Your voice matters: CMF invites industry feedback on new EDIA strategy
Toronto and Montreal, July 8, 2024 – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) today invites industry members and organizations to help shape our 2024-2027 Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (EDIA) Strategy by sharing their insights, both in-person and virtually, across the month of July. See our work-in-progress document that was shared with all participants.
EDIA community members are invited to attend in-person forums in Toronto (July 17), Vancouver (July 24), or Montreal (July 30). Industry organizations are invited to attend virtual sessions on July 29 in English and July 31 in French. To attend, please RSVP and complete the Participation Questionnaire to ensure attendee accessibility requests are accommodated.
As Canada’s largest audiovisual funder, the CMF is committed to inclusion. We’ve developed targeted funding programs for underrepresented communities and removed many barriers. Our goal is to amplify diverse voices by closely collaborating with Equity-Seeking Communities.
“Additional funding announced by the federal government and the CRTC in 2024 will enable us to build on our past work and ensure the CMF can continue to embed EDIA principles in every aspect of our operations,” says Joy Loewen, VP of Growth & Inclusion at the CMF. “We believe the best way forward is by listening to the industry and incorporating a wide range of perspectives into our strategy. This new three-year plan builds on our past successes and sets the stage for a more inclusive future in Canadian media.”
With $60M in EDI funding earmarked in Budget 2021 by the federal government, our previous Equity and Inclusion Strategy (2021-2023) made significant strides, including:
- Investing $37.5M in our Pilot Program for Racialized Communities over three years, supporting 293 projects by companies owned and controlled by Black and Racialized individuals. 97 per cent of survey respondents noted that this funding had a positive impact on their project or company.
- Investing $9.7M in Sector Development, supporting 135 projects, with 85 per cent focusing on Indigenous and Equity-Seeking Communities, while also contributing to the creation of the Black Screen Office and the Disability Screen Office.
- 23 per cent increase in projects through our Indigenous Program, 34 per cent increase in projects through the Diverse Languages Program (with 15 languages represented), and the development of 32 industry partnerships focused on Indigenous and Equity-Seeking Communities.
- 83 per cent national uptake in our PERSONA-ID system, helping us make data-driven decisions and reduce systemic barriers.
- Expansion of our Growth & Inclusion team
- Successful Seek More / Découvrons-NOUS campaign from our MADE | NOUS brand that inspired Canadians to search out content and creators from more backgrounds, cultures, and communities. The campaign saw over 173 million media impressions and 30 million video views.
In collaboration with the Indigenous Screen Office and Indigenous storytellers, the CMF is developing a separate Indigenous Strategy that outlines how we will continue to provide support to Indigenous screen content and companies. Plans for the Indigenous Strategy will be shared at a later date.
Join the conversation.
About the Canada Media Fund
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) fosters, develops, finances, and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual media platforms. The CMF guides Canadian content towards a competitive global environment by fostering industry innovation, rewarding success, enabling a diversity of voice, and promoting access to content through public and private sector partnerships. The CMF receives financial contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite, and IPTV distributors. Visit our website for more information.
Media Contact
Maxime Ruel
Senior Manager, Communications
[email protected]
