B.C. has announced increased tax incentives to attract more major film and television productions to the province.
Premier David Eby said on Thursday that next year’s budget will include increases to the Film Incentive BC (FIBC) tax credit, which supports Canadian-content productions, and the production services tax credit (PSTC) that provides a tax incentive for international projects made in B.C.
“Our province is home to one of the busiest film and TV production centres in North America,” Eby said. ͞”But film production in B.C. has taken a big hit over the last few years, responding to significant impacts from the pandemic, multiple labour disruptions and changes to industry practices.”
In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsome proposed to more than double the state’s film tax credit program from $330 million to $750 million a year, hoping to attract more productions back to the state.
Get daily National news
British Columbia currently offers a 28-per cent production services credit to both domestic and foreign producers, with no requirement for Canadian content.
With the approval of the budget, the FIBC will increase from 35 per cent to 36 per cent and the PSTC will increase from 28 per cent to 36 per cent for productions with principal photography starting Jan. 1, 2025.
Projects with B.C. production costs of greater than $200 million will receive a two-per cent bonus.
Eby said the province also intends to restore regional and distant location tax credits for companies with a bricks-and-mortar presence outside of Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Whistler/Squamish.
“B.C. is a motion-picture powerhouse with spectacular locations, world-class crews, studios and outstanding creative talent that major productions rely on,” Spencer Chandra Herbert, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport said in a statement.
“I was recently in Los Angeles and heard directly from studio executives about the significant production increases in B.C. that would flow from changes like these. These changes will help us land more top-tier projects, fuel economic and job growth, and showcase everything we love about B.C. to the world.”
Some of the projects recently made in B.C. include Murder in a Small Town, starring Rossif Sutherland and Kristen Kreuk, Watson starring Morris Chestnut, more than 20 Hallmark Christmas movies and season two of the HBO blockbuster series The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
Comments