The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) aims to boost Canada’s involvement in the business side of filmmaking in addition to attracting excited audiences — and the Canadian government is lending a hand.
TIFF kicked off on Sept. 5 as crowds in downtown Toronto anticipated the screenings of several new films from all over the world. Last May, TIFF’s Chief Executive Officer Cameron Bailey announced plans to host a “content market” during their festival by September 2026.
According to their media release, TIFF’s content market will function as a space for creators to acquire or sell “screen-based projects, intellectual property, and immersive and innovative content across all platforms.”
In support of the festival’s expansion initiatives, the Canadian government announced in 2024 that they plan to invest $23 million over three years into TIFF.
Toronto’s tourism and entertainment economies are largely influenced by TIFF’s success according to the government’s federal budget report. At the core of TIFF’s expansion initiatives is the effort to show Canada’s significance to filmmaking and explore their potential to be a “North American hub” for international business trade in the entertainment industry, says Bailey.
Bailey, in an interview with Deadline, claimed that investing in the content market and establishing it as “official” will draw in roughly 6,000 more delegates from the entertainment industry, bringing the usual 5,000 in attendance up to 12,000.
Although the Canadian government pledged a significant amount of money to TIFF, their investment in the festival is not a regular occurrence.
The federal government has not contributed a significant financial investment into TIFF since their project in 2010 to build the TIFF Lightbox: a stunning cinema and culture centre taking up the first five storeys in Toronto’s Festival Tower. Spread across the five floors, TIFF’s Lightbox has six theatres, two restaurants and several event spaces.
TIFF’s Lightbox recently became a controversial project, with many people debating whether the money put into it was justified.
TIFF’s expansion initiatives are also occurring only recently after experiencing the loss of their sponsor Bell Media in 2023 after 28 years of sponsorship. Bell Media was the face of TIFF’s Lightbox project but withdrew from the festival last year, deciding not to renew their contract.
TIFF’s expansion plans have a heavy focus on film industry trades, probing the question of where the festival is sitting after its recent history of losses, though Bailey reassures that TIFF has enough support to fill the void left by Bell Media’s withdrawal from the festival.
TIFF representatives remain hopeful looking towards their new initiatives and their plan to bring more film industry trades to Canada.
“I think there is so much more we can do by providing bigger, more robust infrastructure, and more opportunities for people to meet,” Bailey told Deadline.
TIFF is hosting its 49th year of film screenings this week from Sept. 5 to Sept. 15.
Although TIFF’s initiatives are still in the planning stages, this year’s festival remains an anticipated event for filmmakers and film enthusiasts alike.