Alberta's 2026-2027 Budget
How has it impacted Alberta's Film and Television Tax Credit?
The Alberta Provincial Legislature Building February 26th, 2026
There have been a lot of questions and misinformation surrounding Alberta's Film and Television Tax Credit (FTTC) since the Provincial Budget was dropped on February 26th, 2026. I thought it might be a good idea to weigh in on what (if anything) is taking place.
I was in attendance at the Provincial legislature on Thursday February 26th when the Provincial Government brought down its budget. Contained within that budget were some numbers and somewhat confusing rhetoric that caused many in our community to believe that our industry had just taken a major cut at the hands of the current Government. That is not actually what happened and while communication around this budget could have been stronger and much clearer, there is no "cut" to the FTTC.
I have spoken to the Civic and Provincial Film Commissions as well as the representatives of the FTTC and am very confident that it is business as usual for our Film incentive program.
To address the confusion, lets unpack the Arts and Culture Business plan which was published on Budget Day.
ARTS and Culture Business Plan
"Performance Metrics:
1.b Performance Measure: Growth of screen-industry through Alberta spend data from AMPG and FTTC (Source: AMF Grant reporting/tracking)
The measure tracks the total dollar value of production spending in Alberta generated by film and television projects supported by the Alberta Made Production Grant and the Film and Television Tax Credit (administered by the Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration). It serves as a direct, quantitative measure of economic activity and growth in the screen industry, demonstrating the sector's contribution to the creative economy and the combined impact of these provincial financial incentives.
Targets 2026-27 $238M* 2027-28 $250M 2028-29 $265M * Targeted based on 5% growth from base year"
The base year in this case reflects the actual amount of "Alberta Eligible" productions expenditures in the last fiscal year. This does not limit in any way, future spending. This is where the confusion arises as there is a formula in play that uses estimates based on previous years to essentially guess on production volumes in future years. Still with me? If not let's put it another way. The number the GOA allocates for the budget lines in future years is, at best, only an estimate based on last year's numbers.
There is no limit imposed on this projection and therefore no "roll-back". In recent years, production has slowed and production volumes have declined. In 2021 the year the "funding cap" was removed we had a banner year which generated about 450 million in Alberta expenditures. In 2025 production volumes had declined to around 238 million. At a four-to-one ratio, a 60 Million dollar investment from the GOA into the film industry generates roughly 240 Million in eligible expenses. We all know there are many other spin-offs to this investment, but let's avoid that rabbit hole for now.
So, the budget estimate merely reflects last year's production volumes and generates a conservative target to grow those metrics at 5 % per year. Still with me?
If not, let me frame it this way: Someone in government had to pick a number upon which to base growth targets. The number they chose reflected last year's production volumes which were lower than other years. Does this limit the incentive for next year? Absolutely not! The incentive is uncapped which means technically there are no limits to how many projects qualify. There are also no limits to the size of their budgets. It is entirely possible that production volumes for 2026 and 2027 could well exceed these numbers and be fully funded. Capisce?
Despite the deceptive optics of the budget targets, there have been no roll backs to one FTTC. That said, there is a need to update the tax credit rules to remain competetive. You may recall that in the 2019 election campaign the UCP (and all Provincial parties for that matter) made a campaign promise to make Alberta's screen industry competitive with other Canadian jurisdictions. In 2021 they made good on that promise but since then other jurisdictions have made improvements to their incentives and a strong case can be made that Alberta has fallen behind that stated goal of keeping our incentives competitive with other Canadian jurisdictions. Local 212 continues to advocate for both independent and service productions. We are working with all of our partners and fellow stakeholders and Film Commissions to ensure the appropriate changes are made to keep our industry competitive.
Damian Petti, President of IATSE Local 212
Thank you for scrolling down this far!
Warm regards,
Damian
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