Directors Guild of Canada B.C. Ratifies New Labor Deal With U.S., Local Producers

The Directors Guild of Canada’s British Columbia branch has ratified a new three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, representing Hollywood producers, and its local counterpart, the Canadian Media Producers Association.

Around 50.3 percent of eligible Directors Guild of Canada BC District Council members voted 90.9 percent in favor of the deal, which will run from 2025 to 2028, the local guild and the CMPA, representing local producers, said on Monday.

Terms of the new deal were not unveiled, but the agreement covers workplace conditions and pay rates for directors and other DGC-represented crew members on film, TV and digital media production sets in British Columbia. That includes production management, assistant directors, locations and production assistants working mostly on American productions shooting in the western Canadian province.
 
“The Canadian Affiliates of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers congratulate the DGC B.C. on reaching an agreement that meaningfully addresses its top priorities and offers substantial increases in wages and benefits for its members,” Carol Lombardini, president of the AMPTP, said in a statement on Monday.

The new deal adds to a stable labor environment for American and local producers that shoot in and around Vancouver. In July 2023, the AMPTP and the B.C. branch of the CMPA reached an agreement with IATSE 891, IATSE 669, Teamsters 155, DGC B.C. and the Union of British Columbia Performers to extend their respective labor agreements into 2025 to get out from under uncertainty surrounding the Hollywood writers and actors strikes.

The latest labor deal involving DGC B.C. was to have expired March 31, 2025.  The new agreement will take effect on April 1, 2025, and run for three years until March 31, 2028. The one-year extension applied to the B.C. Master Production Agreement, which governs wage rates and workplace conditions on film and TV sets in the Canadian province.

“With the successful completion of negotiations, our sector has an updated agreement that addresses the needs of all parties and allows producers and the talented directors and crew of the DGC BC to focus on creating world-class content for audiences at home and around the world,” Jason Lee, CMPA-B.C.’s vp of B.C. Industrial Relations, added in his own statement about the new deal with DGC’s local. branch.

DGC B.C. also confirmed an end to talks and ratification of a new labor contract for film and TV production workers in the province. 

“I am very proud of what is a very good package for our members. I’m particularly proud of the historic wage and pension increases and the decoupling of our production assistants from minimum wage. A rising tide lifts all boats and this deal serves to do just that. This agreement sets the stage for stability in the industry here in BC, and improves wages for our lowest-paid workers. I couldn’t be prouder of what we achieved with our partners across the bargaining table,” Rob Larson, DGC B.C. business agent, said in a statement.