ONTARIO PRODUCTION SERVICES TAX CREDIT (OPSTC)

Overview of the ONTARIO PRODUCTION SERVICES TAX CREDIT (OPSTC) program:

The Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC) is a refundable tax credit based upon Ontario qualifying production expenditures (labour, service contracts and tangible property expenditures) incurred by a qualifying corporation with respect to an eligible film or television production. The OPSTC requirements are generally “harmonized” with the federal Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit administered by the Canadian Audio Visual Certification Office of the Department of Canadian Heritage (CAVCO) and Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Benefits of the ONTARIO PRODUCTION SERVICES TAX CREDIT (OPSTC) program:

• Where principal photography commenced on or after November 1, 2022, the production must be made for commercial exploitation by one or more of the following means:
• Theatrical distribution: productions shown commercially in cinemas;
• Television broadcast: productions made available via traditional television broadcast in a scheduled timeslot; or
• Alternative means: productions made available online (download or streaming), by video-on-demand, or on physical media (e.g. DVD).
• Productions that began principal photography after August 24, 2023, are required to include an acknowledgement of Ontario tax credit support in the productions end credits. For a series, the acknowledgement is required in the end credits of each episode for which the tax credit is claimed.
• The following elements must be included:
• The Province of Ontario wordmark logo;
• The Ontario Creates wordmark logo; and
• Text stating Produced with film and television tax credit assistance from the Government of Ontario.

Eligibility criteria of the ONTARIO PRODUCTION SERVICES TAX CREDIT (OPSTC) program:

• A qualifying corporation is a Canadian or foreign-owned corporation which carries on a film or video production, or production services business, at a permanent establishment in Ontario, files an Ontario corporate tax return and owns the copyright in the eligible production, or contracts directly with the copyright owner to provide production services to an eligible production.