Film, television and video post-production, 2021
Released: 2022-11-09
$2.0 billion
2021
0.5% 
(period-to-period change)
Film, television and video post-production operating revenue up marginally in 2021 compared with 2019
The film, television and video post-production industry generated $2.0 billion in operating revenue in 2021, a 0.5% increase from 2019. Businesses in the industry were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with disruptions mostly beginning in the latter part of 2020. This continued into the early months of 2021 until more projects began to arrive as productions delayed by the pandemic wrapped up filming.
Operating expenses totalled $1.9 billion in 2021, a decline of 1.3% compared with 2019. Salaries, wages and benefits decreased by 2.1% from 2019 to $1.0 billion in 2021 as subcontracts, in contrast, rose 20.0% to $135.7 million over the same period. The operating profit margin improved from 6.9% in 2019 to 8.6% in 2021.
By province, Quebec made up the largest share of total operating revenue (50.2%) in 2021 and saw the biggest jump from 2019 (+12.9%), to $1.0 billion. British Columbia had an increase of $27.5 million (+4.9%) from 2019 to 2021. Ontario, on the other hand, recorded the largest decline, dropping $135.5 million (-24.6%) compared with 2019.
Despite a national rise in operating revenue, sales decreased by 6.1% from 2019 to $1.7 billion in 2021. Most of the reduction in sales came from visual effects, which were down $110.4 million (-8.7%) relative to 2019.
Industry trends in 2022: Post-production projects to increase rapidly
With several film and television projects having been delayed because of the pandemic, the resumption of filming brought a backlog of work. As the production industry works on new projects and the accumulated backlog, the number of contracts the post-production industry receives over time will increase. The impacts of the pandemic on the financial estimates will be confirmed during the next release of the survey planned for 2024.
Note to readers
Data for 2017 and 2019 have been revised.
These and other data related to the arts, culture, heritage and sport sectors can be found at the Culture statistics portal.
The Arts and Culture Data Viewer, a interactive tool that allows users to easily break down economic and social data from Statistics Canada on arts and culture by geographic area and other dimensions, is also available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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