Union & Non-Union Talent Management

Here is how the work lines up. Union talent management in Canada operates across two parallel performer universes that share borders but not collective agreements. ACTRA — the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists — covers English-language productions nationwide, with the Independent Production Agreement (IPA) setting rates, residuals, working conditions and RRSP/insurance contributions for principal performers, background and stunt categories. The Union des artistes (UDA) governs the parallel francophone universe in Quebec, with its own rate cards, session terms and Caisse de sécurité des artistes pension structure.

A production shooting bilingually in Montreal, or moving a francophone lead from a Quebec series into an English-language streaming co-production, has to land contracts in both registries — and the membership lists barely overlap, since UDA performers often aren't ACTRA members and vice versa. Our team routes engagements through whichever agreement applies, files the right rate sheets, and keeps the RRSP/insurance contributions current with each union's administration office in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

Behind the camera, IATSE 891 (British Columbia), 873 (Toronto), 514 (Quebec) and 212 (Calgary) cover most below-the-line crew, with Local 669 handling camera in BC and NABET 700-M MEC covering broadcast technicians on the Toronto side. The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) Standard Agreement governs directors, assistant directors, locations, production managers and unit production managers, with separate DGC councils for BC, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

Writers fall under the WGC (Writers Guild of Canada), Quebec francophone directors run through ARRQ (Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec) when working on Quebec-origin productions, and musicians work to AFM Local 145 (Vancouver), Local 149 (Toronto) or 406 (Montreal) scales. We administer payroll through Cast & Crew Canada or Entertainment Partners Canada with proper T4/RL-1 splits, file the CAVCO labour-allocation reports needed to claim CPTC and PSTC tax credits, and handle the IRCC work-permit and CBSA carnet paperwork that USMCA/CUSMA and Mobilité francophone streamlining now route through.