Canada: Ontario Creates Film Fund Production Program

The Ontario Creates Film Fund supports a range of projects across genres with both industrial and cultural benefits. Ontario Creates measures the results of the Ontario Creates Film Fund primarily based on net benefit from the proposed project to the province which includes but is not limited to return on investment and jobs created in the Ontario film industry.

Ontario Creates encourages applications from companies that are led by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or People of Colour) or Francophone individuals and applicants that otherwise meaningfully meet the provincial definition of diversity.

Objectives

• The prime objectives of the fund are to:
  • increase investment and jobs in Ontario by Ontario-based feature film production companies;
  • increase the number of high quality, original feature films produced in Ontario by Ontario-based production companies; and
  • assist in capitalizing Ontario-based feature film production companies.

Enhanced Support for Films with Diverse Elements 

• The Ontario Creates Film Fund Production stream (Drama and Documentary) will offer time-limited enhanced support for films with diverse elements.
• Specifically, support for diverse projects via the Film Fund Production stream will:
  • strengthen the relations with Indigenous communities and work toward reconciliation;
  • connect people and communities by sharing and celebrating the diverse heritage and cultures;
  • make Ontario a culture leader at home and internationally; and
  • strengthen Ontario’s culture workforce.
• The Film Fund diversity enhancement will utilize the provincial definition of diversity which recognizes that the dimensions of diversity include, but are not limited to:
  • ancestry, culture, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, language, physical and intellectual ability, race, religion (creed), sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.
• Dramatic films with diverse elements must have a minimum budget of $750,000. Documentaries must have a minimum budget of $500,000. All other production eligibility and distribution guidelines above apply to applications for the diversity enhancement.

Funding Information

• Funding for dramatic features will be capped on a tiered basis according to Ontario spend (labour and non-labour):
  • Ontario Spend: $5 M and up
    • Maximum Request: $400 000
  • Ontario Spend: $3 M and $4,999 M
    • Maximum Request: $300 000
  • Ontario Spend: $1 M and $2,999 M
    • Maximum Request: $250 000

Eligibility Criteria

• The Production Company must be:
  • incorporated in Ontario or incorporated federally and registered in Ontario
  • be able to demonstrate a principal place of business in Ontario for at least one year prior to the deadline
  • Ontario-based – have a principal place of business in Ontario which serves as head office and base of operations. The applicant must meet the following:
    • applicant must be eligible to pay corporate income taxes in Ontario
    • Ontario address is listed as head office in T2 filing; and,
    • Ontario address must be a stable and non-temporary establishment where the applicant can demonstrate that the location is under the corporation’s control and the space can be objectively identified with the corporation. For example:
      • maintenance of an office for which the corporation pays rent or compensates employees
      • presence of office equipment
      • the place of business is listed as the corporation’s residential address in the telephone directory
      • substantial quantities of the corporation’s goods are kept on the property
      • residents or employees of the corporation working at the property devote all their working hours to the corporation’s interests
      • substantial usage of owned/rented machinery or equipment that is used to carry out the corporation’s business
  • a Canadian-owned and controlled organization as defined in the Investment Canada Act (Canada).
    • The corporation’s principal place of business will be determined at the discretion of Ontario Creates and additional documentation may be requested as required. For this purpose, a principal place of business is not a post-office box or fixed address of a friend or relative not directly employed by the company.
• If the applicant is a successful funding recipient, the applicant must continue to have a principal place of business in Ontario for the duration of the funding.
• Applicant companies and any associated production entity must be in good standing with Ontario Creates at time of application submission.
• The Individual Producer(s) must:
  • be Ontario residents and Canadian citizens within the definition of the Citizenship Act or permanent residents within the definition of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada).
  • have previously produced at least one of: a dramatic or documentary feature film theatrically released in Canada; a television movie, a dramatic or documentary series, or, two one-hour documentaries that have been broadcast in Canada.
• The Lead Ontario Producer Applicant must be able to demonstrate at minimum a portion of IP ownership of the project.

For more information, visit Ontario Creates.