Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC)

Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) is sponsored by Canadian Heritage and Canada Revenue Agency. Offers a tax credit to eligible production corporations for film or video production services.

PSTC | Production Services Tax Credit - Creative BC Motion Picture Tax Credits › PSTC | Production Services Tax Credit PSTC | Production Services Tax Credit Motion Picture Tax Credits The Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) is a refundable labour based tax incentive for international projects made in B. C. The PSTC is a refundable corporate income tax credit.

When filing tax returns, your corporation may claim a specified percentage of the labour costs incurred in making a production. The credits are applied to reduce tax payable, and any remaining balance is paid to the corporation. In order to claim the PSTC tax credits, your accredited production corporation must file a corporate income tax return, along with the certificates, with the Canada Revenue Agency.

The PSTC is not subject to any Canadian content requirements. In addition, there is no limit on the PSTC that may be claimed on a particular production and there is no limit that a corporation or group of corporations can claim. The program includes the initiatives: Basic, Major Production, Regional, Distant Location and Digital Animation, Visual Effects and Post-Production (DAVE).

For Live Action Productions Digital Animation, Visual Effects + Post-Production (DAVE) 16% * For productions with a principal photography start date after September 30, 2016 and before January 1, 2025, the Basic PSTC rate is 28%. For productions with a principal photography start date before October 1, 2016, please contact Creative BC for more information. Productions with only VFX and/or post-production work done in B.

C. can access Basic PSTC and DAVE Tax Credit, if eligible. Productions filming principal photography in B.

C. can access Basic, Regional, Distant Location and DAVE Tax Credits, if eligible. Digital Animation, Visual Effects + Post-Production (DAVE) 16% * For productions with a principal photography (key animation) start date after September 30, 2016 and before January 1, 2025, the Basic PSTC rate is 28%.

** For productions with a principal photography (key animation) start date after December 31, 2024 (subject to eligibility requirements). Productions with a principal photography (key animation) start date after June 26, 2015, and before June 1, 2024 could be eligible for Regional Tax Credit and Distant Location Tax Credit.

Productions with a principal photography (key animation) start date on or after June 1, 2024 and before January 1, 2025 are not eligible for Regional and Distant Location bonuses. For productions with a principal photography (key animation) start date before October 1, 2016, please contact Creative BC for more information. When to Submit a Pre-certification For productions that first incurred an accredited B.

C. Labour expenditure (ABCLE) on or after February 22, 2022 , accredited production corporations are required to submit their pre-certification form within 120 days of their first ABCLE. Once the pre-certification number is issued, the accredited corporation may apply to Creative BC to receive an accreditation certificate for the production.

If a production company submits their pre-certification form after the 120-day period, ABCLE incurred prior to submitting the form will not be eligible for the PSTC. Refer to the recent updates on the elimination of the PSTC pre-certification requirement in Budget 2026, effective as of April 16, 2026 . This form is a pre-requisite to apply for the PSTC program.

PSTC Pre-certification FAQ A PSTC application must be submitted through Creative BC’s online tax credit application portal before this additional form is submitted. When to Submit a PSTC Application Accredited production corporations are encouraged to apply for their tax credit certificates as soon as they have locked budget and principal photography or key animation started.

We strongly recommend accredited production corporations submit their accreditation certificate application to Creative BC within 12 months of the corporation’s taxation year end . This is because we may require up to 4 months to process complete applications.

We are unable to guarantee that applications filed later will be processed in time for the accredited production corporation to file with the CRA before the deadline, which may result in denied claims. Refer to the recent updates to the PSTC claim deadlines in Budget 2026, effective as of April 16, 2026 .

FAQ, Calculators, and Additional Resources PSTC Frequently Asked Questions PSTC Pre-certification Frequently Asked Questions Ministry of Finance – Production Services Tax Credits Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Please note: Effective March 8, 2026, British Columbia will observe Pacific Daylight Time on a permanent basis.

Biljana Radovic , Associate Director, Motion Picture Tax Credits Tel: +1 604 730 2232 | Email: bradovic (at) creativebc. com Patricia Lee , Program Manager, Motion Picture Tax Credits Tel: +1 236 471 0786 | Email: plee (at) creativebc. com Joanne Chow , Data + Administration Lead, Motion Picture Tax Credits Tel: +1 778 657 6278 | Email: jchow (at) creativebc.

com Troy Taillon , Policy Lead, Motion Picture Tax Credits Tel: +1 236-471-0681 | Email: ttaillon (at) creativebc. com Andrée Laplante , Program Analyst, Motion Picture Tax Credits Tel: +1 604 262 8678 | Email: alaplante (at) creativebc. com Stephanie Taylor , Program Analyst, Motion Picture Tax Credits Tel: +1 236-471-0667 | Email: staylor (at) creativebc.

com Nikki Yee , Coordinator, Motion Picture Tax Credits Tel: +1 236-466-1075 | Email: nyee (at) creativebc. com To qualify for the motion picture tax credits in British Columbia, the production must meet the following criteria specified in the B. C.

Legislation ( Income Tax Act Part 5 – Film and Television Tax Credit ) and Regulation ( Film and Television Tax Credit Regulation ). Consult the PSTC Summary sheet for general eligibility requirements and other information. A production corporation can only claim a tax credit under one of the two available programs in B.

C. for a particular production. Motion Picture Tax Credit Recipients: On-Screen Credits Template – Live Action Production Schedule Template – Animation Production Schedule Template – Schedule of B.

C. /Non-B. C.

Costs Official Designee Declaration DAVE Tax Credit Info Bulletin and FAQ Regional + Distant Tax Credits PSTC Regional Distant Tax Credits Info Bulletin and FAQ Template – Regional Distant Location Breakdown Animation – Regional and Distant Location Tax Credit Declaration Regional + Distant Location Map Major Production Tax Credit Major Production Info Bulletin and FAQ Major Production Tax Credit Application Checklist Major Production Tax Credit Attestation Form Learn about the adjustments to Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) application timelines and protocols.

Important message for PSTC applicants: Claim Deadline and Requirement Changes in 2026 Bill 2, Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2026, received Royal Assent on April 16, 2026. The following updates are official: The requirement for a corporation to file a notice of intent to claim the PSTC is eliminated for notices due on or after February 17, 2026.

Notices that were required to have been filed prior to February 17, 2026, will continue to be subject to the previous requirements and timelines. The time in which a corporation must file a claim for either the FIBC or the PSTC is extended from 18 months to 36 months after the end of the corporation’s taxation year. The new time limit of 36 months applies to corporations with a taxation year beginning on or after February 17, 2026.

For corporations with taxation years beginning before February 17, 2026, the time limit of 18 months is extended by a further 18 months if the time limit would have expired on or after February 17, 2026. The accreditation certificate fee for the PSTC is increased to $19,000 for corporations with productions that began principal photography after December 31, 2024 and apply for certification on or after March 1, 2026.

The major production tax credit certification fee is set at $5,000. See the BC Budget 2026 , Budget and Fiscal Plan 2026/27 – 2028/29 Update to the PSTC Program: Tax Credit Rate Increase in 2025 Bill 5, Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2025, received Royal Assent on May 29, 2025.

The following updates are official: The Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) basic rate increased from 28% to 36% for productions that start principal photography after December 31, 2024. The Major Production Tax Credit is available for completed productions with B. C.

production costs greater than $200 million, that start principal photography after December 31, 2024, and is equal to an additional 2% of a corporation’s accredited qualified B. C. labour expenditure in respect of the major production.

The total PSTC basic rate for the major productions is 38%. The Regional and Distant Location Tax Credits are restored for animation productions that start key animation after December 31, 2024, for production companies with a physical office in a regional or distant location, provided that the labour expenditures claimed are for workers who are physically present and working in those offices at least 50% of the time. See the B.

C. Budget 2025, Budget and Fiscal Plan 2025/26 – 2027/28 Please see the final version of Bill 5 here: Bill | Legislative Assembly of BC As previously announced , Budget 2024 introduces the amendment to the Regional and Distant location tax credits in the B. C.

Income Tax Act to exclude animated productions from eligibility. Animated productions under the Film Incentive BC and the Production Services Tax Credit programs with key animation beginning on or after June 1, 2024 will no longer be eligible for the Regional or Distant location tax credit bonuses.

Effective July 1, 2020, the Income Tax Act’s production services tax credit is amended to allow corporations to claim labour expenditures incurred up to 120 days prior to the pre-certification form submission date under the credit, regardless of how late the pre-certification form was filed.

This will only apply to film productions that incurred their first eligible accredited labour expenditure between July 1, 2020, and February 21, 2022 . Read Budget and Fiscal Plan 2023/24 – 2025/26 (gov.bc. ca) .

As previously announced , Budget 2023 introduces the aforementioned legislative measures. B. C.

Budget 2022 extends the deadline for the production services tax credits applicant to file a pre-certification form from 60 to 120 days effective February 22, 2022 . This impacts productions that first incur accredited BC labour expenditures on or after February 22, 2022 and they must give a notice by submitting a pre-certification form through the Creative BC website within 120 days after incurring the first accredited B. C.

labour expenditure. Productions that first incurred accredited B. C.

labour expenditures before February 22, 2022 but after June 30, 2020 have 60 days to file a pre-certification form (per Budget 2020). If a pre-certification form is not submitted within the specified number of days, production companies are unable to claim labour expenditures incurred prior to filing the form. For example, if a company files their pre-certification form 150 days after their first accredited B.

C. labour expenditure, they will not be eligible to claim any labour expenditures that occurred within those 150 days. This in turn would reduce the production services tax credit that the production company would receive.

Once the pre-certification number is issued, the production corporation may apply to Creative BC to receive an accreditation certificate for the production. To find out more, visit: Production services tax credit (gov.bc. ca) With the recent announcement of B.

C. ’s Budget & Fiscal Plan 2020, one new and two previous announcements should be noted by applicants to B. C.

motion picture tax credit programs: New: Effective for taxation years beginning after February 18, 2020, the deadline to file a claim with CRA for the Film Incentive BC and the Production Services Tax Credit programs is reduced to 18 months. Previously Announced: Effective July 1, 2020, pre-certification notification has been introduced for corporations intending to claim the production services tax credit .

Previously announced on September 24, 2019 Previously Announced: Effective February 19, 2020, the accreditation certificate fee for the production services tax credit is increased. For details, please visit the Tax Credit Program pages on our website. Thank you for your ongoing collaboration, the Creative BC team looks forward to enhancing our services.

taxteam (at) creativebc. com