Canadian films are not just fighting for Canadian viewers. They are fighting for room on Canadian screens, and a new exhibitor-led report suggests the cause is more complicated than a simple shortage of showtimes.
The Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors released its Market Access Barriers report on September 14, based on seven weeks of booking data from 16 independent cinemas in Ontario. The report found that U.S. studio practices can crowd domestic titles out of smaller theatres. It also pointed to a less comfortable problem for the Canadian film sector: many Canadian films are not generating enough audience pull, and exhibitors often do not know about them early enough to plan a run.
The independent-cinema focus is not a niche concern. Telefilm Canada reported in February that Canadian films generated $13.9 million at the Canadian box office in 2025, down from $23.5 million in 2024. Their market share fell to 1.7 percent of total box office revenue, compared with 2.8 percent the year before.
The box office problem is larger than screen access
Telefilm’s 2025 review, based on Movie Theatre Association of Canada data, shows a difficult split. Total Canadian box office revenue was almost flat in 2025 at $836.9 million, while Canadian films fell 40.9 percent year over year.
Canadian films were not absent from the release calendar. Telefilm counted 139 Canadian new releases in 2025, about 14.4 percent of all new theatrical releases in Canada. Yet those films captured only 1.7 percent of box office revenue.
That points to a distribution and discovery problem, not just a production problem. The films exist. The audience connection is where the chain weakens.
Independent theatres carry much of the Canadian film load
NICE argues that independent cinemas matter because they account for a much larger share of Canadian film revenue than their overall box office footprint suggests.
According to the report, independent exhibitors held 16 percent of Canada’s total box office in 2025, but accounted for 60 percent of the box office earned by Canadian films. NICE also found that 35 Canadian films with measured 2025 box office earned every dollar of that revenue at independent cinemas.
The Ontario study tracked 16 independent cinemas from February 6 to March 26, 2026. Those cinemas played 223 distinct titles across 648 playdates from 59 distributors. They also recorded 238 booking decisions involving 17 Canadian film releases.
The sample is limited to Ontario independents, so it should not be treated as a complete national picture. Still, it offers rare data on how smaller cinemas decide which Canadian films make it onto the schedule.
Full-show commitments can block smaller films
The most politically charged part of the report is its treatment of full-show commitments. NICE defines full shows as a distributor requirement that one title take every available show slot on a screen for the duration of its run. For a single-screen or two-screen cinema, that can leave little room for another film.
In the NICE sample, a screen committed to another title with full shows was cited in 44 of 185 instances when a Canadian film was not booked. That worked out to 23.8 percent of the non-booking cases, with the report noting that respondents could select more than one reason.
The intensity of those commitments appears to matter. NICE found that cinemas with no full-show commitments booked Canadian titles at a 20 percent rate, compared with 5.6 percent for cinemas where at least half of playdates were under full-show commitments.
The Canadian Press reported that the Motion Picture Association – Canada, which represents major studios and distributors, did not respond to a request for comment.
Weak audience pull and awareness showed up more often
The most revealing table in the NICE report is not only about studio pressure. It is about what exhibitors said stopped them from booking Canadian films.
In the 185 non-booking instances recorded by NICE, other films in the market having more audience appeal was cited 77 times, or 41.6 percent of the cases. Not having heard about the Canadian film was cited 64 times, or 34.6 percent. Full-show commitments came third at 23.8 percent.
Those categories overlap. NICE notes that a theatre may book a major new release because it expects local demand, then find that the showtime requirements block other titles. But the exhibitor responses still show that screen access is not the only barrier. A Canadian film can lose before contract terms are discussed if a programmer does not know the title, or does not believe the local audience will show up.
Canadian identity is not enough to sell a ticket
Telefilm’s 2024 Canadian moviegoing study supports the same point from the audience side. Among movie-related factors that influence a theatrical choice, genre and being big-screen worthy each scored 75 percent. Good reviews and actors each scored 67 percent. Hearing that a film was a must-see scored 60 percent.
Canadian story or culture scored 34 percent.
Canadian identity can help, especially for community screenings, regional stories, festival play and filmmaker events. But as a general theatrical selling point, it appears weaker than genre, reviews, cast, spectacle and social buzz.
That finding matters for release strategy. If domestic films are marketed mainly as Canadian, they may miss the cues that actually move moviegoers toward a theatre purchase.
Release planning may be the fastest fix
NICE’s data suggests awareness is one of the most fixable problems. Of 238 Canadian booking decisions, the cinema had heard of the film in only 115 cases, fewer than half.
Outreach changed the outcome. Where a distributor made contact about a Canadian title, 32 percent of decisions ended in a booking. Where no distributor contact was made, only 5 percent did.
The report recommends longer lead times, more consistent communication, earlier trailers and marketing assets, clearer marketing commitments, talent support for events, and a shared Canadian release calendar through the Canadian Movie Marketplace.
For small cinemas, lead time is operational. It gives programmers time to arrange Q&As, community partnerships, themed series, local press, email promotion and audience outreach. NICE found eventized screenings were cited in 20.9 percent of booking reasons across the sample.
That is where Canadian films may have an advantage. Smaller titles can become local events when theatres have enough notice and usable materials. Without that runway, they can become late additions competing against films with months or years of advance awareness.
Policy can open doors, but marketing has to fill seats
NICE recommends publishing aggregate booking-conditions data annually, ensuring full shows and zones do not block Canadian films, and considering a mediation process for access disputes modelled on systems in France or Australia.
The report treats zone restrictions as a real but smaller issue in the sample. Zones appeared in 7 of 238 decisions, across four cinemas and three releases. Full-show commitments appeared more often, particularly for theatres with limited screens.
Even if policy improves access, theatres still need evidence that an audience is likely to come. The report’s data points to a chain of pressure: U.S. studio releases can lock up limited screens, Canadian distributors often work with smaller marketing budgets, and audiences make theatrical choices based on cues Canadian films may not have time or money to build.
The Canadian film challenge is therefore two-sided. Domestic titles need fairer access to screens, but they also need earlier demand-building so exhibitors see them as viable bookings rather than cultural obligations.
The exhibitor data suggests both problems are real. Screen access may be the louder fight, but weak awareness and perceived demand may be the barriers Canadian distributors can address fastest.
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