Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit
Funding Creation of Canadian Content
Written by:
Nicolas DesRoches, Technical Writing Team Lead.
The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) is a program which offers refundable corporate tax credits aimed at promoting Canadian television and film programming creation. Administered by the Department of Canadian Heritage in conjunction with the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the program also aims to promote the development of Canada’s active independent production sector. Through this program, qualified corporations can recapture up to 25% of qualified labour expenditures, not exceeding 15% of total production costs.
To qualify for this tax credit, a business must be a taxable Canadian corporation that maintains a permanent presence in Canada and
engages in film or video production as its primary business. The production under consideration for a CPTC application must meet a
variety of other requirements as well, including but not limited to, the prescriptions that all production-related employees must be
Canadian, 75% of all costs must be paid to Canadians or Canadian corporations and 75% of post-production costs must be incurred in
Canada, and the production must be distributed in Canada through a Canadian broadcaster within two years of completion. Applying to
the CPTC involves completing preliminary submissions within 2 years of the end of the fiscal year in which principal photography began
and must include all applicable application fees.
The CPTC program may offer your Canadian production business an opportunity to recapture a significant portion of labour costs and free up capital to invest in ongoing and future productions. NorthBridge Consultants has experience working with a variety of media funding programs and can assist your company in completing an application to recapture all eligible costs.
