Canadian province to extend film tax incentives

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - British Columbia said on Friday it plans to extend its tax incentives for film makers, which have lured movie production work from the United States and angered Hollywood unions.

The provincial tax credit program had been set to expire next year but will now run until 2013, and should partly offset problems caused by the stronger Canadian dollar in attracting foreign movie productions, Premier Gordon Campbell said.

The extension will be included in next year's budget, but provincial officials said they wanted to announce it now rather than wait until February when the full budget is expected to be unveiled.

About C$1.2 billion ($1.24 billion) in film production work was done in the western Canadian province in 2006, making its movie industry the largest in Canada and the third largest in North America. Much of the production is done in the Vancouver area.

Hollywood's film unions have complained bitterly that "runaway" productions are costing them jobs, and in September asked the U.S. government to investigate if Canadian tax incentives violated trade laws.

($1=$0.97 Canadian)