Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION) has published THE NORTHERN ONTARIO WORKFORCE ASSESSMENT AND STUDIO INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT – a market analysis of Northern Ontario’s current and projected workforce capacities as they relate to recent developments in the regional film and television production industry.
The report was conducted with support from Ontario Creates and can be accessed HERE.
The goal of THE NORTHERN ONTARIO WORKFORCE ASSESSMENT AND STUDIO INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT is to inform future workforce and infrastructure developments that can support the sustainability of Northern Ontario’s competitive advantage in the film and television production industry. Generating roughly $137 million of production spend in 2022, Northern Ontario has emerged as one of the fastest-growing production jurisdictions in North America. Findings from this report argue that it is imperative for provincial and regional stakeholders to invest in the development of a resilient, regional workforce that can sustain and build upon recent successes.
“Our hope is that this critical study acts as a catalyst for discussion between national, regional, and municipal stakeholders who understand the economic benefits generated by Northern Ontario’s film and television industry,” explains Patrick O’Hearn, CION’s Associate Executive Director. “This industry’s twenty-year growth trend is fueled by the steadfast support from local, provincial, and federal governments, regional representatives, technicians, and visionaries. This report underlines CION’s commitment to working alongside new and historic supporters of the industry toward the development of opportunities, partnerships, and future-focused investments that can sustain and amplify Northern Ontario’s competitive advantage in the North American market.”
Historically, the provincial film and television industry has shown signs of steady growth, with Northern Ontario reporting year-over-year increases in project activity. CION’s latest report tracks such trends – noting increases in both the quantity and overall production spend of film and television projects – which culminated to a record-year of production activity in 2022.
As Northern Ontario is poised for further investment toward film and television industry infrastructure development, evidenced by existing studio space like the Northern Ontario Film Studios (Greater Sudbury and North Bay), recent additions like White Owl Film Studios (Wahnapitae First Nation), Stardust Pictures (Sault Ste. Marie), Mukwa Studios (Nipissing First Nation), and upcoming studios like Trillium Pictures (Nipissing District) and Freshwater Production Studios (Greater Sudbury), CION calculates that that the regional workforce needs to expand substantially to meet the labour market demand associated with studio space development.
THE NORTHERN ONTARIO WORKFORCE ASSESSMENT AND STUDIO INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT identifies pathways for workforce development through partnerships with national, provincial, and regional stakeholders, by analyzing current skills and/or experience gaps and projected labour market demands. To ensure an expanded workforce capacity that serves the demands of new studio infrastructure, this study recommends on-site training programs for entry-level crew members that can be utilized in existing and new infrastructure spaces.
Ontario Creates is an agency of the Government of Ontario that facilitates economic development, investment and collaboration in Ontario’s creative industries including the music, book, magazine, film, television, and interactive digital media sectors.