Québec, June 16, 2021. – The value of production in the audiovisual industry in Québec stood at $2.4 billion in 2019-2020 (April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020), up for a fourth consecutive year. This is an increase of 17% from the previous year and of 54% from 2015-2016. This result is largely attributable to an increase in foreign productions. This was revealed in the 2021 edition of Profil de l’industrie audiovisuelle au Québec published today by the Observatoire de la culture et des communications of the Institut de la statistique du Québec.
Production in the film and television industry, Québec, 2015-2016 to 2019-2020
1. Québec share of the value of the budgets for productions that benefited from the refundable tax credit for film and television production services. This tax credit applies to the filming of foreign productions and to technical services such as animation and special effects in Québec.
Sources: Société de développement des entreprises culturelles and Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
Compilation: Institut de la statistique du Québec, Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec.
Independent French-language television production down
Production in the Québec audiovisual industry takes various forms: in-house production by broadcasters, independent television production, production for the cinema, production for the Web, participation in foreign production, and sales of production services.
Independent television production represents 28% of the industry: in 2019-2020, its value was $664 million, down 2% from 2018-2019. This result is below the average of the past five years ($679 million). The drop in 2019-2020 is attributable to French-language independent television production, whose value declined by 9% to $404 million. As for production in other languages, its value rose by $105 million, up 85%. This increase follows previous fluctuations in this sector, which had peaked at $149 million in 2017-2018, then dropped to $57 million in 2018-2019.
Film production in languages other than French increased
The value of film production was $170 million in 2019-2020, down 2% from 2018-2019. The value of French-language fiction feature films ($66 million) was down 43%, the lowest in five years, and that of fiction feature films in other languages ($91 million) was up 126%, the best result since 2013-2014 ($98 million).
Sustained growth in foreign production and production services
For the fourth consecutive year, the segment combining participation in foreign production and production services rose significantly: its value reached $1.2 billion in 2019-2020, 46% more than in 2018-2019—its highest growth in five years.
Increase in people employed in the audiovisual industry
In 2019-2020, the number of people employed (directly or indirectly) in the Québec audiovisual industry increased by 12%, for a total of over 63,000. Within the industry, the only sector with an increase in employment was foreign production and production services (+42%), as employment declined in the other sectors: television production (-7%), film production (-7%) and in-house production (-11%).
Profile of the audiovisual industry in Québec in 2020
These data come from the 2021 edition of the publication Profil de l’industrie audiovisuelle au Québec, which was prepared with the contribution of the Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM), the Alliance québécoise des techniciens de l’image et du son, local union 514 AIEST (AQTIS), the Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ), the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC), the Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC), the Table de concertation de l’industrie du cinéma et de la télévision de la Capitale-Nationale, and the Union des artistes (UDA).
With the exception of data on the theatrical release of films in 2020, this edition of the Profil de l’industrie audiovisuelle au Québec covers the 2019-2020 fiscal year, which ended on March 31. Since the portrait predates the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be possible to use the results as a benchmark to measure the impact of the crisis on the audiovisual industry in Québec, once data for the 2020-2021 fiscal year are available.
The Institut de la statistique du Québec produces, analyzes and disseminates official, objective and quality statistical information on various aspects of Québec society. It is responsible for conducting all statistical surveys of general interest. The relevance of its work makes it a strategic ally for decision makers and all those wishing to learn more about Québec.