CBC funds the development of materials that will be used to evaluate if the show is right for CBC, like scripts, series bible, and sometimes in the case of unscripted shows, a demo or concept document.

If your show is put into development, a production executive will be assigned to your project, and will be your main point of contact. They will be responsible for deciding what materials make the most sense to develop, approving your creative team (including writers and weighing in on their appropriate pay scale, etc.) and reviewing materials as they come in to provide feedback and approvals on CBCs behalf.

Each production executive usually handles about 10-20 projects at a time (both in development and production) and sometimes they are offsite supporting shows in production. In some cases, they may need a few weeks to get to your script, and may also need to consult with the programming team before giving feedback. In general, you should expect to get any notes or approvals within 3 weeks.

A Manager in CBCs Business & Rights team will also be assigned to your project, and will handle the negotiation of the development budget and development agreement.

Together with the creative materials you deliver to CBC, you will also need to submit a completed sustainability checklist.  This checklist will help you prioritize sustainability both in front and behind the camera.  CBC has developed 3 types of checklists which you can use, depending on the genre of your project (scripted, unscripted, or documentary).

To comply with CBCs various diversity and reporting requirements to the Canadian Radio-television and Communications Commission (CRTC), we will also ask you to submit a producer declaration with respect to the various personnel engaged on your show.  The data collected is only accessible by a few CBC employees, and is shared with the CRTC on an aggregate anonymized basis. 

Development budgets are negotiated by CBCs Business & Rights team in consultation with your production executive, based on the materials being developed. For scripted projects, CBC relates to industry standards including the rates negotiated by the Canadian Media Producers Association with the Writers Guild of Canada (known as the IPA).

In many cases, development costs are shared by CBC and Canada Media Fund (CMF), with CBC assigning funds from CBCs CMF envelope (a pot of money that is administered by CMF on projects identified by CBC). In some cases, there may be another partner at the table such as a foreign broadcaster or provincial funding agency. Funds are treated as an advance against any future license fees.

In exchange for CBCs contribution, CBC gets to give you feedback on your submitted materials to make sure that they fit with CBCs programming strategy, as well as an exclusive option (usually for a year) to make an offer to license the program based on the materials. The specifics of the option may sometimes be modified if another party is co-financing development (besides CBC and CMF). CBC also expects to receive a developed in association with CBC credit in the show and credit for any funds that we have paid out, if and when it gets made - even if CBC does not license it.

CBC has a fixed annual programming budget, as well as a limited amount of CMF funds available to greenlight new programs. With this in mind, and a fiscal year that starts in April, CBCs programming team usually reviews and compares the creative materials for network shows under consideration in January-March. If a project comes in earlier than this, a decision would likely be deferred; similarly, if a project isnt ready for consideration in this timeline, it may have to be held over into the next fiscal. If its clear to your production executive that the show is not the right fit for CBC, they will tell you sooner so that you can see if you can find another home for the program.

If CBC elects not to make an offer to license your show, you will get a release from CBC that will allow you to offer the project to another licensor. If the project gets made without CBCs participation, CBC usually expects to have our development costs refunded on the first day of principal photography, as well as a developed in association with CBC credit to let people know that we helped get the show off the ground.

• Sample Development Agreement