53% of funds went to companies owned by diverse groups
MONTREAL — Telefilm Canada revealed today almost $30 million was disbursed through the Covid-19 Emergency Relief Fund – Telefilm Allocation, with more than half of funding going to companies that are majority-owned by an underrepresented group.
Telefilm’s relief funding for the audiovisual industry was included as part of the federal government’s Covid-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations.
Overall, Telefilm disbursed $29,654,492 in emergency funding to 549 companies in total, with 471 organizations allocated funding in Phase 1 of the program and an additional 81 in Phase 2.
Companies that self-identified as being majority-owned by an underrepresented group (racialized persons, Indigenous, women, LGBTQ2+, persons with disabilities, and persons from official language minority communities) comprised 53% of all Telefilm relief funding recipients. See below for the breakdown.
Funding in Phase 1 was allocated to companies in proportion to their Telefilm project funding over the last three fiscal years (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020). The Phase 2 allocation of funds went to movie theatres that show Canadian films and to audiovisual training and development partners that did not already receive financial support under the Covid-19 Emergency Relief Fund.
Approximately 15% of Telefilm’s relief funding was reserved to provide additional support to clients of underrepresented identities and communities, who have historically been disadvantaged. These funds were allocated as part of a top-up funding phase.
For more information, including how funding was distributed by province/territory, please click here.
