Cinema in Canada - statistics & facts

Canada and the United States form a key region in the worldwide cinema sector – the North American film market. However, the northernmost country in the Americas is struggling to overcome the deep impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. In 2022, Canada's box office revenue added up to 674 million Canadian dollars. While this represents a sharp increase compared to the previous year, it still remains below the result recorded in 2019. Meanwhile, in 2021, the global box office revenue added up to more than half of the revenue reported two years earlier, suggesting a swifter recovery than Canada's. But the country has tradition on its side. Canada is home to the world's first state-founded film organization (the Ontario Motion Picture Bureau) and first national film production unit (the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau), both established over a century ago. In this environment, moviegoers may be persistent. During a mid-2021 survey, around 30 percent of Canadians said they went to the movies during the previous 12 months, despite the pandemic.

The show must go on

The annual production of theatrical films in Canada remained stable amidst the pandemic. During the 2021/2022 season, the country produced 148 movies, the same number recorded three seasons before. This indicates that – despite being overshadowed by the American film industry – Canada is home to a resilient movie segment. The amount allocated to filmmaking further proves that. In the 2021/2022 season, production budgets for Canadian feature films collectively added up to 387 million Canadian dollars, up from 269 million Canadian dollars one season earlier.

The accents in moviemaking

Ontario is the Canadian province with the biggest budgets for movie and TV productions. Throughout the 2021/22 season, Ontario's production volume amounted to 3.87 billion Canadian dollars, whereas British Columbia's and Quebec's added up to 3.7 billion and three billion dollars, respectively. The figures are not proportional to the population of each Canadian province, however. In 2022, there were almost twice as many Quebecers as British Columbians. Still, BC's production volume was bigger than Quebec's. Contrasts are also present in the languages spoken in Canadian cinema. During the 2021/22 season, three out of four domestic films were in English, while the rest was in French or other languages.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Aug 31, 2023

Key insights

Growth of domestic films’ box office gross in Canada
-33.33%
Growth in number of domestic films released in Canada
28%
Number of full-time jobs generated by Canada’s film industry
4k
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Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Box office revenue in Canada from 2010 to 2022 (in million Canadian dollars)

Cinema & Film

Box office revenue in Canada 2010-2022

Domestic theatrical feature film production volume in Canada from 2011/12 to 2020/22 season (in million Canadian dollars)

Cinema & Film

Domestic feature film production volume in Canada 2011-2022

Box office revenue in Canada from 2007 to 2022, by origin of production (in million Canadian dollars)

Cinema & Film

Box office revenue in Canada 2007-2022, by origin of production

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