MGM, HBO, CBS, Paramount and other studios all working in Alberta right now!
Since the program’s launch in January 2020, it has attracted 50 productions to Alberta with total production costs of $955 million, creating 9,000 new direct and indirect jobs in the province.
In March 2021, Alberta’s government removed the $10-million per-project cap from the Film and Television Tax Credit to make the province an even more desirable location for larger productions.
Cameras are rolling on film and television productions across Alberta, injecting hundreds of millions of dollars in investment into the economy as these productions hire local crews, actors and extras, and use local businesses.
The Film and Television Tax Credit, combined with Alberta’s competitive tax environment, affordable labour costs and breathtaking scenery, has made the province a prime choice for medium and big-budget television and film projects that have a positive impact on Alberta’s economy.
HBO is currently filming its new television series The Last of Us in Alberta. The project is the single largest television series production in Canadian history and is expected to create thousands of jobs.
Quick facts
- Alberta’s Film and Television Tax Credit, launched in January 2020, offers a refundable Alberta tax credit certificate on eligible Alberta production and labour costs to corporations that produce films, television series and other eligible screen-based productions in the province.
- The Film and Television Tax Credit complements the Alberta Made Production Grant, and is part of the government’s commitment to grow Alberta’s cultural industries by 25 per cent over the next decade.
- In 2019, combined consumer spend globally for theatrical and home entertainment reached $101 billion, a 34 per cent increase since 2015.
- The film and television industry is experiencing significant growth nationally and globally.
- Global spending in the industry is projected to reach about $113 billion by 2022.
- It is expected more than $50 billion of that spending will be in North America.
- Last year, the Canadian film and television industry was valued at $3 billion and employed more than 54,000 workers.
- Every year, Alberta graduates more than 3,000 creative industry professionals from its post-secondary institutions.
- According to industry estimates, more than 3,200 Albertans are employed in the province’s motion picture and video industry.
- According to Statistics Canada data:
- Every $1 million of production activity in the screen-based production sector creates about 13 Alberta jobs.
- Every $1 million of government investment under the Film and Television Tax Credit program is expected to support about 85 Alberta jobs.
- The budget for the Film and Television Tax Credit in 2021-22 is $50 million.
