All In: Embedding Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the audiovisual industry
The CMF’s 2024-2027 EDIA Strategy, All In: Embedding Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the audiovisual industry, was shaped by internal discussions and integral feedback from hundreds of creators across Canada. Through in-person forums in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, along with virtual sessions in English and French, storytellers helped ensure the strategy reflects the diverse experiences and needs of Canada’s audiovisual sector.
The 2024-2027 EDIA Strategy continues our commitment to underrepresented creators and equity-deserving communities. It outlines concrete actions to foster inclusivity and accessibility, ensuring Canadian storytellers from coast to coast to coast are supported, empowered, and celebrated. This strategy will also be integral to the organization’s modernization as we adapt to historical regulatory and policy updates.
Download our 2024-2027 EDIA StrategyMeasuring what matters
October 2026 update
Two years into All In: Embedding Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the audiovisual industry, our 2024–27 EDIA strategy, we’ve completed an internal evaluation of our progress.
Most organizations evaluate a strategy by counting how much of the work got done. We did that, classifying it as achievement. However, All In has an ambitious goal: to embed EDIA into the CMF’s infrastructure and make it a part of everything we do—and that is difficult to measure. In response, our Analytics and Strategic Insights team custom designed a way to measure what we are calling embeddedness.
They looked at the 22 strategic actions in our EDIA Strategy and scored them for the two features—achievement and embeddedness—on a 10-point scale. Achievement scored interim progress on the work. Embeddedness considered five qualities, each worth up to two points:
- Words: is it written into our policies and documents?
- People: is it in our practices and performance expectations?
- Numbers: are we measuring it?
- Collaboration: are we doing it with external organizations?
- Connection: are we communicating it beyond the CMF?
Every one of the actions was scored independently, for both achievement and embeddedness, by three staff members. The 22 actions roll into five goals, and five goals roll into one number.
The result: we scored 7 out of 10 for achievement and 6 out of 10 for embeddedness.
At this point in our three-year strategy, the scores are in the range we expect. But this evaluation method is one we can run again next year and the year after. The process reflects the strategy’s guiding principles: be transparent about where we’re making progress and where gaps remain, bring different perspectives to the table, and give us a shared, evidence-based way to learn, be accountable, and keep improving.
This is our roadmap. It helps identify focused activities for the final year of the strategy. We’re two-thirds of the way through, and we intend to finish strong.
Read our progress report
Highlights of the 2024-2027 EDIA Strategy
- Expanded accessibility support across programs: The CMF is significantly increasing our accessibility services by expanding the number and specialty of service providers, boosting annual program support, and enhancing eligibility for applicants with disabilities. This ensures a more equitable application process, breaking down barriers for disabled creators and production companies to thrive.
- Targeted growth and international success for Equity-Deserving companies: A new Sector Development Support program will focus on capacity building, market access, and workforce development for companies owned by Black, Indigenous, and racialized creators, as well as other Equity-Deserving Communities. The strategy aims to position these companies for long-term stability and international success, including targeted support for French-language creators in markets such as West Africa and the Caribbean.
- Diverse and inclusive decision-making panels: The CMF will implement a robust revision of our Jury Recruitment and Training Policy to address unconscious bias and ensure that all project evaluation panels reflect the diversity of Canada’s population.
- Data-driven accountability and enhanced reporting: Building on the success of the PERSONA-ID system, the CMF will implement improved data collection and transparency mechanisms to track diversity in all funded projects. This expanded data will guide CMF policies, enabling evidence-based decisions that promote equity, and will contribute to industry-wide accountability standards for all EDIA-related funding.
- Strategic industry partnerships and enhanced inclusion initiatives: The CMF is ramping up collaborations with diverse industry organizations, festivals, and networking events to foster greater inclusion. New partnerships will be established to support delegations of market-ready producers and creators from Equity-Deserving Communities, giving them increased access to both national and international opportunities for growth and visibility.
Read our 2021-2023 Equity and Inclusion Strategy
Download a timeline of the CMF’s EDIA milestones (Vertical format, screen-reader friendly)
Download a timeline of the CMF’S EDIA milestones (Horizontal format)