[11] Aiming to meet a need for film and television training outside large metropolitan centres, the Canadian Screen Institute (CSI) was formed on April 7, 1986, adopting both DramaLab and Local Heroes as its two flagship programs.

[15] Teams met with top-level experts throughout the program and received a cash award towards the final development and packaging of their feature film projects.

[19] NSI Totally Television began in 2002 providing customized, hands-on training for Canadian producer/writer teams to develop story ideas into polished packages to present to buyers in the global marketplace.

The program was designed to help Indigenous film and television producers advance their projects as international co-productions through guidance and access to new markets.

[22] The curriculum introduces emerging Indigenous artists to creative and challenging employment opportunities in film, TV and digital media.

It was a diversity initiative geared towards mid- to advanced-level visible minority and Indigenous producers with an interest in developing dramatic television programming.

In 2006 DiverseTV was launched in collaboration with VisionTV[23] and trained diverse writers to create dramatic television series for national broadcast.

In 2008 NSI PlayWRITE[27] was introduced to find and train undiscovered Canadian writers, helping them break into the video game industry as narrative designers.

The National Screen Institute expanded its digital initiatives with TELUS STORYHIVE[18] in late 2014 for content creators in British Columbia and Alberta.

The program was aimed at film, television and digital media content producers and trained them in best practices for running their company.

The program takes place in The Pas, Manitoba, providing an introduction to media-based storytelling and production experience on a short film.

Participants learned business management, negotiation and leadership skills and received customized mentorship to develop their projects.

The National Screen Institute redesigned its programs and leveraged digital platforms in the early months of the pandemic, a major switch from their long history of in-person instruction.