Message from the Chair

This year marked a turning point for the Canada Media Fund (CMF), which was renewed as an ongoing program. We wish to thank the Government of Canada and particularly the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, the Honourable James Moore, for making this commitment and enabling the CMF to truly play its part in Canada’s Digital Economy Strategy.

At the outset of the year, the Board determined two overriding principles to guide CMF policy development: Simplification and Rewarding Success. These principles were subsequently articulated in the CMF’s business plan and program budget for 2011-2012. Progress was made on several fronts in relation to these objectives. Through the ongoing industry consultation process, support was obtained for moving toward multiyear program Guidelines. Furthermore, the Guidelines were restructured, streamlining their presentation, ensuring greater consistency of language and reducing their size, in time for 2012-2013.

In order to better position Canadian television and digital media content to compete in a global digital environment, the Board agreed that the CMF should seek to reward the commercial success of CMF-funded projects by devising an incentive program related to sales. As such, reporting on sales will become an integral part of the funding process as of 2012-2013. 

Furthermore, to better reward successful Canadian digital content, the CMF undertook a year-long collaboration with a national advisory committee to devise a Digital Media Performance Measurement Framework. The framework, to be launched in 2012-2013, will enable the CMF to define a standard set of digital media performance metrics and key performance indicators that will apply to all CMF-funded digital content; and establish the basis for developing weighting factors applicable to digital media performance measurement which will ultimately serve to calculate Performance Envelopes. 

This project served as another example of the invaluable input the CMF receives from industry stakeholders. Suggestions, ideas and comments received throughout the year greatly contribute to our decision making process, and we continue to seek to provide new opportunities and improved mechanisms for stakeholders to share their views and experiences on CMF programs.

For this reason, we are pleased to report that a survey of stakeholders conducted by Léger Marketing revealed that the majority (78%) of stakeholders are satisfied with the CMF’s communications with the industry in regards to consultation. This insight has helped us understand what stakeholders expect of us and where we can build on our strengths.

The CMF and its Board of Directors remained committed to adhering to best practices in corporate governance to ensure that the Corporation is managed responsibly for the benefit of its members, funders, industry stakeholders, and the public. This year, the Board’s Governance and Human Resources Committee managed the results of a Board assessment survey and implemented a directors’ peer review program. The Committee also undertook a review of prevailing corporate governance trends and how they impact the CMF. The Board’s Audit Committee for its part reviewed the impact of the change in accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations on the CMF and oversaw the transition to the new accounting standards.

At its planning session in November, the CMF Board mapped the environment in which the CMF operates, set priorities and determined strategic objectives for the next two years. These objectives, along with the ongoing commitment to simplification of programs and processes, served as the basis for the CMF’s 2012-2013 budget, business plan, program allocations and program proposals.

Looking forward, we plan to increase our activity in regards to acquiring, creating and disseminating industry intelligence. In order to better leverage our support of Canadian digital content, the CMF will seek to build links with the venture capital community, incubators and accelerators, to provide funded projects with access to additional capital and expertise. We also plan to strengthen our ties with other Canadian and international funding organizations to leverage available resources for the development and production of television and digital media projects. These new actions, combined with our ongoing efforts, are a testament to the CMF’s commitment to provide the Canadian television and digital media industry with the most effective support possible.

None of these advances could have been achieved without the extraordinary efforts of the CMF’s management and staff that exceeded highest expectations in the successful operations of the CMF. I also wish to thank the staff of our Program Administrator, Telefilm Canada, for delivering our funding with a consistent commitment to client service and operational efficiency.

On behalf of all the Board members, I would like to thank outgoing Board member Ron Osborne for his contribution to the CMF and welcome Ron Close who joined the Board this year.

We also wish to express our gratitude to the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable and satellite distributors for their significant investment in Canadian production and innovation, ensuring an exceptional place in the digital future.

Louis Roquet
Chair