Ottawa forecasts fewer Canadian TV shows, movies; slashes heritage budget amidst cost-cutting efforts

The federal government is anticipating fewer Canadian creative outputs over the next fiscal year, while simultaneously making wide-spread budgetary and personnel cuts to the heritage department. In its recently-released departmental plan for 2026-27, Canadian Heritage projected a drop-off in the number of Canadians working in the cultural sector, prompting a decline in the number of domestic television productions, feature films, books, and newspapers. In particular, Ottawa is expecting a 23,994-loss in cultural jobs this year compared to 2024-25 (the last fiscal year for which data is available). Over the same time period, Canada is expected to produce 150 fewer television programs (falling from 1,150 to 1,000), five fewer theatrical films (falling from 122 to 117), and 15 fewer non-daily newspapers (falling from 765 to 750). Canadian-authored books are projected to increase from 6,094 to 6,250, though the target is still a marked departure from the more than 7,000 books published in 2022-23. The plan, released on March 13, partly attributed the declines to “ongoing inflationary pressures” and “the prospect of economic downturns.” Canadian Heritage did not immediately respond to The Wire Report’s questions asking for additional details. It should be noted that, despite the downturn, Ottawa is still anticipating the cultural sector to contribute $66 billion to the national GDP, a marginal increase from $65.3 billion in 2024-25. Heritage department sees massive spending, job cuts Meanwhile, the departmental plan outlined millions in budgetary cuts as part of a government-wide expenditure review, which seeks to reduce federal spending by 15 per cent over the next three years. “Canadian Heritage will continue to align its comptrollership functions resources to Government priorities and to promote accountability, transparency and oversight through effective financial management, risk management, and controls, in a context of fiscal restraint,” reads the plan. “The Department will ensure that Canadians get the best value for their money by reducing government operational costs, finding efficiencies, and focusing on measures that help lower costs.” Over the next three years, Canadian Heritage’s budget is expected to decline by $750 million (equivalent to a 34 per cent cut). A significant portion of the reduction will impact the department's work related to “creativity, arts and culture,” which will fall by 41 per cent ($276 million) from now until 2028-29. Among the programs expected to be affected are the Canada Media Fund, Local Journalism Initiative and Canada Periodical Fund. The Digital Citizen Contribution Program, which supports citizen-led efforts to combat disinformation and other online harms, is also in jeopardy, as Ottawa said the program will be “modified” and, as such, no results are expected for the current year. Funding for supporting Canada’s two official languages and implementing bilingualism initiatives is projected to significantly drop. Additional savings will be accrued through lay-offs as the department looks to shrink its staff by 230 full-time equivalents by 2028-29, which would bring total personnel to 1,716 people. The departmental plan suggested the job cuts would have a minimal impact on day-to-day operations, as it prioritizes “streamlining operations, leveraging synergies and technology, shifting to digital alternatives, modernizing transfer payment delivery, as well realigning efforts to core priorities.” Funding cuts to Canada’s cultural institutions have become a pattern under Prime Minister Mark Carney (Nepean, Ont.), as he looks to fulfill his election campaign promise of reeling in the government’s operational spending. Earlier this month, the government tabled its main estimates for the 2026-27 fiscal year, revealing $192 million in temporary funding supports for the CBC had been discontinued. Other departmental plans across government reveal various institutions can expect multi-billion-dollar budgetary reductions in the coming years, as reported by The Hill Times, including Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, as well as the Canada Revenue Agency. dlegree@thewirereport.ca

Ottawa forecasts fewer Canadian TV shows, movies; slashes heritage budget amidst cost-cutting efforts

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By Davis Legree
|March 18, 2026

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Ottawa forecasts fewer Canadian TV shows, movies; slashes heritage budget amidst cost-cutting efforts

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