Operating context

The key trends in the audiovisual industry have remained the same in recent years. Canadians are increasingly turning to digital distribution channels and connected devices to access the video content that interests them. The rapid development of new technologies, proliferation of content-distribution platforms and growing availability of content, which have resulted in discoverability challenges, are as much challenges as they are opportunities for the NFB to be bold, original and adaptive in the ways it produces works, promotes them and allows different audiences to discover and access them.

These challenges, common in the audiovisual sector, resulted in the sweeping Department of Canadian Heritage initiative to modernize the country’s broadcasting framework. In 2025-2026, along with other key industry players, the NFB will continue to participate in this major project that aims to support Canadian and Indigenous content.

The current fiscal year is also the first year of implementation of the NFB’s 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, which was informed by cross-Canada consultations with a broad range of key collaborators including filmmakers, industry partners and cultural organizations, as well as with the organization’s staff and its Board of Trustees.

In keeping with the new strategic plan, in 2025-2026 the NFB will nurture the culture of innovation that is its lifeblood and continue to create and distribute daring works emblematic of the diversity of Canadian voices. By strengthening public participation, focusing on the next generation among both filmmakers and its organizational resources, and maintaining its commitments to equity, diversity and inclusion, the NFB is giving itself the means to meet the challenges facing the audiovisual ecosystem.