QUEBEC PRODUCTION INCENTIVES
Quebec constitutes nearly one-sixth of Canada’s total land area and is the largest of Canada’s 10 provinces in area - second only to Ontario in population. Its capital, Quebec city, is the oldest city in Canada. The name Quebec, first bestowed on the city in 1608 and derived from an Algonquian word meaning “where the river narrows,” beckons visitors to the city’s splendid view of the majestic St. Lawrence River and the pastoral Orleans Island.
Quebec Film, Television & Digital Media Incentives and Funding
Fonds MELS supports Quebec producers and directors who need to round out financing for the production and/or postproduction phase of a feature-length fiction or documentary project.
Fonds MELS’ total envelope is $1 million to help finance feature length fiction and documentary productions.
Find out more: Mels Funds
Founded in 1999, the Quebecor Fund’s mission is to support the development, production, marketing and exportation of high-quality content, as well as its distribution on various platforms.
The Quebecor Fund was created through Videotron Ltd., which provides over six million dollars annually in broadcasting distribution undertaking contributions to the Canadian industry.
- Film Production Assistance Program
The Quebecor Fund’s Film Production Assistance Program, together with the industry’s stakeholders, aims to Support the production of French-language Canadian feature films; support the multi-platform distribution of feature films, and in particular foster integrated marketing strategies from the development stage with an interactive marketing component; permit creative and production teams to produce a final product as close to their initial creative vision as possible; promote return on investment to increase its scope of assistance to producers and distributors. You can find about the eligibility criteria and more info for this program here.
Find out more about the Quebecor Fund
The refundable tax credit for film production services, jointly administered by SODEC and Revenu Québec, is designed to stimulate job creation in Québec, essentially by encouraging foreign producers to choose Québec as a filming location.
The base of the tax credit applies to all-spend production costs, which corresponds to the total of the qualified labour costs and the costs of qualified properties. The tax credit corresponds to 20% of the qualified expenditures incurred by an eligible corporation for services provided in Québec for the making of an eligible production. In addition, eligible expenditures that relate to computer-aided animation and special effects including the shooting of scenes in front of a chroma-key for use in an eligible production give rise to an increase in the rate of the tax credit. This increase corresponds to an additional rate of 16% of the qualified labour cost (broad notion).
Find out more: Refundable Tax Credit for Film Production Services
SODEC supports the development of Quebec cultural businesses and ensure the protection and enhancement of its heritage buildings and aims for the Quebec cultural industry to stand out locally and internationally, thanks to the competitiveness of its companies and the quality, diversity, originality and accessibility of their products.
- Development Assistance
Promote the scriptwriting of quality projects that are original, engaging and of diverse genres, and that have potential for outreach in Quebec or abroad. Find out more here. - Production Support
Through its financial support, SODEC aims to: promote the production of quality projects that are original, engaging and of diverse genres, and that have potential for outreach in Quebec or abroad; encourage the realization of coherent projects on the artistic and financial levels and according to the public as well as the places and platforms of diffusion for which they are intended; encourage the production of projects that allow the continuity of the work of the experience creation teams and the emergence of new talent in the audiovisual industry; encourage, right from the financing stage, measures aimed at operating projects using a range of available tools, whether conventional or digital. Find out more here. - Assistance with Promotion and Dissemination
The program aims to meet the development, consolidation and adaptation needs of companies and organizations working in the Quebec film industry in a context of changing supply, promotion and distribution of films. Find out more here.
Find out more about the audio visual support programs from SODEC
Canada also offers numerous funding options and incentives at a national level. Click here to see what's available.