Important message for the Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) and Film Incentive BC (FIBC) program applicants: proposed changes to the PSTC and FIBC programs in B.C. Budget 2026, subject to approval of the legislation.

Following industry consultations in 2025, the Province of BC incorporated feedback to reduce administrative burden, extending its filing deadlines and requirements for filings with the Canada Revenue Agency.

BC Ministry of Finance proposed the following changes to the motion picture tax credit programs in the Budget 2026 announcement on February 17, 2026:

    1. PSTC Pre-Certification Requirement Eliminated
    2. FIBC and PSTC Filing Deadlines Extended
    3. FIBC Requirement to File a Completion Certificate Eliminated
    4. PSTC Certification Fee Increased and Major Production Tax Credit Certification Fee Introduced

 

1. PSTC Pre-Certification Requirement Eliminated
Effective Date: Royal assent

The requirement for a corporation to file a notice of intent to claim the PSTC is eliminated for notices due on or after February 17, 2026. Notices that were required to have been filed prior to February 17, 2026, will continue to be subject to the previous requirements and timelines.

Pre-certification notice is no longer required if the first accredited B.C. labour expenditure is on or after October 20, 2025.

 

2. FIBC and PSTC Filing Deadlines Extended
Effective Date: Royal assent

The time in which a corporation must file a claim for either the FIBC or the PSTC is extended from 18 months to 36 months after the end of the corporation’s taxation year. The new time limit of 36 months applies to corporations with a taxation year beginning on or after February 17, 2026. For corporations with taxation years beginning before February 17, 2026, the time limit of 18 months is extended by a further 18 months if the time limit would have expired on or after February 17, 2026.

Corporations with a tax year ending on or after August 17, 2024, will have 36 months to file a complete claim with CRA.

 

3. FIBC Requirement to File a Completion Certificate Eliminated
Effective Date: Royal assent

Corporations claiming the FIBC are no longer required to file a completion certificate with the CRA that would have been due on or after February 17, 2026. This change relates to the filing of a tax credit claim and does not affect a corporation’s requirement to apply for a completion certificate with the certifying authority.

Corporations with a tax year ending on or after August 17, 2024, will no longer be required to submit their completion certificate to the CRA with their FIBC claim; however, they are still required to obtain a completion certificate within the 30-month deadline to meet the program requirements.

 

4. PSTC Certification Fee Increased and Major Production Tax Credit Certification Fee Introduced
Effective Date: March 1, 2026

The accreditation certificate fee for the PSTC is increased to $19,000 for corporations with productions that began principal photography after December 31, 2024 and apply for certification on or after March 1, 2026. The major production tax credit certification fee is set at $5,000.

Creative BC will require a complete application submission, which means the prodco must submit an application and the application fee payment before March 1, 2026, to pay the existing fee of $10,000. Applications that are not a complete application submission as of March 1, 2026, will be subject to the new fee of $19,000.

The updated Fee Schedule can be found here.

Related Links
Links to the budget documents, news release and program webpages can be found here: 

 

Contact
Please contact taxteam@creativebc.com with any questions or comments. 

 

 

Creative BC has implemented comprehensive updates to essential Film Incentive BC (FIBC) and Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) program application forms and templates. These revisions reflect recent legislative amendments made in March 2025 to British Columbia’s motion picture tax credit programs and ensure applicants are equipped with the most current and relevant resources tailored to their specific production requirements.

Production Schedules
To better support different production types, a set of more tailored production schedule forms has been created. Use of Creative BC’s Production Schedule forms is required.

Schedule of B.C./Non-B.C. Costs
To better support data validation and consistency, the FIBC Schedule of B.C./Non-B.C. Costs template has been updated, and a new PSTC Schedule of B.C./Non-B.C. Costs template has been added. PSTC applications now require a breakdown of the estimated total B.C. production costs (a.k.a. the “B.C. Spend”).  Use of these templates is optional but recommended.

Regional and Distant Location Breakdown
The Regional and Distant Location Breakdown template is now separated by program, with more detailed instructions. Use of these templates is optional but recommended.

Application Checklists
All checklists have also been revised to align with the recent legislative changes to B.C.’s motion picture tax credit programs.

Please ensure to use the latest forms for each application. Contact the Motion Picture Tax Credits department directly with any questions or concerns at taxteam@creativebc.com.

Bill 5, Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2025, received Royal Assent on May 29, 2025. As a result, the proposed changes to the legislation and regulation for British Columbia’s Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs, announced on March 4, 2025, are official.

 

Please refer to the Updated Resources for information on eligibility requirements and required documentation for the FIBC and PSTC programs:

 

Learn more

See the final version of Bill 5 here.
See the Tax Credit Changes and FAQ here.
See the Budget 2025 here.

Effective April 1, 2025, Creative BC will update the motion picture tax credit certificates to include key dates essential for determining eligibility and filing deadlines; as well as basic rates under the Film Incentive BC (FIBC) and Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) programs.

This update will affect the Accreditation certificates (PSTC) and Eligibility certificates (FIBC), which will now list the Principal Photography Start Date*, and the Completion certificates (FIBC), which will now list the Production Completion Date**. Please ensure that all dates provided to Creative BC during submission are accurate in order for the certificate to be issued.

Learn more about the deadlines with PSTC Deadline Calculator and FIBC Deadline Calculator.

 

*Principal Photography Start Date is when the production begins filming of the main unit.

For Live Action Productions:

“Principal photography”, for scripted productions, is the filming of the main unit of the production, with principals and majority key creatives present on set, distinct from second unit, splinter unit, development filming or similar.
“Principal photography”, for unscripted productions, such as documentaries, factual and lifestyle, is the filming of the main unit of the production, with subjects (if applicable) and majority key creatives present on set during which the primary footage of the production is filmed, distinct from the second unit, development filming or similar.

For Animated Productions: principal photography is the beginning of key animation.

“Key animation” is the pivotal moment in the animation process that defines/encapsulates the movement/emotion and provides key frames/ poses, setting the timing, life and expression of the character(s) in the sequence. The key animator’s work is part of the final print.

**Production Completion Date is when the production exists in a final form and is ready for exploitation or delivery to a distributor, broadcaster or purchaser.
“Complete”, in relation to a film or video production, means that the production has been finished and is commercially exploitable.

 

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:

 

Learn more

See the Tax Credit Changes and FAQ here.
See the proposed Budget 2025 here.

 

Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs 

Film Incentive BC
Production Services Tax Credit

On December 12, 2024, the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport announced the following updates, subject to approval of budget legislation:

For FIBC applicants:

For PSTC applicants:

See the news release issued by the Province of BC for more information.

Business Affairs and Production Accounting teams can now quickly, accurately, and instantly build B.C. motion picture tax credit deadlines into their project plans.

Creative BC introduces a deadline calculator for its PSTC and FIBC programs, integrating eligibility, notice, and filing deadlines. Designed by Creative BC and developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), these tools are intended to empower applicants by improving their ability to effectively plan and understand the necessary deadlines for successful certification applications with Creative BC and timely tax credit claims with the CRA.

 

[button link=”https://creativebc.com/motion-picture-tax-credits/film-incentive-bc/fibc-deadline-calculator/” type=”big” background-color = “default” color=”white” newwindow=”yes”] FIBC Deadline Calculator[/button]

 

Application eligibility deadlines at Creative BC:

Tax credit claim filing deadline at the CRA:

To trigger the above deadline calculations, simply enter the following information:

 

[button link=”https://creativebc.com/motion-picture-tax-credits/production-services-tax-credit/pstc-deadline-calculator/” type=”big” background-color = “default” color=”white” newwindow=”yes”] PSTC Deadline Calculator[/button]

 

Pre-certification Notice deadline at Creative BC:

Tax credit claim filing deadline at the CRA:

To trigger the above deadline calculations, simply enter the following information:

 

[1] Principal Photography / Key Animation

Budget Measures Implementation Act 2024 received royal assent on April 25, 2024, thus an amendment to the Regional and Distant location tax credits in the B.C. Income Tax Act to exclude animated productions from eligibility will affect animated productions with key animation beginning on or after June 1, 2024.

Animated productions commencing key animation on or after June 1, 2024 are ineligible for Regional and Distant location tax credits, however, they remain eligible for the Basic and the DAVE tax credits under the Film Incentive BC and the Production Services Tax Credit programs.

To find out more, visit: Budget and Fiscal Plan 2024/2025, Bill 3 – 2024: Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2024 (Clause 84), the Progress of Bills (leg.bc.ca)

 

For any questions, please contact the Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs department at taxteam (at) creativebc.com.

Service Standard & Processing Time

Creative BC’s service standard for processing applications to the Film Incentive BC (FIBC) and the Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) programs is 120 days from the date a complete application is received, 90% of the time. Incomplete applications, outstanding information or missing documents will delay the issuing of certificates. An application is deemed complete when the administration fee has been paid and all documents are available for the analyst’s review. This is when the service standard days start being counted. During Creative BC’s review of the application, days continue to be counted while an analyst is waiting for an applicant to respond to questions. The last day counted is when the production is certified on behalf of the Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport.

Creative BC’s service standard for processing pre-certification registrations to the PSTC programs is 5 days from the date received, 90% of the time. Incomplete registrations, incorrect or duplicated information will delay the issuing of pre-certification number necessary for the PSTC application.

First-Come First-Served Queue

Creative BC remains committed to a first-come, first-served queue process, and as of April 1, 2024, will no longer be accepting requests for priority reviews, which were previously undertaken on a case-by-case basis.

The Tax Credit department’s processing time consistently meets the service standard, ensuring timely review of complete applications and registrations submitted on time.

 

If you have any inquiries about the status of your application and pre-certification registration, please do not hesitate to contact the Tax Credit department at taxteam@creativebc.com.

 

B.C. Budget proposes an amendment to the Regional and Distant location tax credits in the B.C. Income Tax Act to exclude animated productions from eligibility.

Proposed changes apply for animated productions under either the Film Incentive BC or the Production Services Tax Credit programs with key animation beginning on or after June 1, 2024.

Animated productions will remain eligible for the Basic tax credit as well as the DAVE tax credit under both programs.

To find out more, visit: Budget and Fiscal Plan 2024/2025, Bill 3 – 2024: Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2024 (Clause 84).

 

For any questions, please contact the Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs department at taxteam (at) creativebc.com.

 

Creative BC has recently made an update to our bank account information, including our bank account number.

For future application fee payments via e-transfer, direct deposit, or wire transfer, please use the new account number as described in our updated Payment Options, which was emailed to all FIBC and PSTC applicants April 26, 2023. A correction was sent May 5, 2023.

Please note, any payments sent to our retired bank account number as of May 1st, 2023, and any payments sent using the old information will be declined.

For any questions/concerns, please reach out to our tax team at taxteam@creativebc.com.

As of March 31, 2023, the transition period, with respect to the requirement that a Completion Certificate be submitted with the T2 corporate income tax return in the final tax year of the production, will be ending. Starting April 1, 2023 per section 85(1) of the Income Tax Act of British Columbia, corporations filing a claim for the British Columbia film and television tax credit (BCFTTC – FIBC) must submit a Completion Certificate with their T2 corporate income tax return if the production was completed in the related tax year.

Going forward, an Eligibility Certificate alone will no longer be accepted for the tax year the production is completed, as was the case during the transition period that CRA had given to producers to become compliant with the legislation.

In addition to the requirement under s. 85(1), the production must also receive a Completion Certificate under s. (88)(1)(b)(i)(A) within 30 months from the end of the tax year in which principal photography of the production began.

However, under s.85(3) if the production is started and completed in a single tax year, corporations only have 18 months from the end of the tax year in which the production is completed to receive the completion certificate and submit it to CRA along with the T2 corporate income tax return. This 18-month deadline will be sooner than the 30 month deadline under s (88)(1)(b)(i)(A) for these shorter production cycles. Failure to submit the completion certificate to the CRA within the 18 month period may result in tax credits being denied.

For any questions, please contact the Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs department at taxteam (at) creativebc.com.

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:

 

 

Under section 85(1) of the Income Tax Act of British Columbia, corporations filing a claim for the British Columbia film and television tax credit (BCFTTC – FIBC) must submit a Completion Certificate with their T2 corporation income tax return if the production was completed in the related tax year. To make sure that claimants receive the tax credit to which they are entitled, an Eligibility Certificate alone will no longer be accepted for the tax year a production is completed.

Going forward, a Completion Certificate will be required for productions that are completed in a tax year. To help applicants adjust to the new process, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has implemented a transition period.

Transition period

The CRA is offering the transition period until March 31, 2023, to give BCFTTC (FIBC) claimants time to adapt to this filing requirement. During this period, the CRA will accept either an Eligibility Certificate and/or a Completion Certificate for BCFTTC (FIBC) claims for the tax year a production is completed. However, if a final-year claim is processed with only an Eligibility Certificate, the production must still get a Completion Certificate within the legislated time period that applies:

The CRA encourages corporations to apply for a Completion Certificate with Creative BC as soon as possible to avoid delays and reduce the risk of losing tax credits for which they may otherwise be eligible.

For any questions, please contact the Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs department at taxteam (at) creativebc.com.

To find out more, visit: What’s new – Film and media tax credits

PRE-CERTIFICATION: Recent changes to the notice deadline

B.C. Budget 2022 proposes that the deadline for the production services tax credits applicant to file a pre-certification form is extended from 60 to 120 days effective February 22, 2022.

This impacts productions that first incur accredited BC labour expenditures on or after February 22, 2022 and they must give a notice by submitting a pre-certification form through the Creative BC website within 120 days after incurring the first accredited B.C. labour expenditure.

Productions that first incurred accredited B.C. labour expenditures before February 22, 2022 but after June 30, 2020 have 60 days to file a pre-certification form (per Budget 2020).

If a pre-certification form is not submitted within the specified number of days, production companies are unable to claim labour expenditures incurred prior to filing the form.

For example, if a company files their pre-certification form 150 days after their first accredited B.C. labour expenditure, they will not be eligible to claim any labour expenditures that occurred within those 150 days. This in turn would reduce the production services tax credit that the production company would receive.

Once the pre-certification number is issued, the production corporation may apply to Creative BC to receive an accreditation certificate for the production.

To find out more, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/income-taxes/corporate/credits/production-services

1. PRE-CERTIFICATION
Productions that incur their first BC labour expenditure on or after July 1, 2020 must submit a pre-certification form through the Creative BC website within 60 days after incurring the first accredited BC labour expenditure. Once the pre-certification number is issued, the production corporation may apply to Creative BC to receive an accreditation certificate for the production.

If a production company submits their pre-certification form after the 60-day period, BC labour expenditures incurred prior to submitting the form will not be eligible for the PSTC. For example, if a company files their pre-certification form 75 days after their first accredited BC labour expenditure, they will not be eligible to claim any labour expenditures that occurred within those 75 days. This in turn would reduce the production services tax credit received by the production company.

2. WHEN TO SUBMIT A FULL PSTC APPLICATION
Production companies are encouraged to apply for their tax credit certificates as early as possible. We strongly recommend production companies submit their accreditation certificate application to Creative BC within 12 months of the corporation’s taxation year end. This is because we may require 6 months to process certificate applications. We are unable to guarantee that applications filed later will be processed in time for the production company to file with the CRA before the deadline, which may result in denied claims.

For an eligibility certificate, we strongly recommend that you apply as early as possible in the pre-production or production stage and no later than 12 months from the corporation’s taxation year in which principal photography began.

For a completion certificate, we strongly recommend that production companies submit applications within 12-24 months of the taxation year in which principal photography began.

 

Please contact the CRA Film Services Units for information on CRA filing deadlines for PSTC and FIBC.

Additionally, BC Ministry of Finance has announced “As part of our COVID-19 supports, the deadline to claim the tax credit for claims required to be made March 13, 2020 or later is extended to six months from the original due date or to December 31, 2020, whichever is earlier.” (see the BC Ministry of Finance page for FIBC and PSTC information)

June 24, 2020

Please see more information on the CRA website here for any important notices regarding Film + Media Tax Credits.

 

Film Incentive BC (FIBC) is an economic initiative designed to encourage film, television, digital animation and visual effects production in British Columbia. This labour-based tax credit is available to domestic productions with qualifying levels of Canadian content.

The session provides attendees with an understanding of where to start, how to plan, what is required, and how to apply.

Read more about the Film Incentive BC program on creativebc.com

View the info session here

The Creative BC Tax Credits Team is working from home and this has not impacted our processing of tax credit applications.

However, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, Creative BC has amended some of our usual tax credits procedures and application requirements until further notice, as follows:

Please note that for PSTC applications, the Pre-Certification registration process is still in place.

If you have general questions, please feel free to reach out to a member of our team.

Stay safe!

With the recent announcement of B.C.’s Budget & Fiscal Plan 2020, one new and two previous announcements should be noted by applicants to B.C. motion picture tax credit programs:

For details, please visit the Tax Credit Program pages on our website. Thank you for your ongoing collaboration, the Creative BC team looks forward to enhancing our services.

 

2019 PSTC Pre-Certification Process

Motion Picture Tax Credits Application in B.C.

In consultation with government and industry stakeholders, Creative BC is today sharing preliminary information regarding the anticipated implementation of the new PSTC pre-certification and registration process.

The process change will go into effect on September 24, 2019. While the FIBC tax credit process already has two steps, pre-certification for PSTC applicants will now require a simple, new pre-certification form that generates a registration number for every project applicant.

We anticipate that early knowledge of planned production activity across the province will give Creative BC preliminary insight and aggregate information, based on which competitive insight, production volume forecasting and service preparation can be planned. This new step will give Creative BC and its partners across industry and government information with which to collaborate, enhance and sustain value delivery through Creative BC’s tax credit administration and film commission services.

For details, please visit the Tax Credit Program pages on our website. Thank you for your ongoing collaboration, the Creative BC team looks forward to enhancing our services.

British Columbia is world-renowned as a versatile and dependable hub for motion picture production. As a global competitor in visual effects (VFX) and animation, the motion picture industry is estimated to support full time equivalent positions totalling over 71,000 in B.C. [1]

These figures show that production activity levels are holding steady as indicated by the annual total budgeted production spend, which is slightly lower by 6% year-over-year. While the total number of productions certified by Creative BC this year is down by 68 productions year-over-year, the number of productions certified is dependent on certification submissions and timing.

With these production expenditures, direct industry jobs and labour income accounted for approximately $1.67 billion spent in British Columbia. B.C.-based creators accounted for 154 productions, with non-B.C. and foreign companies bringing 230 productions to the province.

A breakdown by program of the 384 tax credit certifications approved by Creative BC during fiscal year 2018/19 includes:

A breakdown by format of the 384 tax credit certifications is below:

For more information and detailed expenditures by production type, please visit: https://creativebc.com/motion-picture-industry-statistics

Highlights from B.C.’s motion picture industry during fiscal year 2018/19 include:

 

[1] CMPA Profile 2018 estimates of direct and spin-off FTES, Exhibit 2-3

We are pleased to announce that Creative BC is launching a new, improved online tax credit application system for PSTC and FIBC.

This means that effective April 1, 2019, Creative BC will only accept tax credit applications transmitted via the new portal. All clients that have previously submitted an application to Creative BC will be granted access to the new system via e-mail before April 1, 2019.

DO YOU HAVE ANY UN-SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS IN PROGRESS?

If so, they must be transmitted prior to April 1, 2019. If you do not transmit your in-flight applications before April 1, 2019, your application(s) will NOT be available in the new system.

Applications that are not submitted before April 1, 2019 will still be available for viewing in the old system until May 31, 2019 but you will have to manually re-enter the information to the new system in order to transmit your application.

We look forward to serving you with this improved platform and anticipate a smooth transition.

Visit our Tax Credit page here for more information!