MANITOBA HAS THE BEST TAX INCENTIVE IN NORTH AMERICA”

JANICE TOBER

Reporting “a terrifc year", Tober says "in 2021-22, we had our highest production volume to date, with 88 productions including 27 feature flms. Productions such as The Porter were flmed here, which just received 19 nominations from the Canadian Screen Awards. Little Bird is a drama series that had its world premiere at Series Mania in Lille,” Tober says. “Last December, The Globe and Mail included Little Bird on its list of ‘fve of the most exciting, intriguing new series coming to small screens this year’. Recent feature flms include Violent Night,

Nobody, Flag Day and The Ice Road.”

Next door in Ontario, Ottawa has announced a recordbreaking year in 2022 with over $57m generated in local production spending, according to Sandrine Pechels de Saint Sardos, flm commissioner at the Ottawa Film Ofce. “This represents 30 flms — including 16 holiday movies — 15 TV series in both English and French, and several commercial and corporate videos. Our local crews and talent have produced content for Amazon, Hallmark, Lifetime, Tubi, Discovery+, VH1, the Oprah Winfrey Network and more. We anticipate 2023 to be even more successful with larger projects on the horizon.”

With the growth of the local flm and television industry, and plans for a soundstage in development, the Ottawa Film Ofce is also looking at diferent ways to increase workforce capacity. “The ofce is working collaboratively with unions, guilds, post-secondary institutions, and industry to identify skills gaps and ofer training in those areas, such as location scouting and production accounting. Workforce development, with a lens towards diversity, equity and inclusion, is one of the flm ofce’s priorities.” Pechels de Saint Sardos says.

Canada’s easternmost province, Quebec, “is recognised for its highly skilled, talented, creative, innovative, efcient, bilingual workforce and for its wide variety of locations and cutting-edge technical infrastructures”, according to Viviane Agostino of the Quebec Film and Television Council (QFTC). “The province of Quebec ofers a tax incentive that can go up to 42.66%. There is no cap, no sunset clauses, or expiration dates, and credits are fully refundable.”

And Canada’s trend towards growth continues here too: “With more than 55,000 workers, its combined sectors — foreign production, visual efects, animation and domestic production — account for $2.6bn in direct spend in Quebec, which represents a 4% increase over 2021,” Agostino says. “With its four seasons, its vast territories and its ability to replicate Europe and northern countries, Quebec has so much to ofer. We invite producers to contact us at the QFTC to learn more about the perks of flming in this beautiful province.