Question Period Note: Canada Media Fund

Changes to the Canada Media Fund announced in the Creative Canada framework and Budget 2018, supplementary estimates (B), 2020–21.

• This additional investment of $26.3 million in the Canada Media Fund is part of the Government’s Budget 2018 commitment to invest up to $172 million over five years to stabilize the Canada Media Fund.
• This funding is a foundational piece of the Government’s efforts to support an industry facing significant disruption from a variety of sources.
• The Government has made this investment in the Canada Media Fund to ensure that our creative industries succeed in the digital age.

• The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is the largest fund for television and digital content production in Canada. In 2019-20, it provided approximately $349 million in support of 541 television programs and 175 experimental projects. This investment in turn triggered about $1.4 billion in activity in Canada’s creative economy. In 2020-21, the CMF plans to invest $351.6 million. The Government of Canada allocates $134.1 million annually to the CMF on an ongoing basis. It will supplement this by an additional $26.3 million this year as part of stabilizing the CMF’s funding.
• The CMF delivers financial support mainly through two funding streams:
o The Convergent Stream (2020-21: $283.7 million) encourages the creation of convergent television and associated digital media content such as games, interactive Web content, on-demand content, podcasts, webisodes and mobisodes. Supported content must appear on at least two platforms. Genres funded are drama, documentary, children’s and youth, variety and performing arts.
o The Experimental Stream (2020-21: $43.4 million) is project-based funding that supports the creation of leading edge interactive digital content and software applications created exclusively for the Internet, wireless, or other new/emerging platforms.
• Through CRTC regulations, cable, satellite and Internet Protocol TV distributors (also known as BDUs) must contribute no less than five percent of their broadcasting revenues to Canadian programming, the majority of which goes to the CMF.
• These revenues have been in decline since 2013-14 as a result of declining cable and satellite subscription revenues. In 2019-20, for example, these distributors contributed $190.1 million to the CMF, representing a decrease of 1.5 percent from fiscal 2018-19.
• In its 2018 Budget, the Government fulfilled the commitment it made in the Creative Canada policy framework to increase the federal contribution to the CMF by announcing an increase of up to $172 million over five years and $42.5 million ongoing thereafter. This will ensure CMF funding levels are maintained at the 2016-17 level, despite falling BDU revenues. To date, as part of this commitment, the Government has invested an additional:
o $17 million in 2018-2019
o $23.5 million in 2019-2020
o $26.3 million in 2020-2021
• In addition, in response to the Creative Canada engagement, the CMF implemented program changes in 2018-19 that resulted in:
o an increase of the funding for the development stage project;
o an increase of the investment in the Experimental Stream,
o an increase of the investments in Indigenous productions.
• Further changes were implemented for 2019-20:
o The CMF now supports content specifically designed for online audiences by authorizing Canadian broadcasters’ and BDUs’ online platforms as eligible triggers for CMF funding.
o The CMF implemented new sector development activities that address key gaps in the production ecosystem. For example, offering training and career opportunities to support gender parity and Indigenous production.
o The CMF placed a greater emphasis on early-stage development projects, for the first time directly providing support to creators for activities like script writing.

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