CMF to Invest $366M in Canadian TV and digital production

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) confirmed plans to invest just under $366M in Canada’s television and digital media industries in 2022-2023, as well as Program Guidelines for the new fiscal year.“The 2022-2023 fiscal will be a year in which we will continue to support the industry to first stabilize, then transition to growth in 2023-2024," Valerie Creighton, President and CEO, CMF, said. "As such, changes to the 2022-2023 programs will be relatively few. Our focus on inclusion is strengthened to ensure all voices and stories flourish. Our new PERSONA-ID self-dentification system will help us accomplish this goal.”

The CMF program budget is supported by revenue estimates for the coming year based on ongoing funding contributions from the Government of Canada, as well as contributions from Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors. Tangible benefits, recoupment and repayment revenues from funded productions also support the program budget. This year’s budget reflects a steady contribution from the Government of Canada, and the stabilization funding to help mitigate declining contributions from Broadcast Distribution Undertakings (BDUs) to the CMF. “We would like to thank our public and private funders for their ongoing support. We’re especially grateful to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honorable Pablo Rodriguez, for delivering on the Government’s commitments to support Canada’s screen-based sector.”

The organization will continue most of the Flexibility Measures it introduced in response to the pandemic to help stakeholders continue adapting to new ways of production. “The challenges of the past few years gave us all pause to reconsider many things,” President and CEO, CMF, Valerie Creighton, said. “These changes created new opportunities. New ways of thinking and of working. We needed to hear from as many of our stakeholders as possible on what positive change for our industry would look like and the CMF’s role in support of the industry. Not only a year ahead, but well into the future."

Among various other modifications, the CMF will expand its definition of “Diverse Community” and include members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community and Persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities will be eligible to benefit from specific support when submitting Program applications through the CMF’s Accessibility Support initiative.

  Beginning this year, the CMF will formally roll-out Persona-ID, its new self-identification system that will measure and monitor the demographic representation and participation of all individuals with ownership and control on CMF-funded projects and key personnel on CMF-funded projects. While participation in the Persona-ID process is voluntary, it will be a necessary step for all directors/shareholders and key personnel on applications for a program with a CMF Diverse Community or gender initiative. CMF Applicants will no longer ask key personnel about how they identify. Instead, individual key personnel will be required to provide CMF Applicants with a Persona-ID number, which will be included in each CMF application.

In addition to Projects with a Diverse Community or gender initiative, the CMF encourages all individuals working in key roles in Canada’s audiovisual industries to sign up for a Persona-ID number. This will allow the CMF to have reliable data as it evolves its programs and policies. All detailed information gathered through Persona-ID will remain confidential, but the CMF has committed to publishing anonymous and aggregated data to give industry stakeholders a clear picture on the various communities accessing CMF funding. “Considering the significant industrial disruption of the last two years, the upcoming legislative and regulatory changes through Bill C-11, our focus for this year will be on flexibility to the extent possible and predictability, until a new CMF program model is introduced and the larger legislative changes to Canada’s screen-based industry are implemented," the report states.