The Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) is a refundable labour based tax incentive for international projects made in B.C. The PSTC is a refundable corporate income tax credit. When filing tax returns, your corporation may claim a specified percentage of the labour costs incurred in making a production. The credits are applied to reduce tax payable, and any remaining balance is paid to the corporation.
In order to claim the PSTC tax credits, your accredited production corporation must file a corporate income tax return, along with the certificates, with the Canada Revenue Agency. The PSTC is not subject to any Canadian content requirements. In addition, there is no limit on the PSTC that may be claimed on a particular production and there is no limit that a corporation or group of corporations can claim.
The program includes four initiatives: Basic, Regional, Distant Location and Digital Animation, Visual Effects and Post-Production (DAVE).
NEW Important Update to the PSTC Program: Tax Credit Rate Increase in March 2025
On March 4, 2025, the Ministry of Finance announced the following updates, subject to approval of budget legislation:
- Increase the PSTC basic tax credit from 28% to 36% for productions that start principal photography on or after January 1, 2025.
- Effective January 1, 2025, a new major production tax credit is available to production services tax credit claimants with B.C. production costs greater than $200 million. The major production tax credit is available for productions with principal photography starting on or after January 1, 2025, and is equal to 2% of a corporation’s accredited qualified BC labour expenditure in respect of the major production. The credit will be available upon completion of the major production.
- Restore the regional and distant location tax credits for animation productions that start principal photography (key animation) on or after January 1, 2025 for production companies with a physical office in a regional or distant location. Under new rules, animation productions with a “physical office” located in prescribed regional or distant locations may be eligible for these supplemental tax credits provided that the labour expenditures claimed are for workers who are physically present and working in those offices at least 50% of the time.
See the B.C. Budget 2025, Budget and Fiscal Plan 2025/26 – 2027/28
FOR LIVE ACTION PRODUCTIONS
New as of March 4, 2025
| Tax Credit | Value |
| Basic PSTC | 36% * |
| Major Production | 2% |
| Regional | 6% |
| Distant Location | 6% |
| Digital Animation, Visual Effects + Post-Production (DAVE) | 16% |
* Proposed NEW rate. For productions with a principal photography start date after September 30, 2016 and before January 1, 2025, the Basic PSTC rate is 28%.
For productions with a principal photography start date before October 1, 2016, please contact Creative BC for more information.
Productions with only VFX and/or post-production work done in B.C. can access Basic PSTC and DAVE Tax Credit, if eligible.
Productions filming principal photography in B.C. can access Basic, Regional, Distant Location and DAVE Tax Credits, if eligible.
FOR ANIMATED PRODUCTIONS
New as of March 4, 2025
| Tax Credit | Value |
| Basic PSTC | 36% * |
| Major Production | 2% |
| Regional | 6% ** |
| Distant Location | 6% ** |
| Digital Animation, Visual Effects + Post-Production (DAVE) | 16% |
* Proposed NEW rate. For productions with a principal photography (key animation) start date after September 30, 2016 and before January 1, 2025, the Basic PSTC rate is 28%.
** For productions with a principal photography (key animation) start date after December 31, 2024 (subject to proposed eligibility requirements). Productions with a principal photography (key animation) start date after June 26, 2015, and before June 1, 2024 could be eligible for Regional Tax Credit and Distant Location Tax Credit. Productions with a principal photography (key animation) start date on or after June 1, 2024 and before January 1, 2025 are not eligible for Regional and Distant Location bonuses.
For productions with a principal photography (key animation) start date before October 1, 2016, please contact Creative BC for more information.
For productions that first incurred an accredited B.C. Labour expenditure (ABCLE) on or after February 22, 2022, accredited production corporations are required to submit their pre-certification form within 120 days of their first ABCLE. Once the pre-certification number is issued, the accredited 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 120-day period, ABCLE incurred prior to submitting the form will not be eligible for the PSTC.
When to submit a PSTC application
Accredited production corporations are encouraged to apply for their tax credit certificates as soon as they have locked budget and principal photography or key animation started. We strongly recommend accredited production corporations submit their accreditation certificate application to Creative BC within 12 months of the corporation’s taxation year end. This is because we may require up to 4 months to process complete applications. We are unable to guarantee that applications filed later will be processed in time for the accredited production corporation to file with the CRA before the deadline, which may result in denied claims.
PSTC Pre-Certification Form
Access the online Tax Credit Application Portal
Contact the Motion Picture Tax Credit Team
taxteam@creativebc.com
Contact staff directly
Biljana Radovic | Manager, Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs
Tel: +1 604 730 2232
bradovic (at) creativebc.com
Joanne Chow | Data + Administration Lead, Motion Picture Tax Credits
Tel: +1 778 657 6278
jchow (at) creativebc.com
Lea Chambers | Senior Analyst, Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs
Tel: +1 604 730 2252
lchambers (at) creativebc.com
Andrée Laplante | Senior Analyst, Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs
Tel: +1 604 262 8678
alaplante (at) creativebc.com
Patricia Lee | Analyst, Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs
Tel: +1 236 471 0786
plee (at) creativebc.com
Derek Clayton | Analyst, Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs
Tel: +1 236 471 0877
dclayton (at) creativebc.com
Troy Taillon | Analyst, Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs
Tel: +1 236-471-0681
ttaillon (at) creativebc.com
Nikki Yee | Coordinator, Motion Picture Tax Credit Programs
Tel: +1 236-466–1075
nyee (at) creativebc.com
PSTC Pre-Certification Form
PSTC Pre-Certification FAQs
PSTC Summary
Application Checklist
Motion Picture Tax Credit Recipients: On-Screen Credits
Fee Schedule
Template Production Schedule
PSTC Calculator
Official Designee Declaration
DAVE Tax Credit Info Bulletin and FAQ
Template Regional Distant Location Breakdown
Regional + Distant Location Map
2025 Proposed Budget
See the 2025 Proposed Budget for more information.
2024
As previously announced, Budget 2024 introduces the amendment to the Regional and Distant location tax credits in the B.C. Income Tax Act to exclude animated productions from eligibility.
Animated productions under the Film Incentive BC and the Production Services Tax Credit programs with key animation beginning on or after June 1, 2024 will no longer be eligible for the Regional or Distant location tax credit bonuses.
2023
Effective July 1, 2020, the Income Tax Act’s production services tax credit is amended to allow corporations to claim labour expenditures incurred up to 120 days prior to the pre-certification form submission date under the credit, regardless of how late the pre-certification form was filed. This will only apply to film productions that incurred their first eligible accredited labour expenditure between July 1, 2020, and February 21, 2022. Read Budget and Fiscal Plan 2023/24 – 2025/26 (gov.bc.ca).
As previously announced, Budget 2023 introduces the aforementioned legislative measures.
2022
B.C. Budget 2022 extends the deadline for the production services tax credits applicant to file a pre-certification form 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
2020
- New: Effective for taxation years beginning after February 18, 2020, the deadline to file a claim with CRA for the Film Incentive BC and the Production Services Tax Credit programs is reduced to 18 months.
- Previously Announced:Effective July 1, 2020, pre-certification notification has been introduced for corporations intending to claim the production services tax credit. Previously announced on September 24, 2019
- Previously Announced: Effective February 19, 2020, the accreditation certificate fee for the production services tax credit is increased.
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.