Canadian actors and performers have secured a two per cent annual pay rise for the next three years after key industry bodies agreed to renew the Independent Production Agreement (IPA).

ACTRA, the Canadian performers guild, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) and L’Association des Producteurs de Films et de Télévision du Québec (APFTQ) have reached tentative terms to renew their IPA.

Aside from the rate increase, the terms of the IPA, which includes divisive issues as digital rights, remain unchanged.

In a statement ACTRA national president Richard Hardacre said, “Given these uncertain economic times, both sides agreed that it was in the industry’s best interest to work co-operatively to come to a quick, simple deal.”

Calling the current agreement “one of the best in the world”, ACTRA chief negotiator Stephen Waddell added he saw no reason to make substantive changes in the current climate.

CFTPA’s chief negotiator John Barrack said the two sides were better off working together in their shared battle against the federal regulatory body, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, which is currently reviewing broadcasting licence requirements and Canadian content requirements.

If ratified, the deal will begin on January 1 and expire December 31, 2012. As with the current agreement, the guild and the producers can re-open new media discussions one year prior to the agreement’s expiry.

The IPA covers performers in all film, television and new media production in Canada, except for British Columbia, where the ACTRA local, the Union of British Columbia Performers, negotiates separately.

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