India-Canada Audiovisual Co-production Treaty Signed

India and Canada has signed an India-Canada Audiovisual Co-production Treaty with an aim to create jobs in both countries and boost tourism. This audiovisual treaty is the first of its kind for India and was signed in Delhi. The treaty came into force on 1 July 2014 but the announcement was made on 9 July 2014.

The treaty will combine creative, technical and financial resources of both the countries to create audiovisual co-productions. It is applicable for the media and entertainment industry across India and thus would lead to a deeper level of engagement between the audiovisual sectors of both the countries, greater cultural and economic benefits and increased access to audiences worldwide.

This treaty of Canada with India has been inked after negotiations of last 15 years.

Benefits of the audiovisual treaty
• The treaty has opened gateway to Canadian federal incentives for film and video productions, as well as the provincial tax incentives and other benefits reserved for Canadian productions.
• It covers digitization of footage, animation and other digital forms of audiovisuals
• It has opened more business opportunities in the area of digital media flowing between Canada and India
• Speed of visa processing for Indians who wants to go to Canada has been increased and now a person travelling can expect that they will receive their short-term visas within 5 days of application

However, the treaty allows third-party producers to be a part of these productions and benefit of the co-production treaty. These producers will also be allowed in cases their respective country doesn’t have a treaty with either of the two countries, namely India or Canada. But the investment has been limited and it cannot exceed 20 percent of the funding.

Canada has over 50 co-production treaties with different countries across the world. With this co-production treaty, Canada in last decade was successful in producing about 700 audiovisual treaty co-productions with an estimated production budgets of about 5 billion Canadian dollars. This co-production has been created in Canada with the implementation of CRTC (Canadian Content) regulations. The CRTC require Canadian films a list of pre-requisites before it qualified for Canadian government funding as well as broadcasting opportunities.

Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister - Chris Alexander