Alberta’s TV and film industry is projected to double this year with net production values of $995 million and an anticipated $482 million in spending to the province.
Wynonna Earp, Under the Banner of Heaven and a Fraggle Rock reboot are just some of the productions that have recently chosen to film in Alberta.
“We want those television series in particular to come into Alberta because television series is how you build out the industry. It’s year-over-year production. It’s not, kind of, that one, big hit movie,” Doug Schweitzer, the minister of jobs, economy and innovation, said.
Alberta’s Film and Television Tax Credit launched last January to offer eligible projects tax certificates of 22 or 30 per cent to help with the cost of production and labour.
The provincial government says the $482 million is coming from the 50 productions who have used it so far, and those projects will generate 9,000 jobs. That number is largely thanks to The Last of Us, an HBO series filming in the Calgary area this summer.
That series is the largest television production in Canadian history, representing more than $200 million in revenue for Alberta.
“The province’s enhanced film and television production incentive has also made it an especially attractive destination for HBO,” Jay Roewe, the company’s senior vice president of production and incentives, said.
Industry estimates are that Alberta’s film and TV sector will double 2020 records this year, according to Keep Alberta Rolling, an industry-promoting non-profit.
“There’s there’s kind of that critical mass moment that’s happening so that we can do more and train more people and and do bigger shows,” Brock Skretting, the head of advocacy for the group, said.
“The expansion of the tax credit so far this year has resulted in [growth in] the size of shows that even will look because it makes economic sense. So you look at companies like HBO, companies like Disney making larger series and those are those are the big employers and the big money spends that can really develop an industry.”
The tax program was brought in after the UCP government cut the former NDP government’s film credit from 30 per cent to 22 per cent. This spring the province removed the $10-million funding cap for projects. The budget has $50 million set aside this year to be granted.
Schweitzer says that money could balloon if the industry continues its exponential surge.
“As expenses expands and grows, we want to make sure we listen to industry and can work with them to make it a success long term,” he said.
Alberta will be removing isolation and contact tracing requirements for people who test positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 16. The minister says the province will support any health measures kept in place by individual studios, adding when he visits one next week he’ll be taking a rapid COVID test and wearing a mask.
“We want this industry to be successful and we’ll work with them with what they need to be comfortable with any other health parameters that they need.”
Schweitzer and Nate Horner, the associate minister of rural economic development, will be speaking about the industry at an announcement Tuesday.
Canada’s film industry is valued at around $3 billion, with Statistics Canada data showing that every $1 million in production spending in Alberta creates 13 jobs.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says retail sales rose 0.4 per cent to $66.6 billion in August, helped by higher new car sales.
The agency says sales were up in four of nine subsectors as sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers rose 3.5 per cent, boosted by a 4.3 per cent increase at new car dealers and a 2.1 per cent gain at used car dealers.
Core retail sales — which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers — fell 0.4 per cent in August.
Sales at food and beverage retailers dropped 1.5 per cent, while furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances retailers fell 1.4 per cent.
In volume terms, retail sales increased 0.7 per cent in August.
Looking ahead, Statistics Canada says its advance estimate of retail sales for September points to a gain of 0.4 per cent for the month, though it cautioned the figure would be revised.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2024.
OTTAWA – The federal government is expected to boost the minimum hourly wage that must be paid to temporary foreign workers in the high-wage stream as a way to encourage employers to hire more Canadian staff.
Under the current program’s high-wage labour market impact assessment (LMIA) stream, an employer must pay at least the median income in their province to qualify for a permit. A government official, who The Canadian Press is not naming because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the change, said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault will announce Tuesday that the threshold will increase to 20 per cent above the provincial median hourly wage.
The change is scheduled to come into force on Nov. 8.
As with previous changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, the government’s goal is to encourage employers to hire more Canadian workers. The Liberal government has faced criticism for increasing the number of temporary residents allowed into Canada, which many have linked to housing shortages and a higher cost of living.
The program has also come under fire for allegations of mistreatment of workers.
A LMIA is required for an employer to hire a temporary foreign worker, and is used to demonstrate there aren’t enough Canadian workers to fill the positions they are filling.
In Ontario, the median hourly wage is $28.39 for the high-wage bracket, so once the change takes effect an employer will need to pay at least $34.07 per hour.
The government official estimates this change will affect up to 34,000 workers under the LMIA high-wage stream. Existing work permits will not be affected, but the official said the planned change will affect their renewals.
According to public data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 183,820 temporary foreign worker permits became effective in 2023. That was up from 98,025 in 2019 — an 88 per cent increase.
The upcoming change is the latest in a series of moves to tighten eligibility rules in order to limit temporary residents, including international students and foreign workers. Those changes include imposing caps on the percentage of low-wage foreign workers in some sectors and ending permits in metropolitan areas with high unemployment rates.
Temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector are not affected by past rule changes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
