Société de développement des entreprises culturelles
Société de développement des entreprises culturelles
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
| English|Production program

Production program

► The Charter of the French language and its regulations govern the consultation of English-language content.

 

Through this program, SODEC supports:

  • feature-length fiction projects (component 1);
  • short fiction or documentary film projects (component 2);
  • medium-length and feature-length documentaries – one-off works (component 3).

 

General eligibility requirements

Eligible companies

  • Under its Production program, SODEC accepts applications from Québec production companies.
  • To establish their eligibility, all production companies planning to apply for funding for the first time or any production company with experience in a given production format that wishes to apply for funding of a project in a different format must contact SODEC at least one month before the application deadline.
  • A company’s eligibility is determined according to the parameters of the project submitted and the specific requirements detailed in each of the program components.
  • To be eligible, the production company must demonstrate that its directors and producers have the relevant professional experience.
  • Exclusion: Broadcasting companies that have been, are, or become licensed under the Broadcasting Act (R.S.C., c. B-9) are not eligible for the program or are only eligible under very specific conditions. Such conditions also govern the eligibility of production companies that have corporate links with a company holding such a license.

Eligible projects

  • When applying for funding, projects must meet the general eligibility requirements of the program and the specific requirements of the relevant component.
  • At all times, submitted projects must comply with the standards relating to the definition of a Québec production (See the definition in the program).
  • The production company must demonstrate, to the satisfaction of SODEC, that it holds all the rights necessary for the project’s production and distribution.
  • Projects that received development assistance from SODEC must close their development application with SODEC prior to applying for production or postproduction assistance for the same project.
  • A project that has been rejected twice may be resubmitted if invited to do so by SODEC, which then determines the prerequisites to reapply.
⇒ Read the program to learn about all the eligibility requirements.

Program and Business rules

Information

Audiovisual production and development department

Frequently asked questions (Component 2)

Deadlines

Component 1 – Selective assistance for the production of feature-lenght fiction films (20-13-01-01)

  • From November 3 to December 3, 2025 (decision: May 1st, 2026*)
  • From June 15 to July 15, 2026 (decision: October 23, 2026*)

Component 1 – Postproduction assistance for feature-lenght fiction films (20-13-01-02)
Component 1 – Selective assistance for minority coproduction and minority postproduction of feature-lenght fiction films (20-13-01-03)
Component 1 – Selective assistance for the production of a Québec-majority English-language feature-length fiction film with a total production budget of $3,500,000 or more (20-13-01-04)

  • At any time

* Estimated date.

Component 2 – Selective assistance for the production of short films (Fiction and documentary) (20-13-02-01)

  • From September 28 to October 28, 2026 (decision: February 12, 2027*)

* Estimated date.

Component 3 – Selective assistance for the production of medium-lenght and feature-lenght documentaries – One-off works (20-13-03-01)

  • From March 20 to April 22, 2026 (decision: July 24, 2026*)
  • From August 21 to September 23, 2026 (decision: January 15, 2027*)

Component 3 – Selective assistance for minority coproduction or postproduction of medium-lenght and feature-lenght documentaries – One-off works (20-13-03-02)

  • At any time

* Estimated date.

Request to convert development assistance into a production grant (20-13-04)

  • At any time

 

Submitting an application

All applications must be submitted using the secure online portal SOD@ccès. To sign into SOD@ccès, you must:

  • Create a user profile if you are a new user or enter your access codes
  • Select a SOD@ccès program number
    • 20-13-01-01: Component 1 – Selective assistance for the production of feature-lenght fiction films
    • 20-13-01-02: Component 1 – Postproduction assistance for feature-lenght fiction films
    • 20-13-01-03: Component 1 – Selective assistance for minority coproduction and minority postproduction of feature-lenght fiction films
    • 20-13-01-04: Component 1 – Selective assistance for the production of a Québec-majority English-language feature-length fiction film with a total production budget of $3,500,000 or more
    • 20-13-02-01: Component 2 – Selective assistance for the production of short films (Fiction and documentary)
    • 20-13-03-01: Component 3 – Selective assistance for the production of medium-lenght and feature-lenght documentaries – One-off works
    • 20-13-03-02: Component 3 – Selective assistance for minority coproduction or postproduction of medium-lenght and feature-lenght documentaries – One-off works
    • 20-13-04: Request to convert development assistance into a production grant
  • Fill out the application form and upload all required documents
► Please note that the SOD@ccès platform is in French only.

 

Component 1 – Selective assistance for the production of feature-lenght fiction films

 

Component 2 – Selective assistance for the production of short films

 

Component 3 – Selective assistance for the production of medium-lenght and feature-lenght documentaries – One-off works

 

Request to convert development assistance into a production grant

 

In the advent of an assignment of rights to another company or shell company during development

In the advent of an assignment of rights to another company or shell company during development, please send the following documents to your program administrator.

If SODEC contributed to the development stage, an acquiescence* of the assignment of rights is required. To avoid compromising the eligibility of your financial assistance application, please notify SODEC prior to the assignment of your project’s rights to another company.

*This acquiescence is not required for assignments of rights to shell companies.

Documents to be submited:

 

Additional information

SODEC relies on ACCEO Transphere to provide pre-authorized payment and debit services.

If you’re a new SODEC client, there’s no need to take any specific steps; you’ll be sent an invitation to register with ACCEO Transphere in due time.

Frequently asked questions (Component 2)

Questions pertaining to eligibility to component 2

  • Fiction and documentary short film projects.

No, only projects submitted by a duly incorporated and registered company are eligible. Sole proprietorship does not qualify as a Québec company under the law.

The filmmaker must have been a tax resident in Quebec for at least two years.

  • The company and the producer must have produced and brought to the screen in Québec, in a professional context (such as selection in the official competition of a major festival or on a platform recognized by SODEC) at least one audiovisual work deemed relevant to the submitted application during the eight years preceding the application.
  • To establish their eligibility, all production companies planning to apply for funding for the first time must contact SODEC at least one month before the application deadline.

Applying for production assistance must be done before the first day of filming.

However, an application for postproduction assistance must be submitted after filming has been completed but before final editing begins.

A rejected project is no longer eligible after two rejections, except for postproduction assistance for which it is possibly to apply even after reaching the limit of production assistance applications. However, SODEC reserves the right to allow a project that has been rejected twice in production to be resubmitted. In such cases, SODEC will determine prerequisites and the submission deadline by which the project may be resubmitted.

There is no limit to the number of projects a single company can submit.

However, if a single company, including related companies, submits more than one project per deadline, at least half of the projects submitted must be scripted or directed by women.

In case of an odd number of projects, the majority must be scripted or directed by women.

Yes, there is an administrative fee of $57.49 ($50 plus taxes) per project.

Questions pertaining to content (Component 2)

The evaluation process usually takes 11 to 15 weeks. All responses (whether positive or negative) are sent by email. You should therefore make sure your contact information is up to date.

SODEC’s cumulative financial contribution is capped at $165,000 and must be used to fund the Québec portion of the budget.