Last month, Stephen Harper sent out a congratulatory statement to the many Canadians that won academy awards at the Oscars this year, which included Guillaume Rocheron, winner of best visual effects for Life of Pi, and Mychael Danna, winner of best original score for the same film. Canadian cinema continues to grow as an industry, offering a plethora of jobs across the country.
Well, in some parts of the country more than others.
For many years, Vancouver was thought to be the centre of Canadian film, with the majority of our country’s output coming from the West Coast. In recent years, however, Toronto has taken much of the work away from BC’s largest city, so much so that Toronto is now the third-largest film production centre in North America, behind Los Angeles and New York.
According to a Canadian Media Production Association report, 3,500 jobs were lost in the BC film and television industry during the year ended March 31, 2012, representing a nine per cent provincial job loss in the industry. To demonstrate the industry’s move from Vancouver to Toronto, Ontario’s industry gained 7,900 jobs during the same period.
The obvious question: why are film jobs moving east?
Education may be a factor. There are a handful more film programs in Ontario than in BC. Of those in Ontario, many of the programs and schools are well-known; BC has only a few programs that are as familiar outside of the province. Toronto’s proximity to Montreal could also play a part, as Montreal is the third-largest city for film and television production in Canada. Because the two centres are near one another, there’s plenty of opportunity for industry professionals to set up shop in either area.
The most definite reason, however, is based on tax dollars. While Ontario and Quebec both have a 25-per-cent tax credit on all production costs, BC only offers 33 per cent on labour costs. The numbers game is being played well by Ontario and Quebec, leaving BC to catch up.
Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson spoke after a January 29 city council meeting, stating “the City of Vancouver has a great working relationship with the film and TV industry...the fundamental problem here is a tax credit scheme that is not competitive with Ontario and Quebec, and that has to be changed by the provincial government ASAP or we’re going to lose thousands of jobs in Vancouver that are essential to our economy.” The provincial government disagrees with Robertson’s approach to match the eastern tax subsidies, however, pointing out that all BC residents would have to subsidize an industry that is predominantly based in Vancouver.
If the BC government doesn’t act (fast), a lot more filmmakers may be forced to relocate to provinces that financially support their careers. And while it doesn’t seem this relocation is affecting the success of Canadian film, only time will tell if that remains true.
 

James Michael McDonald is the editor of Jobpostings Magazine and jobpostings.ca. He has passions for human rights, gaming, and the Oxford Comma. Follow him on Twitter @mcjamdonald