Production Program

The Production Program finances Canadian feature films at the production or post-production stage.

Grant Deadline

2025-07-07

Funding Amount

49% of expense _{For projects whose Canadian budget is less than $1.5 million: the lesser of 49% of eligible Canadian production costs or $500,000}

Type of Grant

Loans, Funding

Sectors

Film

Demographics

Black, LGBTQ2+, Indigenous, Person with Disabilities

Incorporation

For Profit

Perks

Region Restriction

This grant is restricted to whole of Canada

Keywords

funding, canada, production, Film project, encourage film

Age Restriction

This grant is age restricted from 18 to 100

Eligibility and Requirements

1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR APPLICANTS

1.1. Basic Eligibility Criteria for Applicants

An applicant must meet all the following eligibility criteria:

a) be a Canadian-controlled corporation, as determined under sections 26 to 28 of the Investment Canada Act;

b) have its head office and carry out its activities in Canada; and

c) operate as an audiovisual production company.

Furthermore, individual producers and other key production personnel exercising creative and financial control over the project submitted to Telefilm must be Canadian citizens, within the definition of the Citizenship Act, or permanent residents within the definition of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

1.2. Broadcaster-Affiliated Companies

Broadcaster-affiliated production companies based outside of Quebec that meet the basic eligibility criteria are eligible to apply. A company is considered to be broadcaster-affiliated if it, or a corporate group of which it is a member, receives more revenue from CRTC-regulated operations (including without limitation, broadcasting, cable, satellite) than from combined production and distribution operations. For the purposes of the above, corporate group means two or more affiliated corporations. Telefilm will use the definition of affiliate set out in the Canada Business Corporations Act.

2. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR PROJECTS

2.1. Basic Project Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible, a project^3 must meet all the following eligibility criteria:

i. be a feature length (at least 75 minutes long) fictional film to be produced or completed primarily in French, English, an Indigenous language or, for artistic imperatives, in another language4 ;

ii. be aimed primarily atthe Canadian theatrical market while maximizing distribution on alternate platforms;

iii. be under the ownership of the Canadian applicant(s);

iv. be produced by a producer with relevant audiovisual industry experience, i.e., the producer must have previously produced at least either a short film that screened at a Qualifying Festival^5 or one hour of television and received either a Producer or Co-Producer credit or have equivalent producing experience;

v. have its copyright owned by Canadians (unless the project is an audiovisual treaty coproduction);

vi. be under the financial, creative and distribution control of the eligible applicant(s); as well, all the rights and options necessary for the full and complete exploitation of the project must be held by the eligible applicant(s);

vii. with respect to Canadian content certification, upon completion be either:

a) certified by the Canadian Audio-visual Certification Office (CAVCO) as a “Canadian film or video production” with a minimum of 8 out of 10 points under the provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada); or

b) recognized as an audiovisual treaty coproduction by the Minister of Canadian Heritage (refer to Telefilm’s guidelines on Audiovisual Treaty Coproductions).

viii. be solely written by Canadian citizens, within the definition of the Citizenship Act, or permanent residents, within the definition of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (unless the project is an audiovisual treaty coproduction);

ix. be solely directed by Canadian citizens, within the definition of the Citizenship Act, or permanent residents, within the definition of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (unless the project is an audiovisual treaty coproduction);

x. be budgeted at no less than $250,000;

xi. if a post-production application, be submitted following rough assembly and prior to picture-lock6 ;

xii. if the total budget of the project is $3.5M or more, have a firm commitment from an eligible Canadian distribution company7 for a theatrical release in Canada within one year of completion and delivery. Note: on a case-by-case basis, Telefilm reserves the right to accept a firm written commitment from a non-eligible Canadian distribution company;

xiii. conform to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) Code of Ethics and to all other programming standards endorsed by the CAB or the CRTC, and not contain any element that is an offence under the Criminal Code, is libellous or in any other way unlawful.

2.2. Ineligible Project Types

The following non-exhaustive list provides examples of the types of projects that are not eligible under the Program:

✓ projects done on contract for, or produced by, a government agency;

✓ projects produced primarily for industrial, corporate or institutional purposes;

✓ advertising;

✓ student projects;

✓ projects using film as a tool to record or document existing artworks;

✓ documentary or non-drama projects;

✓ conventional forms of television entertainment, such as pilots, movies-of-the-week, news reports; and,

✓ projects not destined for a theatrical or festival audience.

2.3. Limitation on the Number of Applications for the Same Project

Starting in fiscal 2023-2024, a project that receives three (3) negative decision letters from Telefilm under this Program may not be submitted for funding again. Telefilm may, in its discretion, consider exceptions to this rule when there have been material changes to the project. For more information on what is considered a material change, please see the Essential Information Guide on the Program webpage.

Further, a project may only be submitted once in the same fiscal year, unless the project is primarily produced in French and 60% of its financing structure, including SODEC, is confirmed^8.

2.4. Audiovisual Treaty Coproductions

Please note that projects that are recognized as audiovisual treaty coproductions are eligible to apply to this Program but are not guaranteed funding. The determination of eligibility of applicants and projects will be adapted to reflect the conditions set out in the applicable treaty(ies) while meeting the spirit and intent of these guidelines.

For the purposes of this document, audiovisual treaty coproduction in which the Canadian coproduction company has a majority interest are referred to as "majority coproductions", and those in which the Canadian coproduction company has a minority interest are referred to as "minority coproductions".