Canada’s Production Industry Drew Record Revenues in 2011

OTTAWA: Canada’s TV and film production industry grew 8.9 percent in 2010-11 to reach an all-time high of C$5.49 billion ($5.5 billion), according to new figures from Profile 2011: An Economic Report on the Screen-Based Production Industry in Canada.

The report gave details on the three main screen-based production sectors in Canada: Canadian independent production (includes television and theatrical), foreign location and service production, and broadcaster in-house production. There was a 10.3-percent rise in broadcaster in-house production and a rebound of foreign location and service production of 24.3 percent boosted overall production activity in Canada by 9 percent.

Canadian film and television production in the fiction genre increased by 2.8 percent, which children’s and youth production dropped 22.9 percent. Documentary production was also down, 11.3 percent. Canadian animation fell 38.2 percent, while production in the magazine programming genre was down 21.6 percent. However, the variety and performing arts genre grew 31.8 percent.

In the television segment, Canadian production grew 1.9 percent. The increase was largely due to higher levels of production in the English-language market, where the volume of production was up by 2.8 percent. Fiction led the pack, as the new drama television series Combat Hospital and The Listener joined the returning Canadian police dramas Flashpoint and Rookie Blue in Canadian prime time.

The volume of French-language television production decreased by 4 percent. Production in bilingual formats and other languages was down by nearly one-half. Canadian television production continued to rely heavily on financing from Canadian broadcasters and tax credits, as financing from foreign and other private sources remained limited in 2010/11. Canadian broadcasters’ licence fees contributed 32 percent of total financing, while federal and provincial tax credits accounted for 28 percent.