The Honourable James Moore

Audiovisual Co-production with Canada Issue

[ PDF Version, 721 KB ]

Issue

The Department of Canadian Heritage is responsible for negotiating and implementing coproduction treaties, and for their official certification. Telefilm Canada, a cultural agency in the Canadian Heritage Portfolio, assesses applications from producers and ensures they meet treaty requirements.

Facts

Canada was one of the first countries to recognize the advantages of international audiovisual coproduction. With over 40 years of experience in the field, Canada has signed coproduction treaties with 53 countries.

These international treaties have helped to advance the audiovisual industry in Canada and its partner countries, to strengthen international ties in the cultural sector, and to promote and disseminate Canadian culture abroad.

Over the past decade, Canada has coproduced over 800 projects, including successful feature films such as Barbarian Invasions (Canada/France), Being Julia (Canada/United Kingdom/Hungary) and Blindness (Canada/ Brazil/Japan), as well as a number of television shows such as Franklin (Canada/France) and The Tudors (Canada/Ireland).

Canada boasts some of the finest shooting locations in the world. Its highly trained technical crews and experienced producers are recognized internationally.

Canada also has state-of-the-art production and post-production facilities throughout the country. Coproducing offers considerable benefits for all partners, including:

• pooling financial, creative and technical resources;
• providing access to sources of funding for the productions;
• making it possible for creators to work at an international level and reach new audiences;
• giving national status to film and television productions recognized as official coproductions in partner countries.

In Canada, these benefits include tax credits and access to funding programs for television and feature film.