Important Update to B.C.’s Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs On March 4, 2025, the Minister of Finance announced the following budget proposal to British Columbia’s Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs, subject to the approval of the legislature: Increase the Film...
Related News
BC Film Commission wins Film Commission of the Year at the 2025 Global Production Awards
The BC Film Commission at Creative BC was presented with a Global Production Award for outstanding work in the Film Commission of the Year category at the 2025 awards taking place at the Cannes Film Festival and seeing over 270 of the industry's top executives and...
New Budgeting Tool Launched to Help Producers Rethink Diesel Use on Set
Calling all producers and department heads who are looking to reduce carbon emissions and fuel spend – presenting the Reel Green™ Fuel Budget Comparator. This interactive tool is designed to help film and television productions visualize the real costs, both...
Eleven B.C. filmmakers’ projects receive $1.4M in production financing from Creative BC
Vancouver, B.C. (May 12, 2025) - Today, Creative BC announces the 11 projects that will receive production and post production financing for their long form scripted feature length films, documentaries, and series projects. With grants of $20K to $200K each, this is...
Ten B.C. motion picture production companies get support for slate development to create B.C.-made IP
Vancouver, B.C. (May 5, 2025) – Creative BC announces the ten British Columbia motion picture production companies that will receive a total of $500,000 through its Slate Development Program (the Slate Program). The Slate Program helps B.C.’s production companies grow...
Important message for PSTC applicants regarding pre-certification
Currently, under section 79 (1) “accredited qualified BC labour expenditure” of the Income Tax Act of British Columbia, an accredited production corporation claiming the Production Services Tax Credits (PSTC) must give notice (pre-certification) in accordance with section 84.1 to the certifying authority – Creative BC:
#1 – within 60 days after incurring the 1st accredited BC labour expenditure if it occurred on or after July 1, 2020 and prior to February 22, 2022;
#2 – within 120 days after incurring the 1st accredited BC labour expenditure if it occurred on or after February 22, 2022.
Proposed measures for PSTC applicants
As part of Budget 2023, legislative measures will be brought forward which will impact production companies that incurred their first accredited BC labour expenditure after June 30, 2020 and prior to February 22, 2022 (#1). The measures will allow these companies to claim labour expenditures incurred up to 120 days prior to the pre-certification submission date. Production companies will be able to claim accredited BC labour expenditures incurred in the 120 days prior to filing their pre-certification form regardless of how late they originally filed their pre-certification form. Examples of how this will impact companies can be found on the BC Government PSTC webpage.
If a production company has already been denied a portion of their PSTC claim by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) due to late pre-certification filing, the company can request an adjustment to its T2 corporate tax return. For more information, see Requesting a reassessment of your T2 return – Canada.ca
PSTC pre-certification requirements
Note that all productions that have incurred the 1st accredited BC labour expenditure on or after February 22, 2022 (#2) must submit a pre-certification form to Creative BC within 120 days after the 1st accredited BC labour expenditure is incurred. If a pre-certification form is not submitted within 120 days, production companies are unable to claim any labour expenditures incurred prior to the filing date of the pre-certification form. For more information, please visit BC government FAQ webpage and read our previous newsletter here.
Creative BC encourages corporations to submit a pre-certification registration form as soon as the 1st BC labour expenditure is solidified, to avoid a reduction of the estimated tax credits. Please contact us for any questions.
For any questions, please contact the Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs department at taxteam (at) creativebc.com.
To find out more, visit:
- PSTC Creative BC Pre-Certification FAQs
- PSTC Government of BC
- PSTC Government of BC FAQS
- Part 5 of BC Income Tax Act
Stay Connected
Subscribe to our newsletters