A year ago Netflix received government approval to create “Netflix Canada” - our first permanent production presence outside of the United States. We established Netflix Canada for a simple reason: Canada has a world-class creative and production community and we really like working with it.

The government’s approval of Netflix Canada allowed us to more deeply and directly invest in production here. To demonstrate our commitment to Canada, Netflix promised to spend a minimum of half a billion dollars on original production in Canada over five years. This investment -- the most significant to-date from any internet streaming video service -- means money spent with Canadian producers, directors, writers, actors and film crews. Netflix also committed another $25 million dollars to local cultural organizations and events to support new and diverse Canadian talent, including women, francophone and indigenous creators.

We’re really pleased with what we’ve been able to do so far with Netflix Canada. We’ve invested in films and series produced all over the country, in places like Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and St. John’s, as well as new locations for Netflix like Cochrane, Brandon and Sudbury. Our experience has affirmed that Canada is home to some of the world’s best landscapes, creators and crews. As a testament to that talent, we are pleased to announce that Netflix is on track to exceed our half billion dollar investment promise. This is because we continue to grow our business all over the world, and the quality of the shows and films we are making in Canada and other countries around the world are resonating with audiences everywhere.

Our production investment in Canada includes current and soon-to-be released titles such as: Altered Carbon, Riverdale, Lost In Space, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, How It Ends, Another Life, The Umbrella Academy, the SCTV Reunion, and Always Be My Maybe. We’re featuring top Canadian comedians in a not-yet-released international stand-up series filmed at Montreal’s Just for Laughs/Juste Pour Rire Comedy Festival. We’re also bringing critically acclaimed Canadian content like Anne with an E, Northern Rescue, Frontier, Les Affamés, Travelers and Kim’s Convenience to our over 130 million members around the world.

Over the past year, we’ve also been building deeper ties with Canada’s cultural community by partnering with industry and creative organizations to promote emerging and diverse talent. Netflix is proud to support the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, Banff Diversity of Voices Initiative, the Canadian Film Centre, Hot Docs Canadian Storytellers Project, L’institut national de l’image et du son, L’ecole nationale de l’humour, the Pacific Screenwriters Program (a joint initiative with Creative BC, Canadian Media Producers Association, Writers Guild of Canada) and Quebec Cinema. We are inspired by the passion of these organizations to help grow and diversify the next generation of Canadian creators and are honoured to support their efforts.

As part of our efforts, in May we organized our first “pitch” session between Netflix content executives and Canadian francophone producers and creators in Montréal. We’ve hosted and participated in production networking and recruiting events and production conferences to further strengthen relationships with Canada’s English and French production sectors.

It has been a busy year for Netflix Canada. We’ll continue to work with Canada’s top notch talent and creative institutions on content projects and partnerships, and look forward to sharing more on those soon.

- Corie Wright, Director Public Policy