C-18.1, r. 4 - Regulation respecting licences to operate premises where films are exhibited to the public, distributor’s licences and video material retail dealer’s licences

Updated to 12 December 2023

This document has official status.

chapter C-18.1, r. 4

Regulation respecting licences to operate premises where films are exhibited to the public, distributor’s licences and video material retail dealer’s licences

Cinema Act

(chapter C-18.1, s. 167).

DIVISION I APPLICATION FOR A LICENCE

1. General

1. A person applying for a licence to operate premises where films are exhibited to the public, for a distributor’s licence or for a video material retail dealer’s licence must attach to his application a certified cheque or a postal or bank money order payable to the Minister of Finance, in an amount representing the fee for examination of his application and the duties payable for the issue of a licence, as provided for in the Regulation respecting the fees for examination and duties payable under the Cinema Act (chapter C-18.1, r. 1).

O.C. 743-92, s. 1.

2. The person must indicate in his application his name, the address of his domicile, his occupation, the address of his establishment and, where applicable, the name and address of his representative.

O.C. 743-92, s. 2.

3. A person acting on behalf of a company, a partnership or a cooperative must attach to his application a writing attesting to his mandate, as well as the following documents:

(1)  in the case of a company, a copy of its constituting act within the meaning of section 3.1 of the Companies Act (chapter C-38) or a copy of its certificate of incorporation issued under section 8 of the Canada Business Corporations Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-44);

(2)  in the case of a partnership or a person operating an enterprise under a name which does not include the person’s surname and given name, a copy of the declaration required under the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (chapter P-44.1);

(3)  in the case of a cooperative constituted under section 13 of the Cooperatives Act (chapter C-67.2), a copy of the articles referred to in that section;

(4)  (paragraph implicitly revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 3; O.C. 611-95.

4. A person acting on behalf of a company or partnership not listed on a Canadian stock exchange must also furnish, for each senior executive, director or partner and for each shareholder holding more than 10% of the capital stock, the address of their domicile and the percentage of the shares held in the company or their share in the partnership.

O.C. 743-92, s. 4.

5. The person must state whether any of the persons mentioned in section 4 have been found guilty:

(1)  of an offence under the Cinema Act (chapter C-18.1) or under a regulatory provision made in accordance with subparagraph 11 of the first paragraph of section 168 of that Act in the past 2 years and for which they have not been pardoned;

(2)  in the 2 years preceding an application for a licence or for renewal of a licence, of an offence or an indictable offence under the Copyright Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42) or the Criminal Code (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46) relative to the operation of premises where films are exhibited to the public, to the use of films or to the operation of a video material retail business, depending on the licence required, and for which they have not been pardoned.

O.C. 743-92, s. 5.

6. An application for a licence is duly made on the date on which it is filed with the Minister or on the date it is sent by registered mail.

O.C. 743-92, s. 6; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP); S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 132.

7. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 7; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

2.

(Revoked)

O.C. 743-92, Sd. 2; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

8. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 8; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP); S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

9. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 9; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

10. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 10; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

11. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 11; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

12. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 12; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

13. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 13; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

DIVISION II LICENCE TO OPERATE PREMISES WHERE FILMS ARE EXHIBITED TO THE PUBLIC

1. Conditions for obtaining a licence

14. A person applying for a theatre licence, an outdoor theatre licence or multiple-purpose premises licence must file as many applications as the number of screens that he wishes to operate.

O.C. 743-92, s. 14.

15. The person must submit with his application a list and a description of the technical equipment that he intends to use to exhibit films to the public.

O.C. 743-92, s. 15.

16. A person applying for a multiple-purpose premises licence must indicate the principal use of the premises where he intends to exhibit films and the projected frequency of exhibition of films to the public for the coming year.

O.C. 743-92, s. 16.

2. Rights and obligations

17. A holder of a licence to operate premises where films are exhibited to the public must post the following information:

(1)  the classification assigned to a film by the director of classification; and

(2)  the information, qualifications and indications that may appear on the stamp of the film.

The holder must post the information using the identification material furnished by the director of classification and in such a manner that the public may consult the content thereof before purchasing tickets.

O.C. 743-92, s. 17; O.C. 867-97, s. 1; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 136.

18. A holder of a licence to operate premises where films are distributed to the public who places in a newspaper within the meaning of section 1 of the Press Act (chapter P-19) an advertisement for a film must ensure that the classification and, where applicable, the information, qualification and indications given by the director of classification concerning the film appear in the advertisement and that the classification conforms to one of the stickers referred to in Schedule I.

O.C. 743-92, s. 18; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 136.

19. A holder of a licence to operate premises where films are distributed to the public must post his licence in public view at the entrance to the theatre containing the screen for which the licence was issued.

O.C. 743-92, s. 19.

20. A holder of a licence to operate premises where films are distributed to the public must send every week to the Minister the report provided for in section 97 of the Act.

O.C. 743-92, s. 20; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 137.

DIVISION III DISTRIBUTOR’S LICENCE

1. General distributor’s licence

21. A person applying for a general distributor’s licence must establish in writing that the principal establishment of his enterprise, within the meaning of section 104 of the Act, is in Québec.

O.C. 743-92, s. 21.

22. The Minister may require the applicant to provide information, within the time the Minister specifies, when the Minister has reason to believe:

(1)  that the majority of the members of the board of directors are not domiciled in Québec;

(2)  that the applicant is controlled in fact or in law:

(a)  by 1 or more natural persons not domiciled in Québec;

(b)  by 1 or more legal persons whose principal establishment is located outside Québec.

O.C. 743-92, s. 22; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 134.

2. Special distributor’s licence under section 105.1 of the Act

23. A person applying for a special distributor’s licence under section 105.1 of the Act must indicate in his application the title of the original version of the film, its running time, the year of production, the name of the producer of the film and the nationality of the production.

O.C. 743-92, s. 23.

24. In order to establish that he is the producer of the film, the person must file with the Minister an affidavit attesting that he meets the conditions in the agreement referred to in section 105.1 of the Act.

O.C. 743-92, s. 24; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP); S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 137.

25. In order to establish that he holds the worldwide distribution rights for the film, the person must file with the Minister a copy of the contract duly certified as true to the original and showing that he holds the distribution rights provided for in section 105.1 of the Act.

O.C. 743-92, s. 25; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 137.

3. Rights and obligations

26. A holder of a distributor’s licence who places in a newspaper within the meaning of section 1 of the Press Act (chapter P-19) an advertisement for a film must ensure that the classification and, where applicable, the information, qualifications and indications given by the director of classification concerning the film appear in the advertisement and that the classification conforms to one of the stickers referred to in Schedule I.

O.C. 743-92, s. 26; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 136.

27. A holder of a distributor’s licence must indicate in the financial report provided for in section 108 of the Act, in addition to the information required by that section, the name and licence number of each holder of a licence for premises where films are exhibited to the public to whom he distributed films during the period covered by the report.

O.C. 743-92, s. 27.

28. For the purpose of attesting to the filing of the video material distribution agreement referred to in section 119 of the Act, a holder of a distributor’s licence must affix an attestation furnished by the Minister to each print of the video material covered by the filing certificate.

O.C. 743-92, s. 28; O.C. 1293-2002, s. 1; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 137.

28.1. Where several films are put together on a single medium or on several media combined in a single package, case, box or similar container, the distributor shall affix the attestation of a certificate issued for each film or the attestation of a certificate that constitutes a compilation of all the films and that bears the classification of the film classified in the most restrictive class.

O.C. 1293-2002, s. 2.

DIVISION IV VIDEO MATERIAL RETAIL DEALER’S LICENCE

1. Conditions for obtaining a licence

29. A person applying for a video material retail dealer’s licence must indicate in his application the address of the video material business for which he is applying for a licence.

O.C. 743-92, s. 29.

30. Where a person applying for a video material retail dealer’s licence is an itinerant merchant within the meaning of section 55 of the Consumer Protection Act (chapter P-40.1), he must include with his application a copy of the permit issued by the Office de la protection du consommateur under paragraph a of section 321 of that Act.

O.C. 743-92, s. 30.

2. Rights and obligations

31. For the protection of youth, a holder of a video material retail dealer’s licence who displays on the premises of his video material business video material classified as “18 and over” and characterized by the director of classification as “sexually explicit” or video material referred to in paragraph 4 of section 86.2 of the Act, must arrange that material as well as the packaging advertising the material in one of the following ways:

(1)  in a separate area delimited by partitions made of a material that prevents anyone from clearly seeing the contents of the display or of the automatic distributor, placed contiguously and at least 1.18 m high; a sign visible at all times must be posted at the entrance to the area and must bear the word “ADULTES” in characters at least 5 cm high by 2.5 cm wide with a thick stroke of at least 5 mm, of a uniform colour contrasting with the background colour of the sign, and of a uniform font;

(2)  on a display or in an automatic distributor in such a manner that only the titles of the films are in public view;

(3)  in a catalogue.

O.C. 743-92, s. 31; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 136.

32. For the protection of youth, a holder of a video material retail dealer’s licence must keep catalogues relating to video material classified as “18 and over” and characterized by the director of classification as “sexually explicit” or to video material referred to in paragraph 4 of section 86.2 of the Act, out of public view or in the area referred to in paragraph 1 of section 31.

O.C. 743-92, s. 32; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 136.

33. For the protection of youth, a holder of a video material retail dealer’s licence must post signs advertising video material classified as “18 and over” and characterized by the director of classification as “sexually explicit” or video material referred to in paragraph 4 of section 86.2 of the Act, out of public view or in the area provided for in paragraph 1 of section 31.

O.C. 743-92, s. 33; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 136.

34. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 34; O.C. 1283-2021, s. 1.

3. Special authorization

35. A holder of a video material retail dealer’s licence who applies for a special authorization under section 122.6 of the Act must send to the Minister, with his application:

(1)  his licence number;

(2)  the title of the original version of the film, the name of the producer, the nationality of the production, the language of the original version or that of the version that he wishes to obtain, the year of production and the running time;

(3)  the name and address of the person from whom he wishes to obtain the film;

(4)  the contract granting him the right to sell, lease, lend or exchange prints of the film.

O.C. 743-92, s. 35; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 137.

36. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 36; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

DIVISION V RENEWAL OF A LICENCE

37. At least 60 days prior to the expiry date of a licence, the Minister shall send the licence holder a notice informing him of that expiry date.

O.C. 743-92, s. 37; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 137.

38. Non-receipt of the notice does not release the licence holder from his obligations.

O.C. 743-92, s. 38.

39. A licence holder who applies to have his licence renewed must send to the Minister, at least 30 days prior to the expiry date of his licence, his application for renewal as well as the duties payable for renewal on the licence, as provided for in the Regulation respecting the fees for examination and duties payable under the Cinema Act (chapter C-18.1, r. 1).

O.C. 743-92, s. 39; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 135.

40. A licence holder who applies to have his licence renewed must notify the Minister of any changes occurring since the date of his initial application for a licence or since the date of his most recent renewal and no longer corresponding to the information furnished or the documents filed. He must attach any document attesting to the changes.

O.C. 743-92, s. 40; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 137.

41. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 41; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

DIVISION VI

(Revoked)

O.C. 743–92, Div. VI; S.Q. 2016, c. 7, s. 133.

42. (Revoked).

O.C. 743-92, s. 42; .

43. (Omitted).

O.C. 743-92, s. 43.

44. (Omitted).

O.C. 743-92, s. 44.

SCHEDULE I

(ss. 18 and 26)

STICKERS

O.C. 743-92, Sch. I.

REFERENCES

O.C. 743-92, 1992 G.O. 2, 2745

O.C. 611-95

O.C. 867-97, 1997 G.O. 2, 3691

O.C. 1293-2002, 2002 G.O. 2, 5844

S.Q. 2010, c. 7, s. 282

S.Q. 2016, c. 7, ss. 132 to 137

O.C. 1283-2021, 2021 G.O. 2, 4521