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The NFB’s commitment to gender parity: strong results in budget and number of films directed by women, with goals met or exceeded in most creative positions.

PRESS RELEASE
04/03/2022

March 4, 2022 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

On the eve of International Women’s Day, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is continuing to meet its gender-parity goals, both for the number of productions directed by women and for production budgets allocated to women—six years after making its initial commitment.

The NFB has announced that 60% of all ongoing projects at the NFB (307) were directed by women or by teams with equal or greater representation of women than men. Notably, 66% of production spending was also allocated to productions led by women.*

The NFB met or surpassed goals for gender parity in three of four key creative functions: screenwriting (58%), editing (50%) and music composition (57%). In addition, 42% of productions were shot by women cinematographers, a significant increase over previous years, when the figure had been below 20%.

Beginning this year, the NFB is also reporting gender-parity data by genre. The NFB has achieved parity in all three production sectors—animation, documentary and interactive—both for the number of productions directed by women and for production budgets allocated to women.

In the coming weeks, the NFB will be implementing a new mechanism to allow creators to self-identify, in order to be able to respectfully work towards increasing the representation of creators and collaborators from equity-seeking groups. The Self-Identification Questionnaire will be launched in April 2022 and will comply with the framework of the Privacy Act for the collection of personal data.

*Preliminary data as of February 17, 2022, for works in all phases of production during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.

Quote:

“The NFB has shown that it is committed to achieving gender parity in its productions. We look forward to deepening this work, and ensuring that parity is intersectional and supports the representation of Black, Indigenous, racialized and LGBTQ2+ women, both as directors and among the creative teams that support them.”

– Julie Roy, Director General, Innovation and Creation

At a glance:

2021–2022 results*:

GENDER PARITY AT THE NFB

ONGOING PROJECTS 2021-2022
Women

60%
Men

40%

 

EXPENDITURES OF ONGOING PROJECTS 2021-2022
Women

66%
Men

34%

 

CREATIVE POSITIONS FOR COMPLETED PRODUCTIONS

SCREENWRITING 2021-2022
Women

58%
Men

38%

 

EDITING 2021-2022
Women

50%
Men

50%

 

CINEMATOGRAPHY 2021-2022
Women

42%
Men

53%

 

MUSIC 2021-2022
Women

57%
Men

43%

 

GENDER PARITY BY GENRE

ONGOING PROJECTS
ANIMATION (70)		 2021-2022
Women

60%
Men

40%

 

EXPENDITURES OF ONGOING PROJECTS
ANIMATION		 2021-2022
Women

76%
Men

24%

 

ONGOING PROJECTS
DOCUMENTARY (180)		 2021-2022
Women

62%
Men

38%

 

EXPENDITURES OF ONGOING PROJECTS
DOCUMENTARY		 2021-2022
Women

59%
Men

41%

 

ONGOING PROJECTS
INTERACTIVE/IMMERSIVE/INSTALLATION (57)		 2021-2022
Women

56%
Men

44%

 

EXPENDITURES OF ONGOING PROJECTS
INTERACTIVE/IMMERSIVE/INSTALLATION		 2021-2022
Women 77%
Men 23%

*Here and throughout this release: the term “women” is used as a category denoting: 1) projects directed entirely by a woman or a team of women; or 2) teams with equal or greater representation of women than men (i.e., 50% or more). In a few cases the numbers don’t add up to 100%, due to the fact that some records have not been coded.

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Associated Links

International Women’s Day
NFB’s commitment to gender parity

French version here | Version française ici.

Media Relations

  • About the NFB

    The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is one of the foremost creative centres in the world. As a public producer and distributor of Canadian content, a talent incubator and a lever for Canada’s creative sector, the NFB produces nearly one hundred titles every year—from socially engaged documentaries and auteur animation to groundbreaking interactive works and participatory experiences. It was among the first cultural organizations to make clear commitments to gender parity; to launch an action plan with the goal of supporting Indigenous perspectives; and to establish concrete actions and targets that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition to serving as a reference point around the world for digitization and preservation practices, the NFB ensures the long-term conservation of its works as part of the audiovisual heritage of all Canadians.