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In August, dozens of Canadian film and television organizations issued an open letter warning that the promised $600-million was not a sufficient replacement for legally enforceable obligations on streamers.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Ottawa announced details Sunday on how it would divvy up a long-promised $600-million funding package to help Canada’s film, television and music sectors produce original content and navigate the streaming era.
The Canada Media Fund, which assists the making of Canadian and Indigenous on-screen content, will be the biggest recipient, and is set to receive $213.4-million. The Department of Canadian Heritage said in its announcement that this would help the fund enhance existing programs and introduce new initiatives as it tries to mitigate declining contributions from private-sector cable and satellite companies.
Telefilm Canada is set to receive $68.5-million to put toward the growth, competitiveness and reach of Canadian and Indigenous productions. The Canada History Fund was allocated up to $5-million.
Independent production funds such as the Black Screen Office, Canadian Independent Screen Fund and Broadcasting Accessibility Fund, as well as several funds related to local news, will receive a cumulative $185.1-million.
The Indigenous Screen Office is set to get $51-million, while Heritage said that it would provide $10-million to the Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting program for Indigenous radio and television content.
The music industry, meanwhile, was promised $67-million through the Canada Music Fund to be distributed by its usual recipients, the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR) and Fondation Musicaction, as well as the Canadian Starmaker Fund, Fonds RadioStar and the Indigenous Music Office.
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The $600-million was first promised in June, after a whiplash two-week period in which the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission implemented a new framework for foreign streamers to contribute 15 per cent of their revenue earned in Canada to domestic content via the Online Streaming Act – only for the federal government to insist the regulator hold off and review the policy after criticism that it might become a trade irritant with the U.S.
At the time, Heritage said the money would provide stability for the sector until the federal government set new policy. By August, dozens of Canadian film and television organizations were on edge, issuing an open letter pressing for clear regulations to force streamers to pay for Canadian programming – and warning that the promised $600-million was not a sufficient replacement for legally enforceable obligations on streamers.
Heritage said in a statement Sunday that it planned to provide this kind of funding boost to the screen and music sectors annually until the government had finished developing its new streaming-funding policy.
Cultural industries had hoped for clarity on the matter in Thursday’s federal budget, but the destination of the $600-million was not among the fiscal document’s announcements. Those included a new tax credit for Canadian creative workers, $783.1-million for national museums and related institutions over five years, $60-million for the National Gallery of Canada, $20-million for the Canada Council for the Arts over three years, as well as $20-million over four years, plus $5-million ongoing, for the Canada Book Fund.