Alberta
Province adds $335 million over three years to attract more investment from Hollywood

Action! for Alberta’s film and television industry
Alberta’s screen-based sector has momentum, and Alberta’s government is helping to make the province a magnet for the job-creating film and television industry.
In 2020, Alberta’s government launched the Film and Television Tax Credit, causing the province’s film and television industry to grow in size and reputation. Since then, Alberta has attracted 129 productions with a total production value of $1.7 billion. This growth has resulted in approximately 9,000 direct and indirect jobs for Albertans.
To keep this momentum going, Alberta’s government continues to make changes to the program and increase investment in it. One year after the tax credit was launched, the cap was raised, resulting in a doubling of the province’s film and television sector. Now, Alberta’s government is increasing its investment to a total of $335 million over three years to continue attracting the attention and investment dollars of Hollywood.
“Alberta is experiencing exponential growth in our film and television sector, and we are well on our way to becoming a top Canadian jurisdiction for producers from around the world. Since the introduction of the Film and Television Tax Credit, the film and television sector in Alberta has doubled. Productions reach every part of Alberta – big cities, small towns and rural locations – and use local resources, businesses, accommodations and contractors, supporting thousands of jobs.”
As the province’s film and television industry grows, so does the quality and number of Alberta-made productions. To help grow and promote local talent and productions, Alberta’s government is also doubling the funding to the Alberta Made Screen Industries Program. This funding will support local producers and attract productions from around the world to set up shop in Alberta.
“Alberta-made film and television productions showcase Alberta’s unique culture, breathtaking landscapes and stories to audiences across the globe. We are increasing our support to smaller productions because they provide a unique Alberta-made training ground for emerging talent and create local, highly skilled workers in the sector.”
The Film and Television Tax Credit and Alberta Made Screen Industries Program work together to showcase the beauty and diversity of Alberta, create jobs, diversify the economy and support hospitality, service and tourism in the province. These targeted incentives to the film and television industries are helping to ensure Alberta remains the economic engine of Canada for years to come and the next film and television hub.
“The tax credit is central to the success of the industry. This is a competitive industry globally, and here in Alberta we’re fortunate we had the cap removed. Now we can see productions with budgets from $100,000 to well over $100 million. Now that we have a robust production environment, there are more opportunities for people to have well-paying creative jobs.”
“The Alberta government has provided supports for the film and television industry that provide certainty. It gives us more flexibility in how we’re moving forward in our film and television work and the way that we’re running our businesses.”
“Seeing the increase to the Alberta Made Production Grant in the last budget has been fantastic. It will help grow the local industry, which means so much to local performers because that’s where they build their resumés. It allows them to be a working performer, and not take side jobs or a day job somewhere else, and really focus on their craft.”
Quick facts
- 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 film and television industry is experiencing significant growth nationally and globally.
- Every year, Alberta graduates more than 3,000 creative industry professionals from its post-secondary institutions.
- The production workforce has grown 71 per cent from 2017, or by about 4,000 workers across all positions.
- Alberta’s Film and Television Tax Credit supports medium- and large-scale productions with costs over $499,999 through a refundable tax credit on eligible Alberta production and labour costs to corporations that produce films, television series and other eligible screen-based productions.
- The Alberta Made Production Grant supports productions with a budget of up to $499,999.
- The Alberta Made Screen Industries Program, through the Alberta Made Production Grant, supports smaller productions that do not qualify for the tax credit, covering 25 per cent of eligible Alberta production costs to a maximum of $125,000.
- Every $1 investment in the Alberta Made Production Grant program generates an additional $4 in economic return.
Alberta
The Conventional Energy Sector and Pipelines Will Feature Prominently in Alberta’s Referendum Debate

From Energy Now
By Jim Warren
Like it or not, the supporters of conventional energy production in the West, even those who bleed maple syrup, will be best served by a substantial leave vote. A poor showing on the part of the leave camp would weaken the bargaining power of the producing provinces and the conventional energy sector in their dealings with Ottawa.
The political dust-up between the leavers and the stayers is about to commence.
The petition calling for an Alberta referendum on separation will get the required signatures. And, the Moe government in Saskatchewan may yet decide to do something similar.
And, there is a good chance the federal Liberals and their allies in the environmental movement will launch an anti-separation/anti-oil campaign in response. The Liberals need merely to reinvigorate the flag waving campaign they ran during the federal election. All that needs to change for that tactic to work is the name of the boogeyman—from Donald Trump to alienated Westerners. Government subsidized environmental organizations will help do the rest.
This will present something of a dilemma for some supporters of the conventional energy and pipeline sectors. Should they lay low, stay quiet and perhaps avoid becoming part of the controversy? Alternatively, should they face reality and admit oil and pipelines will feature prominently in the debate whether they like it or not. The federal assault on oil, gas and pipelines is after all one of the principal motivations inspiring many who wish to separate.
And, whether we like it or not, the supporters of conventional energy production in the West, even those who bleed maple syrup, will be best served by a substantial leave vote. A poor showing on the part of the leave camp would weaken the bargaining power of the producing provinces and the conventional energy sector in their dealings with Ottawa. This is one of the immutable laws of the negotiating universe. A union that gets only 20% of its members voting in favour of strike action knows it is impotent should management call its bluff.
This is not to say the leave side will need a majority vote to produce a win for the energy sector—a large minority could do nicely. The Parti Québécois’ goal of “sovereignty association” in the 1980 Quebec referendum was supported by just 40.4% of those who voted. Yet, it nevertheless added leverage to Quebec’s extortionate demands on Ottawa and the rest of Canada. Although, after the separatists garnered 49.4% of the vote in the 1995 referendum (aka Canada’s near death experience), Quebec did even better.
True, the two producing provinces on the prairies lack the electoral power of Quebec. In combination with Ontario, Quebec has been integral to Liberal success in federal elections for decades. The power of the West lies in its ability to generate a large share of Canada’s export revenues. That’s mainly why Quebec is able to count on $14 billion in annual equalization welfare. Threatening separation turns the economic importance of the West into a political weapon.
We can expect a highly divisive referendum debate–potentially far more fractious than the federal election campaign. Signals coming out of Ottawa suggest federal-provincial negotiations over conventional energy and emissions policy are about to take a nasty turn. We could be facing a perfect storm of disunity with Westerners bashing Ottawa while Ottawa denounces separatists and resumes its assault on oil, gas and pipelines.
Chances for lowering the political temperature don’t look good. The prime minister has been distancing himself from his initial pre-election pro pipeline position. Early in the election campaign Mark Carney said he would employ the emergency powers of the federal government to get new export pipelines running from the prairies to tidewater. The next week he told reporters Quebec would have the power to veto the approval of any pipeline crossing its territory. On May 14, Carney presented reporters with a word salad that seemed to be saying he would include evaluation of the potential for new pipelines along with other energy policy ideas being discussed. And, if a consensus favouring pipelines emerged, one might be built.
This is not comforting. These statements cannot all be correct at the same time. At least two, if not all three, of them, are disingenuous.
Exactly who will be included in the consensus building discussions is unclear. Will they involve meetings with the premiers of the provinces that generate huge export revenues for Canada. Will they be restricted to the emissions reduction zealots who dominate the cabinet and the Liberal caucus? Or, is it something Carney will work out at Davos when the World Economic Forum next convenes?
The Liberals and their media allies put a lot of stock in the polls once they showed the Liberals in the lead during the election campaign. They briefly acknowledged election period polling that showed 74% of Canadians support the construction of new export pipeline including 60% of Quebecers. But reporting on the growing popularity of pipelines ended after about a week when Carney’s unqualified support for a pipeline to the Atlantic coast evaporated.
Furthermore, the popular vote totals from the federal election demonstrate that Canadians’ support for the Conservatives and the Liberals was divided fairly evenly, 41.3% for the Conservatives and 43.8% for the Liberals. A slim 2.5 percentage point spread. It seems reasonable to assume many Conservative supporters outside of the prairies shared Pierre Poilievre’s strong and consistent support for conventional energy production and pipelines. The fact people in the producing provinces are not alone in seeing the wisdom of new export pipelines strengthens our position.
If the thumping the voters of Alberta and Saskatchewan gave the Liberals in the April 28 election didn’t convince the government its energy and pipelines policies have caused a national unity crisis, maybe a high vote in favour of separation will. Many people will figure this out and will vote strategically to ensure the leave side wins a respectable portion of the vote. Who would want to try to negotiate a good deal for the producing provinces and the conventional energy sector following a weak performance by the leave camp? The Liberals will claim that a big win for the stay camp shows that Albertans are happy with the status quo.
The anti-pipeline misinformation campaign is already underway. Steven Guilbeault was already at it last week. According to Guilbeault, since the Trans Mountain pipeline is not operating at full capacity we obviously don’t need any more pipelines.
Guilbeault knows full well the pipeline is running under full capacity. The reason being the residual fall-out from the $38 billion in cost overruns the government chalked up, which was in turn due to its own regulatory morass and system pains associated with issues like the poor design features built into the Burnaby terminal. The government expects oil producers to pay exorbitant shipping rates designed to rapidly recoup the embarrassing cost overruns. Producers are not prepared to lose money bailing out the government. Guilbeault also knows most producers making use of the Trans Mountain today had negotiated much lower rates with the pipeline prior to its completion.
We can expect the flow of this kind of misinformation to become a gusher in the days ahead.
One hopes there will be adults in charge of both the leave and stay camps. The cause of Western separation can be expected to attract enthusiasts from the fringes of the political spectrum. There will be crackpots and mean-spirited people cheering for both sides. Unfortunately, we need to prepare for the fact the mainstream media will focus on any loosely hinged eccentrics they can find who support separation. Radical environmentalists and climate change alarmists will be treated like selfless planet saving prophets.
Alberta
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