Development program

Who can apply

Canadian production companies in search of financing for the development stage of their feature film project(s).

Intent and Guiding Principles 

• The guiding principles of the Program are:  

  • To support the development of feature films that will speak to Canadian and international audiences, and that will bring both cultural impact and audience engagement. Telefilm seeks to fund films that will proceed to production and build and contribute to our Canadian cultural legacy.  
  • To support teams with a strong sensibility and perspective who will bring original voices and approaches and will advance cinematic expression.  
  • To support emerging and established teams in advancing their artistic career through ambitious and impactful films.  
  • To support greater equity and representation in storytelling, that reflects gender parity and representation from various communities including Indigenous, Black and People of Colour as well as members of LGBTQ2+ communities and People with Disabilities from all regions of the country.  
  • To support Indigenous content that is produced by creators who are Indigenous and/or have engaged in meaningful research, collaboration, and cooperation with Indigenous communities impacted by their projects.  
  • To support creative teams who are from underrepresented communities and/or who have engaged in meaningful research, collaboration, and cooperation with underrepresented communities, where films are dealing with the experiences of those communities. 
  • To give voice to creative teams from Official Language Minority Communities and those situated outside the main production centers of Toronto and Montreal. 
  • To provide predictability and flexibility for companies with a strong performance.   

  Resources within the Canada Feature Film Fund are allocated on a linguistic basis which maintains approximately one-third of funding for French-language projects. 

Overview of the Program

• The program is composed of four streams: the Prequalified Stream, the Selective Stream, the Indigenous Stream and the Stream for Black and People of Colour. 
• Eligible applicants may submit their project or portfolio of projects at any time during the program’s opening period. 
• Eligible applicants under the Prequalified Stream will be notified of their eligibility status and eligible amount by email in advance of the opening of the program.
• All streams open in parallel. 

PREQUALIFIED Stream:

• open to 125 companies based on their performance ratio for films in their filmography which were financed by Telefilm (in production or post-production) and which have had a theatrical release in the last six years 
• comprises three financing tiers of $75K, $50K and $25K, respectively. 
•  

Selective Stream:

• Open to clients who have produced a feature film that was theatrically released or premiered at a qualifying festival in the last six years 
• The maximum funding under this stream is $25,000 
•  

Indigenous Stream:

• open exclusively to companies majority-owned and controlled by Indigenous Persons 
• the maximum funding under this stream is $25,000 
• projects are assessed by an advisory committee having Indigenous representation 
• •  

STREAM FOR BLACK AND PEOPLE OF COLOUR:

• open exclusively to companies majority-owned and controlled by individuals who self-identify as Black or People of Colour 
• the maximum funding under this stream is $25,000 
• projects are assessed by an advisory committee having representation from Black and People of Colour 

Eligibility Overview

All applicants must meet the following criteria: 

• be a Canadian controlled corporation with its head office in Canada and carry out its activities in Canada 
• operate as a feature film production company 
• key members of the development team must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents 

Additional Criteria under the Prequalified Stream 

The applicant must: 

• have produced at least one Canadian fiction or documentary feature film financed by Telefilm in production or post-production that was theatrically released in Canada in the last six years; and 
• have a total performance ratio ranking among the highest, taking in account regional access 

Additional criteria for applicants under the Selective Stream: 

The applicant must have produced at least: 

• one Canadian fiction or documentary feature film that was theatrically released or premiered at a qualifying festival in the last six years; or 
• one Canadian fiction or documentary feature film funded by Telefilm as part of the Talent to Watch Program that has been distributed in theatres or on one or more digital platforms in Canada over the past six years 

Additional criteria under the Indigenous stream: 

• the applicant must be majority-owned and controlled by Indigenous persons 
• the applicant must have produced an eligible short or feature film, one hour of TV or a film funded by Telefilm as part of the Talent to Watch Program distributed in theaters or on one or more digital platforms in Canada over the past six years 
• the project(s) must be written by a writer and developed with a producer who are both Indigenous  

Additional criteria under the Stream for Black and People of Colour 

• the applicant must be majority-owned and controlled by individuals who self-identify as Black or People of Colour 
• the applicant must have produced an eligible short or feature film, one hour of TV or a film funded by Telefilm as part of the Talent to Watch Program distributed in theaters or on one or more digital platforms in Canada over the past six years 
• the project(s) must be written by a screenwriter and developed by a producer who both self-identify as Black or People of Colour 

Please consult the Guidelines below for specific eligibility requirements.