Our Past Initiatives

 QEPC successfully lobbied the Quebec government to increase the tax credit in 2009. According to the Quebec Finance Dept., as a result of this measure, approximately $25 million in domestic production funding has been raised every year since then. About 75%, or $19 million of that funding, has gone to French production, and $6 million to English production. Over twelve years, that is $228 million in new French funding, and $72 million in new English funding.

Following a 100-page complaint filed by QEPC, in 2013 the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) agreed with QEPC that the CMF was subject to the Official Languages Act and that CMF’s English-Quebec production funding had to be stabilized. As a result, CMF established the Anglophone Minority Incentive (AMI) fund which has spent over $25 million since it was established. We continue to lobby PCH and CMF to increase the AMI budget which has grown from $3 million to $4.7 million per year. We are requesting 10% of the CMF’s English envelope be spent on OLMC production.

The NFB has signed a Collaboration Agreement with the English OLMC (QEPC and ELAN) and agreed it would not reduce its English-Quebec production budget below current levels. That was approximately 23% of the NFB’s total English production. Most recently, the NFB has spent 27% of its national English budget on OLMC production.

As a result of QEPC interventions, the CRTC has decided:

  • Rogers must spend at least 3% of its national independent production budget in Quebec (CRTC 2012-697).

  • Bell must spend at least 10% of its English PNI tangible benefits from the Astral sale  on English OLMC production (CRTC 2013-310)

  • The CBC must spend at least 6% of its national English-language independent production budget, and 10% of its development budget, in Quebec (CRTC 2013-263). Since this decision, the CBC has actually averaged 8% on OLMC production, 12% on OLMC development, and spent over $76 million on OLMC licence fees.

  • Videotron’s “MaTV” Montreal community TV channel must spend 20% of its budget and allocate 20% of its schedule on English programming rather than 100% on French (CRTC 2015-31). MaTV now provides an opening for emerging anglophone talent to enter the industry. Some of MaTV’s most popular programs are in English, and Videotron considers this broadening of MaTV’s audience to be a great success.

  • In the group licence renewal decision (CRTC 2017-148), major private broadcasters receive a 25% bonus on their Canadian Programming Expenditure (CPE) requirement if spent on OLMC production. In the last three years, BCE has spent over $133 million on OLMC production. Rogers and Corus can do better, and we are considering requesting that the CRTC increase the bonus to 100% at the next private broadcast group licence renewal.

  • QEPC supported the Quebec Film and Television Council (BCTQ) and others to enlarge the regional production tax credit to make productions eligible by the location of the project as well as the location of the producer. BCTQ proposed that any Cancon production shot between 25km and 75km from Montreal will be eligible for an 8% regional bonus, plus an additional 8% bonus if shot beyond 75km. Any service production would benefit from an additional 6% bonus plus a 6% bonus based on the same distances. Quebec Govt. did not accept that proposal, but we continue to work to change the regional bonus.

  • Over the last few years, QEPC has lobbied, organized petitions, intervened with the Broadcasting and Telecom Legislative Review Panel (BTLR or Yale Report), the Standing Heritage Committee on Bill C-11, and worked with allies in the industry, such as Coalition for Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE), to bring the foreign Big Tech companies within the regulatory system and tax them appropriately. We had success with the draft Bill C-10/11 and continue that lobby.

Last updated: October 2022

Behind the scenes on a film shoot: a camera crew films as a white male points a gun at the camera, finger on trigger. Around him, a few people look on. The shoot takes place in a run-down industrial warehouse. Pixcom Productions.
A behind the scenes image of three MUA artists preparing an Asian woman for her scene. She is seated in a red chair. In the background, film crew and material is visible. Pixcom Productions.
Three acrobats hang suspended from the ceiling in a room that is set to look like an elegant circus tent. Tables of onlookers watch and applaud the acrobats. Production: Big Top Academy, Apartment 11 Productions.
Set on a circus stage, seven children are dressed as different circus performers, with detailed makeup. They stand in pose for the audience. Production: Big Top Academy, Apartment 11 Productions.
A man is driving a skidoo, followed by a sled and another skidoo in the Arctic over ice. On the right, the ice breaks to reveal the water beneath it. Production: Under Thin Ice, Gala Films.
A mother polar bear and her two cubs swim in the open water. Production: Under Thin Ice, Gala Films.
A backlit production still of a Burmese woman holding her baby at sunset. The baby lifts its hand as if waving. Production: Midwives, Eye Steel Film.
A man with dark hair and dark eyes stares directly at the camera with a threatening look. The background is dimly lit. Production: Castle in the Ground, Band With Pictures.
Seated cross legged, a man speaks to another man across from him, with his family around him. On the floor between them are jugs and glasses. They are seated outside. Production: Ghosts of Afghanistan, Gala Film.
A number of military tanks are shown across the image. In the foreground, six individuals are climbing one of the tanks. The landscape is an arid desert in Afghanistan. Production: Ghosts of Afghanistan, Gala Film.
Three young adults pose smiling for the camera. They are all wearing t-shirts that say, 'Warrior Up!' Production: Warrior Up!, Picture This Productions.
Children dressed in full circus performance costumes shine brightly under a black light. Production: Big Top Academy, Apartment 11 Productions.
Circus performs perform on stage in full costume and makeup. The room is decorated like an elegant circus tent, with colorful draping and string lights. Production: Big Top Academy, Apartment 11 Productions.
A man looks at outward at a small lake in a desolate area. The lake reflects the clouds above it. Production: River Silence, Eye Steel Film.
A behind the scenes picture of a film crew gathered behind a small screen to view footage. The director and DOP look over the footage. A table sits in the middle of the room. Production: Newfoundland at Armageddon, Gala Film.
A film still of Jackie and John F. Kennedy dressed in black tie and ball gown, walking into a room where they are welcomed to applause. Production: The Kennedys, Muse Entertainment.
A production still of eight individuals standing at what appears to be a recently dug gravesite. They stare directly into the camera. Production: Ghosts, Muse Entertainment.
A production still of Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland dressed in ICE uniform. They stare into the camera. Production: Human Trafficking, Muse Entertainment.
At a marina on a sunny day, a white man and white woman hold hands, dressed in black tie and gown. The woman is smiling. Champlain Media.
A Black man stands outside a cafe with an old signage reading, 'Blue Front Cafe.' The cafe is an old juke joint. Production: I am the Blues, Eye Steel Film.