Toronto 2026 - TIFF: The Market
Country Focus: UK
Canada modernises co-production treaties with UK and Spain
- The two agreements replace frameworks dating back to 1975 and 1985, updating Canada’s production ties with two key European partners for the digital era
On the sidelines of the Toronto International Film Festival (10-20 September), Canada has signed modernised audiovisual co-production treaties with the United Kingdom and Spain, thus replacing the respective agreements that had governed both these relationships for several decades by updated mechanisms. The new deals, unveiled at TIFF: The Market (10-16 September), will enter into force following ratification by the countries involved.
The agreements were signed, on the Canadian side, by Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages. Ian Murray, Minister of State for Creative Industries of the UK, signed on behalf of the British government. Spain was represented by Marta Serrano, director-general of the ICAA.
According to the Canadian government, the updated frameworks are intended to make it easier for Canadian producers to work with British and Spanish partners and to strengthen the competitiveness of the participating industries, as production and distribution have become increasingly digital. The complete content of the treaties will become public in Canada once they have entered into force – before ratification, all Canadian treaties are tabled in the House of Commons for 21 sitting days.
The more extensive of the two relationships is with the UK. The new treaty replaces the agreement signed in London in September 1975. Over the past ten years alone, within the treaty, the two countries have partnered on 98 co-productions (26 films and 72 series) with combined budgets of approximately CAD 629 million (€390 million). The UK is currently Canada’s leading partner for television co-productions and its second most important for film.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Miller argued that the audiovisual landscape had undergone major changes over the 50 years that have elapsed since the original treaty was negotiated, pointing in particular to streaming platforms and new methods of producing, financing and distributing content. He said the updated framework would broaden the scope of eligible productions to encompass content made for digital platforms, while giving producers greater financing and creative flexibility.
The Canadian minister also placed the agreement in a broader cultural-policy context, saying that “the screen industry is key to asserting our cultural sovereignty and our sovereignty full stop.”
Murray, meanwhile, stressed the practical importance of moving rapidly from signing to implementing the Canada-UK treaty. “We need to get it ratified as quickly as possible,” he said, describing this as the next challenge before the agreement can become operational. He also framed the treaty as a means of encouraging closer collaboration between filmmakers, television producers and financing partners on both sides of the Atlantic.
The agreement signed between Canada and Spain updates a co-production framework which was designed back in January 1985. Since then, within the treaty, the two countries have made 16 co-productions (11 films and five TV series) amounting to nearly CAD 123 million (€76 million) in combined budgets. Film and video currently account for around one quarter of Canada’s overall cultural exports to Spain, which have increased by 35% since 2017.
Although the Canadian announcement confirms that the Spanish treaty has also been modernised for the current audiovisual environment, it does not detail the individual changes made to eligibility thresholds, financing requirements or creative and technical participation contained in the new framework. Those provisions should become clearer as the ratification process advances until the final treaty is published.
Both signings took place as part of TIFF: The Market, the gathering’s expanded industry platform. The Canadian federal government has backed the initiative with a CAD 23 million investment through its 2024 budget.
Canada currently maintains audiovisual co-production agreements with 59 international partners and records more than CAD 500 million in treaty co-production activity annually. Between 2015 and 2025, 508 such productions generated combined budgets of approximately CAD 3.5 billion.
The UK and Spain deals follow the signing of an updated treaty between Canada and South Korea a few months ago, in April.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
