CAVCO Public Notice 2025-02: Updates to CAVCO’s definition for “advertising”
Gatineau, August 13, 2025
The Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) is updating its guidelines for the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) program to incorporate a change to its definition for advertising, as well as some other minor revisions and clarifications.
Updating CAVCO’s definition for advertising
CAVCO has updated one part of its definition for “advertising,” an ineligible genre of production under both the CPTC program and the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) program. CAVCO has updated the CPTC Guidelines with the revised definition and with corresponding changes to the “Key things to know” section that accompanies the definition. CAVCO’s PSTC Guidelines direct applicants to the genre definitions in the CPTC Guidelines and therefore do not require a separate change at this time. The change to the definition aligns with a Federal Court of Appeal judgment (available in French only; English translation pending).
CAVCO has removed the 15% reference and integrated wording that appeared as part of the definition for “advertising” that was in effect from 2010 to 2017:
“A production… which combines information and/or entertainment with the sale or promotion of goods or services into a virtually indistinguishable whole.”
CAVCO’s revised definition retains the first three bullets of the definition in effect since 2017, and adjusts the wording of the fourth bullet:
Previous version (2017)
A production:
- that is a commercial or infomercial;
- that includes a call to action soliciting the viewer to purchase a good or service (e.g., directing the viewer to a store or website other than the production’s website);
- that promotes broadcast schedules or programming; or
- where more than 15% of the running time consists of:
- extolling the virtues of one or more products, services, events, organizations or businesses, and/or
- logos or other brand identifiers.
Updated
A production that:
- is a commercial or infomercial;
- includes a call to action soliciting the viewer to purchase a good or service (e.g., directing the viewer to a store or website other than the production’s website);
- promotes broadcast schedules or programming; or
- combines information or entertainment with the sale or promotion of goods or services into a virtually indistinguishable whole. The sale or promotion of goods or services includes extolling the virtues of one or more products, services, events, organizations or businesses, or the prominent use of logos or other brand identifiers.
In CAVCO’s view, the revised definition is in line with characteristics of productions that have been assessed as being advertising, which have featured promotional content on a regular basis throughout most of their duration, and well in excess of 15% of the running time.
Other updates
In the coming weeks, CAVCO will also make a few other minor updates to the CPTC Guidelines. Once they are published, a summary of these additional changes will be available in the table appearing at the top of the CPTC Guidelines page on CAVCO’s website.
Contacting CAVCO
Anyone with questions about this public notice may contact CAVCO by email (bcpac-cavco@pch.gc.ca) or by phone at 1-888-433-2200 (teletypewriter toll-free: 1-888-997-3123).
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