Budget Template: Telefilm Canada
A free budget template laid out in the Telefilm Canada account format, 01.00 Story Rights to 72.00 Indirect Costs, with Canadian fringes, versioning and indirect costs built in. Build the budget in Saturation, then track it through to final costs.
What's in this Telefilm Canada budget template
The template follows the numbered account format Canadian producers use for Telefilm applications and opens in Saturation as a live budget with 868 line items.
Accounts | What they cover |
|---|---|
01.00 to 06.00 | 01.00 Story Rights and Acquisitions, 02.00 Script, 03.00 Development Costs, 04.00 Producers, 05.00 Directors, 06.00 Stars |
10.00 to 59.00 | 10.00 Cast through 39.00 Special Effects (labour, fringes, office, studio, location, travel and materials), 40.00 Animals through 49.00 Second Unit, 50.00 to 51.00 stock and lab, 52.00 to 59.00 animation units |
60.00 to 69.00 | 60.00 Edit Labour through 67.00 Titles, Stock Footage and Visual Effects, 68.00 Versioning, 69.00 Amortization (series) |
70.00 to 72.00 | 70.00 Unit Publicity, 71.00 General Expenses (including E&O insurance, legal and audit), 72.00 Indirect Costs (corporate overhead, tax credit administration, interim financing) |
Canadian specifics are already in place: 27.00 Fringe Benefits carries vacation pay, CPP and QPP, EI, QPIP and workers compensation alongside DGC, IATSE, NABET and Teamsters lines, and 68.00 Versioning covers closed captioning and described video.
Telefilm budget rules to build in
Telefilm expresses several limits as a percentage of B+C, the production and post-production parts of the budget. Its Talent to Watch requirements (April 2024) say:
- Producer fees and corporate overhead can each be at most 10% of B+C (15% for documentaries under $2.5 million).
- The contingency account must be at least 8% of B+C.
- The production must carry industry-standard insurance, including E&O with no exclusions.
- The budget must cover a closed-captioned version, described video, and subtitling in the other official language.
- Funded productions file a Declaration of Final Costs on Telefilm's template.
For the Production Program, Telefilm's 2026-2027 Essential Information Guide sets a minimum budget of $250,000 with no maximum, does not require a firm distributor commitment for projects under $3.5 million, requires a Sustainability Plan before principal photography, and makes a carbon calculator mandatory for productions of $500,000 or more. Check your program's current guidelines before you submit; when you apply, enter your numbers in Telefilm's own standard budget form.
Tax credits in the finance plan
The federal Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) is a refundable credit of 25% of qualified labour expenditures, and qualified labour cannot exceed 60% of production costs net of assistance. Provincial credits stack on top; see our guides for Canada, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.
From application budget to final costs
Keep the approved budget as the estimate and post actuals against it as you shoot. Every line carries Estimate, Actual and Variance, which is the comparison Telefilm's final cost reporting asks you to explain. On a paid plan, export to Excel (XLSX), CSV or PDF at any point.
Frequently asked questions
Does Telefilm require its own budget form?
Yes. Telefilm asks for a budget based on its standard budget form with each application, and funded productions report final costs on Telefilm's template. Use this Saturation template to build and track the numbers, then enter the approved budget in Telefilm's form for submission. Saturation is not affiliated with Telefilm Canada.
How much contingency does Telefilm require?
Telefilm's April 2024 Talent to Watch requirements set a minimum of 8% of B+C. Check the current requirements for your program.
What are the producer fee and overhead caps?
In the same requirements, producer fees and corporate overhead are each capped at 10% of B+C, or 15% for documentaries with budgets under $2.5 million.
What is the minimum budget for Telefilm's Production Program?
$250,000, with no maximum, per Telefilm's 2026-2027 Essential Information Guide.
Who represents Canadian independent producers?
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), known as the CFTPA until 2010.
Open this template in Saturation
Every template lands in a live budget: auto-fill the line items, set your phases and rate packs, and let fringes and reports follow the numbers.
Budget Engine 2.0
Your budget, your cost report and every export run on one engine.
Auto-fill
Rates fill in as you type, from the source you turned on.
PhasesRebuilt
Every column knows its type.
Reports
Drag blocks onto the page and split a row in two.
Rate packs
Verified union rates, versioned.
Fringes and markupsRebuilt
Stack them, cap them, and see the split on every line.
