The Canadian screen industry is seeking to establish its own identity beyond the influence of Hollywood, emphasizing the importance of storytelling that reflects Canadian perspectives.
Canada’s Showbiz Steps Out of Hollywood’s Shadow
No longer content with being just “Hollywood North,” the Canadian screen industry is asserting itself and telling its own stories.
The actor Robbie Graham-Kuntz speaking with fans outside the 14th Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto.
Canada’s Showbiz Steps Out of Hollywood’s Shadow
No longer content with being just “Hollywood North,” the Canadian screen industry is asserting itself and telling its own stories.
The actor Robbie Graham-Kuntz speaking with fans outside the 14th Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto. Credit...
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· 7:25 min
June 13, 2026
The crowd hushed as the black Escalade pulled curbside in the afternoon Toronto sun.
Robbie Graham-Kuntz, the Canadian actor who plays Kip in the ubiquitous hockey drama “Heated Rivalry,” emerged from the giant SUV.
The crowd screamed and tried to get closer to him, as a security guard stretched out his arms to hold fans at bay.
“I’m so sorry I’m in your private space,” a young woman clasping a copy of “Heated Rivalry” said shyly after brushing against his chest in the fray.
The security guy smiled and let her inch a little forward.
It was a genuinely Canadian moment at the start of a night celebrating the growing powerhouse that is the country’s screen industry, at a critical moment in its history.
Canada is home to a thriving television and film scene that generates billions of dollars in revenue and employs hundreds of thousands of people. Many favorite shows were filmed here, made by Canadian crews, a part of what’s often referred to as “Hollywood North.”
But in the past year, the domestic industry has thumped its chest a little harder, particularly after the phenomenal global success of “Heated Rivalry,” a homegrown series for the local streamer, Crave, based on the romance books by the Nova Scotia author Rachel Reid .
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The actor Hudson Williams, who plays the gay hockey star Shane Hollander in “Heated Rivalry” at the Canadian Screen Awards on May 31, 2026.
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The comedians Mike Myers and Dave Foley in a backstage photo booth set up by Netflix Canada in a vintage train carriage.
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Andrew Phung, the host of the Canadian Screen Awards show, getting some last-minute touches to his outfit from the stylist Ashley Galang.
As relations between Canada and the United States deteriorate, with President Trump regularly claiming Canada should become the 51st state, the screen industry has found itself at once wanting to assert its Canadianness and trying to grow its American business.
At the Canadian Screen Awards last month, representatives from U.S. streamers like Netflix celebrated alongside their local counterparts, regardless.
Some 700 film and television stars, producers, costume designers and all kinds of industry workers gathered on the 10th floor of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in downtown Toronto for a night that has been described as Canada’s Emmys and Oscars rolled into one, but felt more like a large, extended family gathering.
The actor Mike Myers, who was honored for his lifetime of contributions to Canadian film and television, walked from his hotel 10 minutes away and arrived with his two brothers, reflecting the casual and understated energy that characterizes the event, and the city.
“I wanna thank my mum and dad for moving to Canada,” he said clutching his statue onstage, his voice cracking. Eventually, he gave up holding back tears: “Canada, I don’t know what to say, dude, I’d literally be nothing without you.”
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Mr. Foley, left, and Mr. Myers. The comedians and actors are longtime friends and collaborators.
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The control room at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the awards show.
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Eugene Levy eulogized his “Schitt’s Creek” co-star Catherine O’Hara, who died in January.
The emotion did not abate, as the actor Eugene Levy eulogized his frequent co-star, Catherine O’Hara. Known as Canada’s honorary mom, she died earlier this year.
“She made us proud to be Canadian. Her email handle was ‘sorryeh,’” Mr. Levy said to uproarious applause, a reference to two of Canada’s most pervasive conversational idiosyncrasies.
But alongside the heartwarming moments, the tension the industry is experiencing in Canada was also on display, and on people’s minds.
There are a number of longstanding questions about how U.S. companies like Netflix compete here. Should the Canadian government tax them to fund the making of Canadian content known as “CanCon,” or demand that a certain portion of what they create be distinctly Canadian? These have in recent months become an extension of fraught trade negotiations between the two countries.
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The actor and musician Raoul Bhaneja, center, talking with the comedians Mary Walsh, left, and Mark Critch, right. They are both of “This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” the popular sketch comedy and satirical news show.
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Sophie Nélisse backstage with her Canadian Screen Award statue, trailed by Hudson Williams, her “Heated Rivalr…
Read the full article at The New York Times (World) →The Canadian screen industry is seeking to establish its own identity beyond the influence of Hollywood, emphasizing the importance of storytelling that reflects Canadian perspectives.
Bias read (Center): The article discusses cultural development and national identity without taking a political stance or showing bias toward any particular ideology.
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