Three years of harmony is assured in Canada's west coast film production sector as producer representatives from the US and Canada ratified a collective agreement with the British Columbia Council of Film Unions.

The agreement provides a 3.5% salary increase in the first year followed by 3% increases in the second and third. Party to the contract were the three Council member unions - Motion Picture Studio Production Technicians IATSE Local 891, Teamsters Union Local No. 155 and International Photographers IATSE Local 669, representing some 10,000 film and television industry personnel.

Also present were the British Columbia producers branch of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association and the US-based Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. If estimates of the sector's growth are correct, the agreement is expected to generate more than $470m (C$700m) in wages over the three years.