Statement by Minister Joly on the Signing of the Canada-Ireland Audiovisual Coproduction Treaty

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb. 4, 2016) - I am very pleased that the Government of Canada has signed an audiovisual coproduction treaty with Ireland. This treaty will further position Canada as a partner of choice in audiovisual coproduction, and also strengthen our cultural and economic ties with Ireland. Canada and Ireland have a longstanding coproduction partnership, and I am thrilled that we are solidifying this relationship.

Dr. Ray Bassett, Ambassador of Ireland to Canada, and I signed the treaty today. It will replace the prior Canada-Ireland audiovisual coproduction treaty, which dates back to 1989.

An audiovisual coproduction treaty allows producers to combine their creative and financial resources to develop coproductions that increase cultural exchanges between partner countries, help share expertise among creators and contribute to economic growth. Once in force, the new Canada-Ireland treaty will open the door to greater opportunities for producers from both countries by offering more creative flexibility and better responding to new practices and technologies. In order for the new treaty to come into effect, each country will have to complete its domestic procedures to ratify it.

Projects coproduced under a treaty are given national status in both Canada and the partner country. This makes producers eligible for national benefits in their own countries, such as funding programs or tax incentives. In the past 50 years, Canada has signed audiovisual coproduction treaties with 54 countries. In the past 10 years alone, our country has produced 654 audiovisual treaty coproductions, whose production budgets total $4.8 billion.

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