Shooting in Canada

D

danielbrevick

Member
Has anyone shot in Canada? I'm leaving in a week I'll fly into Albany and drive to Montreal. I'll have my Panasonic HVX 200A, a laptop, reflector, some hard drives, a couple of mics - i may pick up a shop light - it' a real light shoot - I'm mostly nervous about the border crossing - I have a passport - don't know if I need work permits? Visa? Has anyone done this? Can you offer any advice? I know they will ask my purpose for coming. I'm basically going to film a quick interview with a girl I interviewed in Africa last summer, it's just a follow-up to complete her story, the film is on international volunteering and not-for-profit. Thanks so much, Daniel
 
I've been stopped at the border for not having work permits, my producer in Florida was luckily able to talk to immigration/border guards and get us across.
This is from the Canadian Citizenship and Immigration site: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/apply-who-nopermit.asp#news

News reporters, film and media crews An employee of a foreign news company does not need a work permit to report on events in Canada. This applies to:

  • News reporters and their crews,
  • Film or media crews who are not entering the Canadian Labour Market,
  • Journalists working for a print, broadcast, or internet news service provider (journals, newspapers, magazines, TV shows, etc.) if the company they work for is not Canadian,
  • Resident correspondents,
  • Managerial and clerical personnel provided the event is short-term (6 months or less).
Click to expand...
It sounds like you'll be OK, since you are working for a foreign news company (even if it is yourself) Their big concern is that you don't take away potential jobs/work/money from Canadians (at least that's how the guard explained it to me when I was stopped) someone might have a different opinion, good luck.
 
Awesome thanks Mike this is great - very helpful. I'll print this out and have it on me in the event there are issues. It's comforting and disturbing both - you'd think with this so clearly stated you would have gone straight through.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top