Development Program

Who can apply

Canadian feature film production companies who:

1. Have their head office in Canada.
2. Carry out their activities in Canada.
3. Meet the eligibility criteria listed in the Guidelines.

The following criteria are applicable across the Program, regardless of the applicable Stream or Initiative.

2.1 Criteria Applicable to All Applicants

All applicants must:

1. be Canadian-controlled corporations, in accordance with sections 26 to 28 of the Investment Canada Act;
2. have their head office and carry out their activities in Canada; and
3. operate as audiovisual companies.

2.2 Criteria Applicable to All Projects Submitted for Funding

All projects submitted for funding must meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. Language: All projects must be written in English, French or in an Indigenous language and intended to

be produced and completed in these languages or, for artistic imperatives, in another language. In all cases, all documentation must be submitted to Telefilm exclusively in one official language, either English or French.

1. Screenwriter: All projects must be solely written by Canadian citizens within the definition of the Citizenship Act, or

permanent residents, within the definition of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

1. Format: All projects must be intended to be feature-length (75 minutes or more) fictional or documentary films.
2. Canadian Content: All projects must be intended to be Canadian, i.e., either:
3. Certified by CAVCO as a “Canadian film or video production” with a minimum of 8 out of 10 points or

the prorated equivalent (i.e., a minimum of 80% of available CAVCO points 1); or

1. Recognized as an Audiovisual Treaty Coproduction by the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
2. Telefilm’s Programs: All projects must be eligible for production funding under the Production Program, the

Theatrical Documentary Program or the Talent to Watch Program.

1. Ethics and Programming Standards: Once completed, the project must respect the applicable standards and

codes of the CRTC and Canadian Association of Broadcasters and contain no illegal or libellous elements.

1. Outstanding Deliverables: Any outstanding deliverables relating to a previous development phase must be

submitted and approved by Telefilm prior to submitting that project for a subsequent phase.

1. Financial and Creative Control: All projects must be under the financial and creative control of the Applicant,

which must hold all the exclusive rights and options, for at least 24 months, necessary for the adaptation of the original work or concept (if applicable) and for the full and complete worldwide exploitation of the script and production.2 Note that a documentary project that has less than 6 points in total can still be eligible provided that all filled positions are occupied by Canadians.

Co-development projects may be allowed. See the Essential Information Guide for more details.

3 Criteria Applicable to the Prequalified Stream

3.1 Prequalified Eligibility Assessment

In addition to meeting the general eligibility criteria, applicants must meet the recent activity status requirement to be eligible to the Prequalified Stream.

This means that applicants must have produced a feature film supported by Telefilm in a production program3 that was either:

1. released theatrically in Canada in the past 4 years4, as evidenced by the Movie Theatre Association of Canada

(MTAC); or

1. that had a selection or an award at a designated festival or event in the past 4 years5. See the Access to the

Prequalified Stream and Calculation Details document available on the Program website for the list of designated festivals and more details on eligible selections and awards.

The applicant organization must hold a minimum of 20% of the performance score of the project for it to be considered as part of the organization’s track record.

3.2 Performance Score Assessment

Applicant organizations who meet the recent activity status requirement will be ranked based on their Organization’s Performance Score calculated over the last 6 years. The organizations with the top 150 highest Organization Performance Scores, subject to regional and linguistic splits, will be eligible to the Prequalified Stream.

An Organization’s Performance Score is assessed by adding the Commercial Score and the Festival Score of all projects funded by Telefilm in a production program in which the organization holds a minimum of 20% of the Performance Score and that were theatrically released or that had a selection or award in a designated festival in the past 6 years6.

For more information on Performance Score calculations and access to the Prequalified Stream, please refer to the Access to the Prequalified Stream and Calculation Details document available on the Program’s webpage.

All prequalified applicants will be notified of their eligibility status and the amount of funding to which they are eligible ahead of the opening of the Program.

Note that, in the event of changes in management or ownership of an organization eligible to the Prequalified Stream, Telefilm reserves the right to review the degree to which those involved in creating the track record of the organization remain involved and can benefit from the Organization's Performance Score.

Important: Applicants are responsible for ensuring that their filmography in Dialogue is accurate at all times. Any correction or modification requested after April 1st will only be taken into consideration for the following fiscal.

Financed in production or post-production through Telefilm’s Production program, Theatrical Documentary program or Talent to Watch program.

For fiscal 26-27, this means released theatrically between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2025.

For fiscal 26-27, this refers to the 2022 to 2025 editions.

For fiscal 26-27, this means released theatrically between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2025 or a selection/award in the 2020 to 2025 editions of a designated festival.

4 Criteria Applicable to the Selective Streams

For fiscal 2026-2027, there are 3 selective streams in this Program:

1. The General Stream;
2. The Indigenous Stream;
3. The Stream for Black People and People of Colour.

4.1 Criteria Applicable to the General Stream

The General Stream is being phased out of the Development Program and will be discontinued in 2027-2028.

As a transition measure for 2026-2027, revised eligibility criteria have been adopted for this Stream, focusing on the track record of the individual lead producer in the past 6 years.

To be eligible to the General Stream, the individual lead producer of the applicant company must have produced at least one Canadian fictional or documentary feature film that was certified by CAVCO with a minimum of 8 out of 10 points7 or recognized as an audiovisual coproduction by the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

This project must have been released in the past 6 years8 either:

1. theatrically;
2. at a Qualifying Festival (see list on Telefilm’s website);
3. digitally if funded through the Talent to Watch Program;
4. digitally due to the COVID-19 pandemic between March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2022, by a third-party distributor

or a Telefilm-approved distributor, or funded through Telefilm’s National Marketing Program for the digital release.

The individual lead producer of the applicant company must have received either a Producer or Co-Producer credit on the project that triggers their eligibility and their previous experience may only be used to assess eligibility for one application.

Note: If your company is majority-owned and controlled by either (i) Indigenous persons, (ii) members of an official language minority community or (iii) Black persons and/or people of colour, please refer to the previous producer experience requirements of the Indigenous Stream or Stream for Black People and People of Colour set out below.

4.2 Criteria Applicable to the Indigenous Stream

In addition to the general eligibility criteria set out in section 2, the following criteria must be met to apply to the Indigenous Stream:

1. The applicant company must be a production company that is majority-owned and controlled by Indigenous

persons;

Or prorated equivalent (i.e., 80% of the available CAVCO points).

For fiscal 26-27, this means released between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2025 or a selection/award in the 2020 to 2025 editions of a festival.

1. The project submitted must be under the financial and creative control of Indigenous Persons;
2. All the key creative personnel members (i.e., producer(s), screenwriter(s), and, at the packaging phase,

director(s)) must be Indigenous.

The individual lead producer of the applicant company must have significant audiovisual industry experience, i.e., they must have previously produced at least either:

1. a Canadian feature film (i.e., that was certified by CAVCO with a minimum of 6 out of 10 points9 or

recognized as an audiovisual coproduction by the Minister of Canadian Heritage) that was released theatrically or digitally or screened at a Qualifying Festival;

1. a Canadian short film that was screened at a Qualifying Festival; or
2. one hour of Canadian television (i.e., that was certified by CAVCO with a minimum of 6 out of 10 points10

or recognized as an audiovisual coproduction by the Minister of Canadian Heritage).

The individual lead producer must have received either a Producer or Co-Producer credit on the project that triggers their eligibility and their previous experience may only be used to assess eligibility for one application.

4.3 Criteria Applicable to the Stream for Black People and People of Colour In addition to the general eligibility criteria set out in section 2, the following criteria must be met to apply to the Black People and People of Colour Stream of this Program:

1. The applicant company must be a production company that is majority-owned and controlled by Black

persons and/or people of colour;

1. The project submitted must be under the financial and creative control of Black persons and/or people of

colour;

1. All the key creative personnel members (i.e., producer(s), screenwriter(s), and, at the packaging phase,

director(s)) must be Black persons and/or people of colour.

The individual lead producer of the applicant company must have significant audiovisual industry experience, i.e., they must have previously produced at least either:

1. a Canadian feature film (i.e., that was certified by CAVCO with a minimum of 6 out of 10 points11 or

recognized as an audiovisual coproduction by the Minister of Canadian Heritage) that was released theatrically or digitally or screened at a Qualifying Festival;

1. a Canadian short film that was screened at a Qualifying Festival; or
2. one hour of Canadian television (i.e., that was certified by CAVCO with a minimum of 6 out of 10 points12

or recognized as an audiovisual coproduction by the Minister of Canadian Heritage).

The individual lead producer must have received either a Producer or Co-Producer credit on the project that triggers their eligibility and their previous experience may only be used to assess eligibility for one application.

5 Springboard Initiative

The Springboard Initiative aims to support the momentum of applications that were unsuccessful in the Production Program, but were ranked highly at evaluation or that meet Telefilm’s corporate objectives, by inviting them to apply to the Development Program to strengthen their project for a future Production application.

To be eligible, applications must meet the general eligibility criteria set out in section 2 and must have received an invitation to apply to the Springboard Initiative from Telefilm.

The key creative personnel of the Springboard application must remain the same as those attached to the Production application.

Prequalified and Selective Stream Applicants that are applying with an animation project to the Program are eligible to request an additional funding amount of $35,000 for that project.