Dear ISO community members,
As we pass the mid-year mark, I want to take this moment to update our community of First Nations, Inuit and Métis storytellers on what is happening behind the scenes at ISO in the six months since our Annual Report.
ISO Programs: Increased Demand and Competitiveness
This year ISO programs have been by far the most competitive in ISO history. Increased volume and demand make for difficult decision-making and in the last funding rounds we were unable to support many high-scoring projects or to provide all projects with their full funding requests. We know how disappointing this is for applicants and I want to give context to these results.
ISO’s features/series production program has gone from a 35% success rate in 2024 to a 30% success rate in 2025. This success rate would have been even lower but we increased this budget by $1m from last year. There were $20m in requests for a $4m allocation, further demonstrating the significant demand.
ISO’s Sector Development program was redesigned this year, with two deadlines and an external review process, to address the growing demand. The first deadline this year received an unprecedented total request of $4.7m for an available amount of $700,000.
Funding programs in our sector are always highly competitive, however it is important to acknowledge the growing demand for ISO’s programs is a testament to our success and that of the entire Indigenous screen sector. The audiovisual industry is experiencing unprecedented challenges that will continue to put pressure on funding but the rise of Indigenous storytelling only strengthens our commitment to continued growth and evolution.
This year we took over management of the CMF program which, while not bringing new money to the system, has allowed ISO to align our processes and increase some internal capacity. ISO’s CMF programs also saw an increase in applications and a new peer assessment process for development.
The launch of ISO’s new funding portal was a significant adjustment for applicants and staff but a necessary step for current and future growth.
ISO Funding Updates
Over the last two years, ISO has invested extensive time and resources in the CRTC process to ensure that ISO had access to new broadcast revenue through the Online Streaming Act. We were thrilled to announce last year that this effort was successful and that our allocation would effectively double ISO’s budget.
Unfortunately, this CRTC-directed funding is subject to multiple legal challenges from the streamers and we await the results of these appeals before we can confirm this as part of our ongoing annual budget. This means that for the time being the ISO’s core budget remains at the same level as it has been since 2021 – that is $13m per year with 88% going directly to applicants and programs last year.
ISO initially proposed an annual budget of $27m to Canadian Heritage in 2019. Although we received half that amount as our core budget we have not stopped working hard first to ensure this funding was made permanent and also to pursue new avenues and partnerships for increasing the budget, which is not sufficient for our broad national mandate.
It is important to reflect on the historical endeavor that the ISO is. We are building a national Indigenous cultural funding institution from the ground up. We have done it without the advantage of an endowment or start-up infrastructure investment that was provided to Canada’s legacy cultural institutions when they were founded and which allowed them to quickly build administrations, achieve their national mandates and grow.
The ISO has more than demonstrated the case for success: we have amplified Indigenous cultural expression and understanding of Indigenous perspectives, increased screen production volume and job creation for Indigenous workers, and engaged new audiences for Indigenous storytelling nation-wide.
ISO has supported Indigenous language revitalization and on-reserve production and training, led international collaborations, fostered innovation in new technologies, supported 2SLGBTQIA+ storytelling and parity for Indigenous women, and facilitated reconciliation through education. Our advocacy work and growth strategy will continue to build on these successes.
Next Steps
We are committed to being responsive and in dialogue with the Indigenous screen community. The ISO team regularly attends events across the country and internationally and are constantly gaining feedback from producers and storytellers. We are starting to plan our next formal community consultation process that, in line with our new strategic plan, will help inform our priorities.
We will also be working on a new Content Framework that offers a clear and transparent articulation of ISO’s funding priorities and decision-making.
The Funding Team is currently taking meetings with applicants to discuss funding opportunities and we hope this context will help support those conversations. If you are planning to apply to any ISO programs please reach out to [email protected] for your inquiry and you will be connected with a Program Manager.
In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to us with general feedback at [email protected] and keep sharing your successes with us so we can add it to our ongoing advocacy and reporting.
Thank you all for your work and stay tuned for more updates from the ISO.
Kerry Swanson, CEO