The Government of Ontario is weaning itself off its addiction to porn.

The Ontario Film Review Board, the province’s movie classification agency, routinely brings in a $1.8 million annual profit, a substantial amount of that from the pornography industry, according to public records.

However, Government and Consumer Services Minister David Orazietti says he expects the OFRB’s unintentional profitability to end through restructuring and the creation of the Ontario Film Authority.

The OFRB is an arm’s-length agency responsible for classifying all films sold or exhibited in the province. This includes adult films, which are mostly sold through pay-per-view channels, on DVD or Blu-Ray.

But it has a mandate to help the film industry, not profit from it.

So the looming reorganization as a delegated administrative authority is expected to include a review of the fee structure currently in place for all films.

“I think that when the OFA is operational it will be very fitting to have a review of those fees, and how the revenue translates into the services that are provided for the sector,” said Orazietti.

The goal, he added, will be to make less money.

“We want to be operating in a way that is fair to the sector and fair to the industry and not overcharging the industry and not undercharging the industry and ensuring that we’re recovering the cost of operations,” said Orazietti.

While it’s no secret the OFRB has a mandate to screen pornography, that has increasingly become a more dominant category of its responsibilities.

“Everybody signs up for the OFRB thinking that they’re going to be watching Hollywood movies, and about half the time they’re required to watch adult sex films,” says Bruce Davis, the current chair of the Ontario Film Review Board.

Annual reports show the pornographic film industry is currently responsible for the majority of the agency’s average annual profit of $1.8 million.

According the OFRB’s online database, the review board screened an average of 20 pornographic films a day in 2013-14, generating a daily average of around $6,900 in classification fees.

Since 2005, the OFRB has conducted more than 47,632 film screenings that have generated almost $25 million in gross revenue; $11.4 million of that was in adult classification fees. After expenses, the non-profit agency has made a profit of about $16 million, which has then been returned to the provincial treasury.

While the overall year-over-year revenue has dipped, porn viewing has increased dramatically compared to mainstream films, with adult films contributing three times as much revenue in 2013-14.

The 21-member board of government appointees are each paid a per diem of about $400 for each day spent classifying films (excluding Davis, who gets paid $627 as chair). Each member usually works about four to five days a month, spending seven hours on those days watching movies.

The OFRB makes its money by charging a flat classification fee of $4.20 for one minute of screen time. Foreign films are charged $78.75 per movie.

Ontario’s classification rates are more than double the fees of other provinces like B.C. and Alberta, which charge just $2 a minute.

Richard Arnold, the CEO of Pure Play Media, an adult film distribution company based in Woodland Hills, Calif., has seen how quickly the costs add up.

According to the OFRB database, Pure Play has spent just under $2.3 million classifying 5,262 films between fiscal 2003 to 2014.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Arnold, whose dealt with the OFRB since 1991, says he used to distribute videos and DVDs in Ontario, but found the process too cumbersome and costly.

He ended up shutting down a Mississauga factory and laying off 20 workers.

“I know I’ve spent probably ($2 million to $3 million) with them, and it hasn’t gotten me much,” said Arnold.

The restructuring of the board — which Orazietti hopes will be completed by the end of this year — is part of a larger provincial initiative to streamline more than 200 boards and commissions.