High Impact Productions: Canadian Program Certification Process

Pilot Projects

We want (and you want!) more high-quality, Canadian programming^{Footnote 1}. To help reduce the barriers to certifying risky to produce, high impact productions, we’re ready to waive some of criteria from the regular certification process. Ultimately, our goals are:

• Goal 1. To create sustainable, better funded production companies that are capable of monetizing the exploitation of their content over a long period. This should be done in partnership with broadcasters that have incentives to invest in content.
• Goal 2. To exploit long-term revenue opportunities of Canadian content, including international sales, DVD sales, online sales, etc.
• Goal 3. To increase the amount of Canadian-made, high quality and high impact programming.

Pilot Project Types. Your production must fall into one of these categories in order to qualify:

1. Live-action drama or comedy productions that are based on adaptations of best-selling, Canadian-authored novels.
2. Live-action dramas or comedy productions with a budget of at least $2 million per hour of content created.

Don’t see your production here but think it could still help us meet our goals? Send us your proposal and we can discuss your options.

Pilot Project Eligibility Requirements. To participate, your production has to meet the following criteria:

1. The screenwriter and at least one lead performer are Canadian.
2. The production company is Canadian^{Footnote 2}.
3. At least 75% of the service costs and at least 75% of the post-production costs are paid to Canadians.

We’ll even consider different eligibility criteria – as long as what you propose is consistent with our goals.

If your production is certified as pilot project, it will count towards meeting Canadian programming quotas and expenditures requirements that Canadian TV services have to meet.

Please remember that the CRTC is not a funding agency so we cannot provide funding for your productions.

Apply Now

To apply, you must contact the Canadian Program Certification group by email to ask for an application form. In your application, you will need to:

• Tell us how your production meets the criteria (or why different criteria should be used).
• Explain why your production would not qualify through the standard Canadian program certification process.
• Explain how you would be contributing to the achievement of our 3 goals (see above).

Request an application

If you have questions, please call us during EST business hours at 819-997-4699.

Date modified:

2016-06-02