Ottawa open to merging National Film Board, Telefilm: government source

In the coming weeks, the Liberal government will appoint a panel tasked with modernizing the country’s audiovisual sector, The Wire Report has learned. Part of the group’s mandate will include deliberating a proposal to merge various Crown corporations devoted to supporting Canadian cultural producers, including the National Film Board (NFB) and Telefilm Canada, according to a government source. The source, who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freely, said the policy update will look at how to “optimize” the government’s investment in the creative sector. “How we’re getting there is not predetermined,” they said, adding that consolidating federal agencies is “certainly going to be discussed and presented to the panel.” “The still wants to hear the views of different players and work with the sector.” In its latest departmental plan, Canadian Heritage listed “modernizing federal support to the audiovisual sector” as one of its key priorities for the 2026-27 fiscal year. The National Film Board was created in 1939 under Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, who tasked the agency with producing and distributing Canadian movies. Meanwhile, the Montreal-based Telefilm was created in 1967 to support domestic audiovisual organizations. Telefilm is also responsible for administering the Canada Media Fund (CMF), a public-private financing program that annually invests hundreds of millions into the domestic cultural industry. The source noted that the CMF could also be brought under new administration through a proposed merger. “We’re looking at the ecosystem in Canada now and stuff we can do better,” said the source. “It’s about the duplication of work, and we can make it better for creators at the very end.” The panel will feature industry-leaders and subject matter experts, per the source. The Wire Report reached out to both the National Film Board and Telefilm, but did not receive a response. Proposed merger gets mixed reaction from cultural sector The possibility that Ottawa could consolidate Crown corporations has long been the subject of rumours in the cultural industry. Chris Lavis, a Montreal-based animator and film producer, recently told The Wire Report that bundling several arts-related agencies would be a “disaster.” “The system can always be improved, but it’s having different ways of funding different projects,” said Lavis, whose film The Girl Who Cried Pearls, co-produced with Maciek Szczerbowski, won the Oscar for best animated short on March 15. “Right now, you can go to Telefilm for a certain kind of feature film, and you have a system like the CMF for streaming and television projects.” Lavis emphasized that his Oscar-winning film would not have been possible without the National Film Board, which he called a “unique institution” with “an incredible history,” and noted that turning government agencies into a “one-stop shop” would be a “mistake.” However, others in the field have stressed the need for a policy update, including Mark Jones, dean of Sheridan College’s arts and animation faculty, who said the current system has not adapted to changes in the audiovisual space. “The economics have really changed,” he said in an interview on March 17. “What we’ve seen today is a corresponding shift in where the new ideas are coming from.” “The traditional animation studios are still coming out with their , but new ideas are now coming through independent platforms, like Youtube Twitch.” Jones said independent creators often aren’t eligible for federal support under Telefilm or other public funding programs, leaving them with few options to secure financing. “Our policy structure is designed to support industrial, traditional film and television media creation,” he said. “Increasingly…, I’ve really come to understand that we really need a change in policy.” According to Jones, Canada has “long punched above its weight” in the animation industry, as exemplified by the recent Oscar win for Maggie Kang, a Sheridan alum, who co-wrote and directed the global sensation KPop Demon Hunters. However, he continued, in order for that track record of success to be sustained, Ottawa must update its funding structure to bring different kinds of cultural media producers into the fold. “If there’s one thing we need to do as a country, we need to have a different discussion around where the policy needs to go and how the regulatory environment needs to start supporting these independent creators,” said Jones. “Because they are the KPop Demon Hunters of the future and, right now, there’s no place for them.” dlegree@thewirereport.ca

Ottawa open to merging National Film Board, Telefilm: government source

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By Davis Legree
|March 19, 2026

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