Canada
With multiple cities in the Top 10 best places to live and work as a filmmaker, Canada comes highly recommended as a production destination.
Filming in Canada
Canada remains a top international filming location, with Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal as the main production hubs rivalling the likes of New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Every year, MovieMaker Magazine (leading magazine on the art and craft of filmmaking), publishes its list of the best cities to live and work as a filmmaker, and for the sixth consecutive year: Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are all in the top 10!
Canada has the ability to double and present itself for “anywhere USA” and Montreal and Quebec City also provide the ability to doubles as European locations. Furthermore, Montreal has been voted the safest city worldwide for your production. “Reykjavik, Iceland, is the world’s safest city, and Copenhagen and Montreal are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, according to research and rankings of Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection.
Climate
What can we say… other than 6 time zones, Canada offers all 4 seasons – from temperate zones and boreal forests by the US border (where 85% of the Canadian population lives) to the desolation of the Canadian Arctic and everything in between. Depending on the season you are looking for, we have it all.
Our Partner
Established in 1999, our Canadian partner is one of the very few production companies dedicated exclusively to production servicing in Canada. Their role is to assist you in the most transparent manner, all while respecting your production calendar and budget.
Based in Montreal Quebec, their past experience as location managers with an extensive bank of locations files permits them to suggest film friendly locations that will suit your needs. To date, Jim and his crew have managed over 440 projects with clients from across Canada, the USA and around the globe with their projects in:
- TV commercials
- Television series
- 2D et 3D IMAX doc films
- Music videos
- Corporate and web films
As in any endeavour, people make the difference. Key production personnel and crews are vitally important to the success of your project and our Partner’s local knowledge of resources will save you time and money. They have established long-standing relationships with all their suppliers, crew and union affiliations, and will help you overcome cultural differences in work practices and Canadian law.
Our Partner is with you through every step of your film production process, from drafting initial concepts and treatments to wrap and beyond.
Here are just a few things they can arrange for you:
- Production Support
- Production Management
- Production Crews
- Camera / Lighting and Grip Equipment Rentals with a multitude of Canadian suppliers
- 360-degree Shoots
- Drone Filming
Tax Breaks & Incentives
Canada provides tax credits for non-Canadian projects that are made in the country. Commercial productions are not eligible. The incentive targets cinema and film, scripted TV, animation, and visual effects.
Depending on the Canadian province, foreign producers can access combined federal and provincial tax credits on eligible labour and on local qualifying spend.
The refundable federal tax credit is equal to 16 % of the qualifying labour paid to Canadian residents during the making of a qualified production, net of any “assistance” which includes the various provincial tax incentives.
The province of Quebec offers 20% of qualifying Québec Labour and other non-labour expenditures (qualified goods and services).
The province of British Colombia (BC) offers 33% of qualifying BC labour expenditures.
Visual Effects and Animation Tax Credits
British Columbia and Quebec are the 2 provinces offering very attractive tax incentives for visual effects and animation.
Quebec offers 16% tax incentive for labor-based computer-aided special effects and animation & Shooting of scenes in front of a chroma key screen.
In BC, the Digital Animation or Visual Effects (DAVE) Credit is 17.5% of qualifying DAVE labour.
Minimum Budget Requirement
Feature: Total Film Budget $1M CAD (Global budget)
TV Series:
- 31 minutes and over: $200,000 per episode
- Under 30 minutes: $ 100,000 per episode.
Recent Credits
Production houses: All 3 Media / Silverback Studios, Basis Berlin, Circle, Epoch, Free Society, Good Idea, Halfyardprods, Independent Media, Litton Entertainment, Makers, Means Of Production, Mjz, Radke, Soft Citizen, Steam, Tony Kaye Films, Waypoint Films
Clients: Abb, Adidas, Aeroplan, Audi, Bauer, Bell Canada, BMO, BMW, Budweiser, Canada Goose (Iqaluit), Deloitte, Destination Canada, Dove, Heineken, Gatorade, Genesis, GM, Jetblue, Lincoln, Nissan, Pfizer, RBC & Hockey Canada, Rogers, Salesforce, Scotiabank, Telus, Toyota, Visa, Westjet
We hired Jim and his awesome local crew for our ‘Escape or Die’ tv doc series as a local fixer/contact for our shoot at the Ice Hotel in Quebec City. He was fantastic and I would hire him again in a heartbeat. He is a Straight-up pro.
Scott Leary
Line Producer, Far Point Films
Interested in filming in Canada?
Let us put you in touch with the right production service company abroad. Simply fill out your requirements and we will get the right service partner for your pitch reaching out to you directly, saving you time and stress.
