Summer, winter, mountains, prairie and downtown core. Calgary and the surrounding areas’ versatility, hardworking crews have skyrocketed the city to a top North American destination for filmmakers, and that’s without even mentioning the city’s immense cash-saving potential.
In their annual rankings, MovieMaker Magazine listed Calgary as the fourth best place to live and work as a filmmaker in 2026, up from fifth last year. Only Chicago, Albuquerque and Toronto were ranked higher on the list, excluding Los Angeles and New York City, who were not ranked.
For Adnaan Wasey, Calgary Film Commissioner at Calgary Economic Development, the ranking is no surprise.
“The rankings show what productions experience on the ground. They see our skilled crews, they see the creative partnerships, they see the versatility of locations and the results are there for one to see on the screen,” he said.
“We’ve been moving from a stage of proving ourselves to now having been proven. It’s decades of production and building up the talent and having a city and province and country that are behind productions.”
The day-to-day annoyance of Calgary weather swings can be a positive for film crews. Wasey said that being able to film cold-weather scenes one day and warm summer shots the next is an invaluable attribute unique to southern Alberta.
“Production knows that they can film a downtown cityscape in the morning and then be in the Rockies in the afternoon and then the next day, they can be in the prairies the next morning and then the Badlands in the afternoon,” he said.
“There’s just incredible diversity within an hour’s drive of Calgary and in that sense, we can double for any city and almost every climate and every landscape can be reproduced here.”
Incentives don’t stop at scenery
Natural beauty aside, MovieMaker credited Alberta and Canada’s tax credits as major talent attractors.
According to the site, The Alberta Film and Television Tax Credit provides rolling 22-30 per cent refunds for all expenses in film and television projects, credits that can be stacked with federal tax credits. At the end of the day, projects are often refunded 35 per cent or more, while not paying any provincial sales tax.
Wasey put it simply.
“In Calgary, our math works.”
International productions have been top of mind in recent years, a place Wasey has seen success.
“It’s significant that, in this case, Korean producers are choosing southern Alberta for their global audience, and it’s something that we will continue to work on, which is working on more international co-productions,” he said, referencing Can This Love Be Translated?, a Netflix series premiering Jan. 16.
“Anytime a production comes through, we are building our capacity, we’re building our skill and experience, and anytime a production comes in, we actually benefit from that and the next productions that come in then benefit from the previous production. It’s a virtuous cycle where the productions come in, we learn as a creative community and we grow as a creative community.”
According to Calgary Economic Development’s most recent annual report, published in 2024, the economic impact of film and television production in Calgary reached $372 million, creating 4,483 jobs in the city.
“This was bolstered by the city’s most active scouting year to date, with 46 projects actively considering Calgary as a filming location,” the report reads. In 2025, Calgary was home to Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys, MGM’s Billy the Kid, and the Canadian series Heartland, among others.
Wasey said that if nothing else, the ranking should prove to filmmakers local to Calgary that they can thrive where they live.
“We have programs that are specifically made for emerging filmmakers as well as veteran filmmakers, we have programs like the Alberta producer accelerator and programs like screen at Alberta and these are additional conduits for people to feel confident that they can have a film and television career in Calgary,” he said.
