In spite of some tax credit troubles earlier this year, Ontario’s culture minister says the province’s film and TV industry is booming — thanks in part to the lower Canadian dollar.
Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister Michael Coteau said Tuesday the province came out of a tiff over tax credits with its attractiveness to the film and television industry intact.
“We’re still the best jurisdiction in North America when it comes to tax incentives … and that’s why we attract so much foreign investment for film production in Ontario,” Coteau told QP Briefing. “There’s no slowdown.”
Meanwhile, out on the West Coast, the premier is busy pitching Ontario as the potential setting of Hollywood blockbusters.
Premier Kathleen Wynne spent Tuesday in Los Angeles as part of her two-week trade mission to California and China. The premier’s personal Twitter account even tweeted a few photos of Wynne meeting with officials from the Motion Picture Association of America.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
Pitching Ontario to the film industry via <a href="https://twitter.com/MPAA">@MPAA</a> - great talk about opportunities to collaboratively grow the sector. <a href="https://t.co/vqnJMspJBQ">pic.twitter.com/vqnJMspJBQ</a>
— Kathleen Wynne (@Kathleen_Wynne) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kathleen_Wynne/status/661616608423649280">November 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
But Wynne’s trip and Coteau’s comments come after a brief bit of turbulence between the provincial government and the film and TV industry.
The problem arose when, as part of this year’s budget, the Liberal government said it would be cutting the Ontario production services tax credit (OPSTC) to 21.5 per cent from 25 per cent and the computer animation and special effects tax credit to 18 per cent from 20 per cent.
The OPSTC, as one example, is applicable on businesses spending money on Ontario labour, service contracts and property tied to film and TV productions. It is open to both foreign and homegrown productions.
Coteau says the government made the change because the entertainment industry was growing in Ontario and, with it presumably, the number of companies tapping the province’s tax credits. Furthermore, the value of the Canadian dollar dropped, making it cheaper for foreign productions to come to Ontario.
“The changes that we put in place, I think they’re very supported by the sector in regards to ensuring that there’s a reliable and stable source of incentives that are put in place,” said Coteau.
The government, however, faced some blow-back from the film and TV industry during budget hearings. In the end, the changes were softened, and the government put in a transition period to allow companies already committed to productions in Ontario to receive their expected tax credit rates.
“If you’re in the queue you would still be eligible,” said Coteau. “We put those [amendments] in place and as far as I know people are happy with the current situation.”
But the spat may not be entirely settled, as global media giant Comcast (owner of Universal Studios) recently registered a lobbyist whose stated goal was “ensuring that government's policies, including the Ontario Production Services Tax Credit, encourage the development of film and television production in Ontario.”
Proposed regulations changes for the province’s film and TV tax credits<a href="http://www.ontariocanada.com/registry/view.do?postingId=20162&amp;language=en" target="_blank"> were posted on Monday</a> as well. The amendment will narrow the scope of the Ontario interactive digital media tax credit and rule out government equity as assistance under the film and television tax credit (which this year’s budget claimed will benefit the industry to the tune of $7 million in 2016-17).
Coteau said his “commitment” to the film and TV sector is that there are no further changes on the horizon.
The government says the province’s “entertainment and creative cluster” bankrolls more than 206,000 jobs and pumps $12.4 billion into the Ontario economy.
To contact the reporter on this story: 
gzochodne@qpbriefing.com

‘No slowdown’ in film and TV sector after tax credit tiff: Coteau

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