What New Brunswick actually pays
The state pays cash against qualified spend. No tax liability needed, no broker, no discount — the cleanest structure for an independent production.
New to the mechanics? Tax credit vs rebate vs grant and What counts as qualified spend.
Uplifts
Rate bumps that stack on the base program, up to its published ceiling. Uplifts are the most commonly missed money in any program, because qualifying for one is usually a location or scheduling decision made long before anyone is thinking about submittal.
- +30%
LIFT Stream 1: Micro (budgets under $400K)
Up to 30% of Total NB Spend, capped at $100,000, for budgets under $400,000. Same all-spend base as NB00.
The rule to remember
CLOSED to outside producers: applicant must be NB-incorporated with 50%+ NB-resident shareholders and the production needs 33%+ NB copyright. Service productions are an eligible project type but not an eligible applicant. Discretionary: 'up to' rates, scored rubrics, and an appendix for when the $7M fund depletes, which the guidelines expect.
Common questions
- What is the New Brunswick film tax incentive rate?
- New Brunswick offers 25% to 35% on qualified in-state spend through the LIFT: Leveraging Investment in Film & TV (Production). It is a cash grant. The state pays cash against qualified spend. No tax liability needed, no broker, no discount — the cleanest structure for an independent production.
- What is the minimum spend for the New Brunswick film incentive?
- $400K. Falling under the minimum is a total loss of the benefit, not a partial one — it is worth confirming the threshold before locking a budget.
- What uplifts are available in New Brunswick?
- New Brunswick offers 1 uplift on its headline program: LIFT Stream 1: Micro (budgets under $400K). Uplifts are usually decided by scheduling and location choices made months before submittal.
- Is the New Brunswick film incentive transferable or refundable?
- Neither transferable nor refundable, which limits its value to productions with in-state tax liability.
Verify before you budget. These figures come from our own incentives database and each shows when it was last reviewed — but programs change between funding cycles and legislative sessions. Confirm with the film office, or ask us, before a number goes into a budget.
Compare with
Programs in a similar rate band. The mechanism matters as much as the percentage — a transferable credit at 30% is not the same money as a cash grant at 30%.
Alabama
25%up to 35%RebateKentucky
30%up to 35%Refundable creditNebraska
20%up to 35%Transferable creditPrince Edward Island
32%up to 35%Rebate
STAY CURRENT
Tracking changes to this program?
We re-verify New Brunswick against the film office and the statute, and write when something moves that would change a budget. One email, no cadence you didn't ask for.