It seemed as if the film and television industry might not be affected from the U.S.’s broad-based tariffs on imported goods, but it quickly became clear that no industry was immune. A proposed 100% tariff on movies produced outside the U.S. has raised deep concerns in the industry, in part because it’s still unclear if or in what manner such a tariff would be enforced. 

To bring some context to the issue, BMO and Women in Film and Television (WIFT) recently hosted a panel discussion in Toronto. Victoria Harding, Executive Director, Directors Guild of Canada—Ontario, and Jennifer Lee, Managing Director and Senior Economist, BMO Capital Markets offered their insights; Cynthia Lynch, Managing Director and Counsel, FilmOntario, served as moderator. 

Following is a summary of the event. 

Given that details about the potential tariffs were scarce in the initial announcement, the Canadian film and TV industry is currently in a wait-and-see mode. But this is coming during a period of unusual uncertainty for Canadian companies. “It’s hard to see how any of this is going to leave Canada unscathed,” said BMO’s Lee, who said she is expecting a recession this year and continued uncertainty for businesses.  

For more timely economic and market analysis of the impact of tariffs and trade uncertainty, go to BMO’s Cross-Border Perspectives content hub.  

The prospect of tariffs on Canada’s media industry could be particularly challenging in this economic environment. 

“For the most part, I think that people understand that [the tariff announcement] was somewhat speculative,” Harding said. “The thing is that we're on [the U.S.’s] radar. It’s hard to say how it’s going to play out, so we’ll watch and wait.” 

With that in mind, the panel covered some of the top questions that need to be answered in this uncertain time for the film and television production industry. 

As Lynch noted, U.S.-produced films account for about 60% of film production spending in Ontario. If deployed, the tariffs would have a significant impact on the industry. But there’s no magic number that would apply to Canada generally. 

As Harding explained, the percentage of film production in British Columbia is much higher on the service side (foreign production companies using filming in Canada with Canadian crews) as opposed to domestic production, which is why the industry there suffered more than other provinces during the 2023 film and TV industry strikes in the U.S. 

“Every province has a different balance of how much service versus domestic they’re doing,” Harding said. “One of the questions that has to be answered is whether Canadian-made, Canadian-owned shows that are sold to Netflix are subject to tariffs? We don't know what's going to happen with that.” 

“From Ontario’s perspective, we’re doing some work to make sure that Ontario's tax credits continue to be competitive,” Lynch said. “I'm not sure if there is a reciprocal tax credit that could incent broadcasters to buy more. What we're focused on at FilmOntario is making sure that we have the most competitive jurisdiction. And that doesn't mean the cheapest necessarily, but it does mean stable incentives where we have the best crews, we have lots of pretty places in Ontario and excellent infrastructure. Those are the tools that we have along with our strong domestic sector that make us an attractive film jurisdiction, and we can hopefully use that strength to help us weather the storm.” 

“I'm hopeful that, like Europe, Canada's not going to waste a good crisis,” Lee said. “This is a good time to extend trade deals elsewhere, to start cutting corporate taxes, cutting personal taxes. Make Canada an attractive place to invest and do business by doing all those things. And I'm hopeful that that will at some point come to fruition.” 

Harding noted that  two of the five Production Designers nominated at this year’s Academy Awards were Canadian, illustrating the talent and expertise that the country’s film industry has to offer. “That gives me a lot of confidence,” Harding said. “The people that do the work here do it in such an incredibly excellent fashion, and they make us all look good on an international stage. So, I'm extremely hopeful that no matter what, Ontario remains a destination of choice.”