Be a Pro

Watch this helpful video

to learn what residency documentation you may be asked to provide to productions when you start work.

Consider your proof of residency as a vital tool in your kit. Keep copies and take them each time you start a job.

Important amendments to the BCCFU Master Agreement (Article 1.21 Residency) concerning residency documentation will be in force as of October 1st, 2018. From that date, an employer has the right to discharge you if you do not comply with their request for residency documentation within two business days of the processing of your first timesheet.

Why productions need residency proof

Productions need the residency documentation (i.e. proof of where you live) for every employee they hire in BC in order to claim provincial and federal tax incentives. These incentives are one of the reasons productions choose to film in BC and Canada which, of course, helps brings work to the professional artists and technicians of our Local.

What you need to provide:

The residency documentation required by the Employer may include, but is not limited to, the following documents which the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) considers to be evidence of significant ties to Canada, as per the most recent version of the CRA publication RC642 Film and Media Tax Credits. As of September 17, 2018, the publication lists the following:

  1. The CRA requires a copy of any one of the following documents to support residency status:
    1. Notice of Assessment (T1) showing that the individual is a resident of Canada/province for the relevant tax year.
    2. Letter from the CRA giving an opinion of the individual’s residency status in Canada for the relevant year(s) after completing form NR74 Determination of Residency Status (Entering Canada) or NR73 Determination of Residency Status (Leaving Canada).
    3. Long-term (one year or more) lease or purchase of a Canadian dwelling with utility and/or cell phone bills showing the individual is living at that Canadian address.
  2. If none of the options listed in (a) are available, the CRA requires a copy of three of the following documents to support residency status:
    1. Copy of the last income tax return filed in the country of origin and/or any document filed with the foreign tax authority in which the individual has declared that they are no longer a resident.
    2. Short-term (less than a year) lease agreement or letter from a landlord supporting a rental agreement.
    3. Provincial/territorial health or services card for the individual, their spouse and/or dependant.
    4. Driver’s license or vehicle registration from the relevant province/territory*.
    5. Professional association or union membership in Canada.
    6. Statements of accounts (for example: bank accounts, retirement savings plan, credit cards, securities accounts) from a Canadian branch of a financial institution.

* A provincial or territorial services card that includes health care and a driver’s license will count as two documents.

Employees employed through a loan-out corporation may also be asked to provide to the Employer the loan-out corporation’s most recent Notice of Assessment and the most recent Schedule 50 indicating whether the loan-out corporation has single or multiple shareholders. Newly-formed loan-out corporations that have not yet filed tax returns may be asked to provide a Shareholder Register.