Quebec Production Incentives

Have an establishment in Québec during the tax year; be primarily in the business of film/television production or film/television production services; own the eligible production’s copyright during the production period carried out in Québec or have a direct contract with the copyright owner to provide production services for the eligible production; submit an application to the SODEC along with an administrative fee of CAD 500; obtain an Approval Certificate from SODEC and apply for an Advance Ruling with SODEC (the fee for an advance ruling is CAD 4 per CAD 1,000 of Québec expenditures for the first CAD 1.5 million, plus CAD 3 per CAD 1,000 of Québec expenditures exceeding CAD 1.5 million, with minimum and maximum fees of CAD 1,000 and CAD 25,000); meet the global minimum budget requirement of more than CAD 250,000 (approximately USD 185,000); and meet the minimum programming requirement of at least 30 minutes for documentaries, or in the case of a series, 30 minutes of programming per episode, excluding documentaries intended for minors and virtual reality documentaries, which may be shorter.

Québec allows the incentive to be earned on all qualified production costs (labor and spend) incurred in Québec with regard to a qualified production. Qualified labor cost consists of wages and salaries, including the associated payroll taxes, paid to employees as well as the cost of any service contract incurred by the corporation with a supplier of services for work performed in Québec that is directly related to the qualified production. Labor costs incurred for services performed by a producer, author, scriptwriter, director, production designer, director of photography, music director, composer, conductor, editor, visual effects supervisor, actor (speaking role) or an interpreter will qualify only if the individual was a Québec resident (with regard to the Quebec Taxation Act) at the time the services are provided. Under certain conditions, an eligible film or documentary may qualify costs related to supplemental virtual reality and augmented reality production that complements the main production.

This program is administered on a first-come, first-served basis. Québec offers a refundable tax credit equal to 20% of all qualified production spend, consisting of qualified labor and qualified production costs, incurred for services provided in Québec that are directly related to the production. A production company may also earn the CASE credit equal to an additional 16% of qualified labor costs related to computer-aided animation and special effects, as well as activities related to the shooting of scenes in front of a chroma-key screen.