Impact of the mandatory isolation quarantines for foreign travelers on the Canadian audiovisual sector.
B. Background and Current Status
Foreign audiovisual production in Canada
The Canadian audiovisual industry is a major source of economic activity and jobs across the country, and plays an important role in the social, cultural and economic development of Canada.
Each year, foreign location and services (FLS) production activities contribute billions of dollars to the Canadian economy. The growing need for original audiovisual content on subscription video on demand platforms fuels growth in FLS production in Canada thanks to the expertise of the country’s casts and crews, as well as the quality of local infrastructure. British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec are respectively the most important hubs for FLS production activities in Canada.
In 2018-19, film and television production in Canada generated $9.3 billion in economic activity, creating 180,900 FTE jobs, and contributed $12.8 billion to Canada’s GDP.
In Canada, global studio investments in FLS production reached a record-high of $4.86 billion dollars in 2019 and created 94,900 full-time equivalent jobs. Spring and summer are peak periods for audiovisual production in Canada. Between 2017 and 2019, an average of 79% of FLS spending took place during that period. As a result, the negative repercussions of travel restrictions on jobs and the economy could be particularly severe during these months.
In addition to creating economic activities directly in the audiovisual sector, the production of an audiovisual work generates revenues for related industries through acquisition or rental of equipment or by using other forms of services (e.g., construction, hotels, car rentals, advertising, design, music, performing arts) in connection with a production, thus generating spill over economic impacts beyond the sector.
Although Canadians fill the vast majority of cast and crew on FLS projects, a small number of foreign nationals fill key roles on those projects. For example, a typical 12-episode television series may bring in approximately 20 individuals from outside the country, but each of these is critical to sustaining the investment. Unless there is a certainty that key talent entering from the U.S. or otherwise are available when needed, major productions may be reluctant to plan shoots in Canada. They may even opt to relocate to another jurisdiction, with all this can imply in terms of financial and economic losses.
Impact of COVID-19 on foreign production
Since the resumption of business last year, the audiovisual industry has adhered to rigorous and ongoing health and safety protocols on production. At the outset of the pandemic, industry stakeholders came together with guidance from leading infectious disease and public health experts, epidemiologists, and a range of medical and occupational safety professionals to develop such protocols and safety measures, which exceed current health authorities’ guidelines.
To our knowledge, since the beginning of the pandemic, no Covid-19 outbreak have been attributable to audiovisual production in Canada. A few productions had to temporarily suspend their activities following positive test results, but so far, health and safety protocols adopted by the industry have proven effective.
On February 22, 2021, the federal government decided to reinforce existing restrictions in order to better contain new variants of the virus. The strict extended measure meant that those arriving by air must stay in a government-approved hotel for three nights at their cost while they await their results. In addition, such accommodations must be within 10 km (17 km for Vancouver) of ports of entry, which is a major problem for foreign productions coming to Canada, particularly for production centers such as Toronto or Montréal.
Until February 22, foreign productions were able to manage and abide by the 14 days mandatory quarantine. They were able to plan their schedule and budget accordingly. The newest restrictions, however, are problematic to the industry. The situation led the Motion Picture Association (MPA), which represents the major studios, to contact the Department to explore possible solutions to this issue. According to the MPA, if nothing is done to correct the situation, it is most likely that many projects will be cancelled. The result of those cancellations would cost the Canadian economy several hundred million dollars as well as thousands of jobs occupied by Canadians.
The industry is more than willing to abide by the public health safety measures. Extra costs related to those measures are not an issue as productions are planning their budget accordingly. The issue lies in the unpredictability induced by the February 22, three-day mandatory stay in a government-approved hotel. More specifically:
Room availability: accommodating production crews in government-approved accommodations is a top concern for foreign producers coming to Canada. Difficulty in finding the rooms they need for specific dates may force them to postpone or cancel shoots
Security concerns: In many cases, government-approved accommodations do not have the necessary infrastructure or are not able to accommodate the needs of VIPs and top talent traveling with their security teams.
Testing delays: it was brought to our attention that, in some cases, the government's testing process results in unanticipated delays (e.g., slow processing, lost tests, carrier not retrieving tests on time).
The inability to provide accommodations to the production team when required and delays in obtaining COVID test results may force a producer to postpone shootings, which could have significant financial repercussions. Furthermore, rescheduling can be complex to manage given the limited availability of studios and the often busy schedule of lead actors.
In parallel with the industry’s representations through the MPA, provincial agencies like Creative BC and Ontario Creates as well as officials from Quebec’s Ministère de la culture et des communications, are asking the Government of Canada to act quickly to support the recovery that is already underway within the audiovisual sector. Over the past few weeks, discussions have taken place between these instances to explore possible solutions.
One of the solutions proposed by the industry is to expand the list of government-approved hotels to ensure adequate hosting capacity, while ensuring some of these hotels are able to meet the needs of VIPs and high-profile stars, particularly as they pertain to security.
Discussions with PHAC
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C. Strategic Considerations
Public health is beyond PCH’s mandate. PHAC is the authority responsible for issuing orders and rules over the entry of foreign workers in order to safeguard public health from further COVID-19 outbreak. PCH is acting as an intermediary between the industry and other sectoral stakeholders to relay their concerns and demands.
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It should be noted that PHAC itself is under enormous pressure for similar requests from many other sectors of the economy. They have to assess competing priorities and pressures, while having limited capacity to do so.
Foreign producers have been extremely vocal and critical since the new requirements came into effect on February 22. Some have threatened not to come back to Canada for future projects until these measures are lifted.
A slow recovery of FLS productions could have significant negative consequences for Canadian producers, disadvantaging them against their international counterparts who may be better positioned to attract such productions. In addition, travel restrictions could affect Canada's position as destination of choice for film and television production.
