increased economic activity in the film and television value chain. See Methodology and Glossary for more information.