OTTAWA, February 1, 2018—According to the latest figures released today in Profile 2017: An Economic Report on the Screen-Based Media Production Industry in Canada, production volume in Canada reached an all-time high of $8.38 billion in 2016/17. This 24 per cent rise in volume over the previous year helped generate 171,000 full-time jobs and added $12 billion to the country’s GDP.

“With record growth across much of Canada’s production sector, there is much to celebrate this year, including the creation of jobs and a significant contribution to the country’s economy,” noted Reynolds Mastin, President and CEO, CMPA. “But, among these big numbers are some emerging trends that require attention. As our industry continues to adapt to evolving technologies and changing consumer behaviours, we must ensure that growth benefits our entire sector, including productions that showcase Canadian stories for audiences at home and around the world.”

Data from this year’s report shows that the volume of Canadian film and television production increased by 16 per cent to $3.3 billion; however, this was overshadowed somewhat by the fact that children’s and youth production declined in production volume, falling by almost 17 per cent to $521 million, mainly due to the 22 per cent drop in children’s animation production. In addition, domestic private broadcasters’ financing of all Canadian television production decreased by 13 per cent to $412 million.

Foreign location and service production continued to show strong growth this year, up $1.1 billion, or 42 per cent, from last year’s numbers. A slightly weaker Canadian dollar is likely one of the contributing factors that saw this category reach $3.76 billion in production volume over the 2016/17 period.

The data also shows an uptick in volume for broadcaster in-house production, which increased by 5 per cent to $1.32 billion, largely on the strength of a 33 per cent rise in spending on sports programming.

Profile 2017, the annual economic report published by the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) in collaboration with the Department of Canadian Heritage, Telefilm Canada and the Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM), was released today at the CMPA’s annual conference Prime Time in Ottawa. The report, prepared by Nordicity Group, provides a statistical overview of the three main screen-based production sectors in Canada: Canadian production (includes television and theatrical), foreign location and service production, and broadcaster in-house production. It also features trends in the screen sector value chain.

The full copy of Profile 2017 is available here (en français).

-30-

ABOUT THE CMPA
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) is the country’s leading member-based advocacy organization for independent producers, representing hundreds of companies engaged in the development, production and distribution of English-language content made for television, cinema and digital media channels. The CMPA works to promote the continued success of the Canadian production sector and ensure a future for diverse content made by Canadians for both domestic and international audiences.  cmpa.ca

For more information:

Kyle O’Byrne
Manager, Media Relations & Communications
Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA)
kyle.obyrne@cmpa.ca