Calgary film permits start with one free form and one City application. You fill out the Calgary Film Commission’s Film Production Information Sheet first, and then the City of Calgary’s Film Team handles permits for anything on City property or City services. The Commission is a department of Calgary Economic Development, so the two groups work side by side.
It’s a tidy system, and it’s been a long time coming. Calgary set up a film development office back in 1980, a story we told in our look at the 1980 Calgary film office. Today the City describes the goal as “simplified, transparent and reliable support” for productions.
The four steps
- Complete the Calgary Film Commission Film Production Information Sheet.
- Submit the City of Calgary Film Production Intake Form. The City assigns you a Film Team contact, and you can expect to hear from them within two business days.
- Submit the Film Services Application. Permit and service approvals take five to 21 business days, depending on the request.
- Get your City services approved for filming.
That’s it. Short list, real paperwork behind it, so start early.
What the City asks for
Permits apply when a motion picture, TV program, commercial, music video or web series wants to use City locations and services. Television stations shooting news or current affairs programs don’t need them.
Insurance is the big item. Liability coverage has to come from a company registered to do business in Alberta, with commercial general liability of at least $2,000,000 per occurrence (some City-owned buildings need $5,000,000) and automobile third-party liability of at least $1,000,000 for every vehicle used in filming. The City of Calgary and Calgary Economic Development are named as additional insureds, and a Certificate of Insurance plus the Acceptance of Terms and Conditions form come before approval.
You’ll also send a Filming Notification Letter and maps of the affected areas. Firearms discharge, pyrotechnics and fireworks each have their own forms, and the Calgary Police Service request form is submitted separately. Fees are listed on the City’s film services page.
Where the Film Commission comes in
The Calgary Film Commission is a free, full-service agency, and it’s the first call if you need help scouting or want to use private property. It builds scouting and location packages, runs familiarization tours, and connects productions with unions, guilds, sound stages, talent agencies, set builders and post-production companies. It also helps find the funding incentives a project may qualify for.
Calgary Economic Development says the city has more than 750,000 square feet of stages and production space, enough to host several productions at once. We dug into how one of those studios began in the Calgary Film Centre story, and our Calgary film and TV production history shows how many shoots came before.
Planning a shoot of your own, even a small one? Open the Film & TV page at Calgary Economic Development in one tab and the City’s filming applications page in another, and you’ll have the whole path in front of you. The Commission’s own Film & TV page has the information form.
If this one hooked you, we think The Edmonton International Film Festival Just Turned 40 and The Banff Mountain Film Festival Began With Climbers in a Basement are a good next read.
Quick answers
Start with the Calgary Film Commission Film Production Information Sheet, then submit the City of Calgary Film Production Intake Form. After that you send a Film Services Application, and the City approves permits and services for filming on City property.
The Calgary Film Commission is a free, full-service agency inside Calgary Economic Development. It helps film and TV productions with scouting, location packages, connections to unions, studios and crews, funding incentives, and filming on private property.
The City says you can expect contact from a Film Team member within two business days of your intake form. After you submit the Film Services Application, permit and service approvals take five to 21 business days, depending on the request.
Sources: City of Calgary, Filming applications; City of Calgary, Film Friendly Calgary; Calgary Economic Development, Film and TV.
