Canadians love seeing a Canadian achieve global recognition and success for their contribution to popular movies or series. They enjoy seeing scenes shot in recognizably Canadian locations and shows based on books written by Canadians. People recognize that global streaming services mean new and bigger market reach for the work of talented Canadians.Like many places in the world, Canada has long used public policy tools to incentivize film and TV production, to maximize the benefits for Canadians. These policies have been left unchanged for years, even though technology has transformed the way we watch entertainment from one of limited to abundant choice.But change is now coming. Newly passed federal legislation provides direction to the CRTC to modernize the definition of what makes a program “Canadian” and create a new flexible framework around the type of contributions that are considered of value to Canada when it comes to film and television production. Provided the regulatory signals are pointed well, this could open up more opportunity for Canadian creative workers.The global studios that operate streaming services in Canada spend billions on productions here, accounting for over half of all the money spent making films and series in Canada. The CRTC has been asked to consider how these diverse streaming services can best contribute to Canada's cultural and broadcasting policy in the new creative economy.If public opinion is going to be considered, here's what we learned in a major new study of 3000 Canadians, conducted on behalf of the Motion Picture Association – Canada (which represents major global studios and streaming services).

• Canadians see value in a lot of different ways in which the production of films and series contribute to Canada. In the past, regulations have deemed that Canadian control or ownership of a film or series is the most crucial benefit for the country, but Canadians think plenty of other aspects that go into the production and how should be deemed valuable as well.

More than 80% of Canadians see value for Canada in films or series having Canadian actors or directors, and Canadian books or stories represented on screen.They show the same level of appreciation for a show that is shot in Canada, creating jobs and opportunities for Canadian workers in a variety of creative roles, and buying supplies from local businesses.

• Now that global studios can put content made in Canada on their streaming services that have global reach, Canadians see another, new upside for Canada's creative workers. With first-hand experience consuming more international content from countries all over the world on their favourite streaming services, Canadians recognize the upside for our domestic creative workers.

Our survey also asked whether the new rules should allow for global studios to use their expertise in choosing how to make additional valuable contributions to Canada, or require the studios to provide funds to a government mandated organization, which would in turn allocate those monies to specific projects or programs. A large majority (79%) of Canadians think tapping into the entrepreneurial and creative expertise of the global studios, would produce the better outcomes for Canada's creative workers.The findings in our study this year, are directionally consistent with what we've seen in similar studies over the last few years for MPA-Canada.Canadians believe film and television production has been a great opportunity for our country, culturally and economically. They believe in maximizing benefits for Canada and for our creative workers. They see how rapidly evolving business models are transforming the market, bringing new opportunity, and they want Canada to embrace the change with ambition. They recognize that creativity and adaptation are the keys to success in this fast changing marketplace and prefer to see Canada benefit from, not limit, that spirit.