The Directors Guild of Canada has ratified a new contract with the Canadian Media Producers Association, representing local indie film and television producers, to ensure labor peace north of the border.
The new three-year CMPA-DGC standard agreement will take effect Jan. 1, 2026 and spells out pay rates and workplace conditions for directors and other creatives and crew members in Canadian film, TV and digital media. To be covered by the new deal, productions must start principal photography on Jan. 1 or afterwards.
The DGC lauded the new agreement for ensuring stability amid unprecedented industry disruption for its around 7,000 members countrywide. “With the landscape of a globally fluctuating production industry, this agreement contains improvements that will benefit members now and in the years ahead, laying the groundwork for increased stability in an unstable time,” said Victoria Harding, executive director of DGC Ontario and her guild branch’s lead negotiator, in a statement on Tuesday.
Hollywood’s year of strikes in 2023 had a devastating impact on Canada’s film and TV production industry. Foreign location and service work and homegrown production by Canadian producers has recovered in the last 18 months. But Hollywood’s local production spend has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels after the sharp industry slowdown.
For its part, the CMPA focused on the new agreement strengthening the domestic media industry and supporting Canadian storytelling for the global market.
“The industry continues to navigate an ever-evolving media landscape, and this agreement, demonstrating the ongoing strong partnership between producers, directors and crew, provides much-needed stability and clarity for the future,” Sean Porter, vp of national industrial relations and counsel for the CMPA, said in his own statement.
The new standard agreement will expire on Dec. 31, 2028.
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