Quebecor’s Freedom Mobile announced Wednesday it has signed a multi-year agreement to be the presenting sponsor of the Calgary Stampede’s nightly Grandstand Show.
Running all 10 nights of the Stampede from July 4-13, this year’s Grandstand Show will be headlined by Albertan country music singer-songwriter Carolyn Dawn Johnson, a 17-time Canadian Country Music Award winner. The show will also feature performers from the Young Canadians School of Performing Arts and the Grandstand Band, along with jaw-dropping stunt acts, a pyrotechnic display, a new drone show and the Stampede’s signature nightly fireworks finale.
“We are extremely proud to announce…
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Also marking Asian Heritage Month with special themed channel
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) last week announced two new documentaries from Yukon and British Columbia will be added to its streaming offerings on nfb.ca in May.
Starting May 16, filmmaker Jessica Hall’s short documentary Saturday explores the joyful, creative life of her sister, Katherine, who has an intellectual disability. The 13-minute film is “n inspiring tribute to a daughter and mother’s close and supportive relationship,” an NFB press release says. Saturday has been screened at a number of Canadian festivals, including the Available Light Film Festival in…
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Follows Pascale St-Onge pledge
By Ahmad Hathout
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday pledged $150 million to shore up the CBC/Radio-Canada and enshrine funding for the public broadcaster in the law if elected.
“Canada’s institutions and identity are under attack from foreign interference,” Carney said during a campaign stop in Montreal. “If elected, my government will take action to enshrine and protect and strengthen CBC/Radio-Canada for generations to come.
“We will not only increase CBC/Radio-Canada’s funding by $150 million, but we will also make this funding statutory, meaning Parliament as a whole will need to approve any future changes to its funding, not…
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By Moyra Rodger, CEO of Magnify Digital, a boutique digital agency specializing in online marketing strategy, advertising, and training for the screen media industry
A new wave of Canadian patriotism is emerging in response to U.S. tariffs, making this the perfect moment to focus on what truly matters—our stories. More than ever, Canadian content must reach audiences at home and abroad.
Securing the future of Canadian content means moving beyond a system that prioritizes production and treats audience engagement as an afterthought. Both legacy and digital-first producers need a unified approach to capturing and sustaining audience attention. If we fail to…
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By Connie Thiessen
Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s 24th Prime Minister on Friday morning, along with a new, leaner cabinet of 23 ministers.
Among other changes, Steven Guilbeault is out as Environment minister and reassigned as Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity, and Parks Canada, in addition to serving as Carney’s Quebec Lieutenant. Guilbeault previously served as Canadian Heritage minister from Nov. 2019 to Oct. 2021. Quebec MP Pascale St-Onge, who is not reoffering in the coming federal election, had held the portfolio since July 2023.
Canada Media Fund (CMF) President and CEO Valerie Creighton welcomed Guilbeault on his…
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Canadian Heritage has announced the appointment of Dominique Lapierre to Telefilm Canada’s board of directors.
Lapierre’s appointment was made Feb. 28 by Order in Council. Her five-year term will start June 1, 2025.
Based in Montreal, Lapierre is currently the executive director of Théâtre de la Ville, a position she has held since 2021.
A law graduate from McGill University, she has a long association with Telefilm. She first joined the audiovisual funding organization in 2002 as legal counsel for the feature film unit, and was promoted in 2006 to the position of deputy director of…
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Advocacy groups for Canadian film, TV and media production companies are applauding Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge’s recently released set of proposed changes to modernize the mandate, funding and governance of CBC/Radio-Canada.
The proposed amendments range from prohibiting advertising during CBC/Radio-Canada’s news and public affairs programming and ending subscription fees for its digital services to establishing predictable and stable funding via a statutory appropriation based on an annual per capita formula.
In a statement released Saturday, the Quebec English-language Production Council (QEPC), speaking on behalf of the official language minority community (OLMC) film and TV production industry…
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By Connie Thiessen
Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge has released a set of proposed changes aimed at modernizing the objectives, governance and funding of CBC/Radio-Canada, ranging from banishing advertising during news and current affairs programming to ensuring more citizen participation in determining the public broadcaster’s priorities.
The proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Act were released Thursday, with a goal “to reinforce the accountability and reactivity of the Corporation toward Canadians, to ensure its journalistic, creative and programming independence, to strengthen its role as public broadcaster, and to provide it with predictable and stable funding so that it can face future challenges.”
Stable…
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A new report from the Quebec English-language Production Council (QEPC), an industry association that promotes English-language film and television production in Quebec, shows that while the annual volume of film and TV production within Canada’s official language minority community (OLMC) in Quebec is recovering from the Covid-19 downturn, it continues to face challenges.
Co-authored by the QEPC and consulting firm Nordicity, the Canadian Audiovisual Regional Production Report 1996-97 to 2022-23 is a 27-year quantitative study that examines national and regional production trends across Canada, focusing on OLMC production in Quebec. It is an updated analysis of the previous edition…
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Public broadcaster says it will hire up to 30 new journalists
CBC News announced Wednesday it will hire up to 30 new permanent journalists in 22 underserved communities across Canada, following the CRTC’s approval of Google’s plan to compensate Canadian news organization for use of their content.
Google has committed to providing a $100-million fund to host news content from news organizations across Canada, allowing it to be exempted under the Online News Act. CBC, which obtains funding from both private and public sources, is allowed to draw up to a maximum of seven per…
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