Backgrounder - Yukon Film and Sound Commission’s Film Commercial Development Project

The Film Commercial Development project will diversify the economy in Yukon by demonstrating the attractiveness of the territory to produce films and by improving the skills of local film crews. Under this project, local film and video personnel will be hired to film 13 one-minute commercials that market the Yukon as an ideal film destination to national and international production companies.

The Yukon Film and Sound Commission (YFSC), which will lead the project, is a branch of the Government of Yukon’s Department of Economic Development. It supports the growth and diversification of the local film and sound industries.

This project is funded through the Community Adjustment Fund (CAF). It builds upon a previous investment in 2008/09 of just under $400,000, from Canada’s Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development (SINED) initiative, for a Comprehensive Film and Video Industry Development Program by the Yukon Film Society and Northern Film and Video Industry Association.

As part of Canada's Economic Action Plan , the CAF is a two-year $1 billion national program that provides economic stimulus by supporting projects that create jobs in communities impacted by the global recession. The fund will provide $32.8 million to Northern Canada.

The CAF is one of a suite of economic development programs that fall under the mandate of Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) in the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut. CanNor is responsible for coordinating and delivering federal economic development activities in the territories, and for policy, research and advocacy. Promoting social and economic development in the North is one of the four pillars of the Government of Canada's integrated Northern Strategy  .