Hollywood North

[8] The city has been associated with the nickname 'Hollywood North' since the late 1970s, due to its role as a production centre for both domestic and international film projects.

[9][10][11] In 1979 Toronto mayor John Sewell announced that Canada had become the third largest movie production centre after Los Angeles and New York.

[16] Ontario ranks as the second largest film and television production centre in Canada, and fourth overall in North America behind California, New York, and British Columbia.

[17] Although a decline in BC's domestic production and an increase of $300 million or 31% over the previous year, allowed Ontario to surpass British Columbia for the largest production centre in Canada in 2011, British Columbia has once again surpassed Ontario in recent years, as it had historically.

It contains the largest purpose-built sound stage in North America,[30] capable of accommodating large blockbuster movies.

[35] Toronto's domestic production industry benefits greatly financially from large treaty coproductions with international partners.

[36] As with Vancouver, government tax incentives at both the provincial and federal level promote Toronto as a destination for many US film productions.

Vancouver has been used as a filmmaking location for over a century, beginning with The Cowpuncher's Glove and The Ship's Husband, both shot in 1910 by the Edison Manufacturing Company.

The provincial government first established a film development office in 1977 to market the province to the Hollywood community.

That same year British Columbia led the country in foreign film production receiving 44% of the Canadian total.

[61] Vancouver is also home to the world’s largest VFX/animation cluster with over 60 domestic and foreign-owned studios, and 17 educational institutions with motion picture production as a discipline.

This relative proximity, diverse geography, educational capacity, and local talent, coupled with government subsidies, is a major factor in the growth of Vancouver's production industry.