Locations & Okanagan ·
Check B.C. Tax-Credit Zones Before Locking the Schedule
When KFS scopes an Okanagan production, the location list has to work as a schedule, not just a lookbook. For eligible live-action productions, exact addresses and the pattern of B.C. principal-photography days can also affect regional and distant location tax-credit calculations. Creative BC's 2026 map gives producers a useful place to check those zones before the schedule is locked.
Start with the official map.
Creative BC launched its tax-credit zone map on March 30, 2026. Enter the exact B.C. address or postal code to check whether a location sits in the designated Vancouver area, a regional area or a distant location.
The map shows Kelowna within the distant-location area, but it is a planning tool rather than an eligibility decision. Check each working address, especially near a boundary, and confirm questions with Creative BC's tax team before the production relies on a bonus in its finance plan.
Count the B.C. days.
For live-action productions under the Production Services Tax Credit, the current basic rate is 36% of accredited qualified B.C. labour expenditure when principal photography starts after December 31, 2024. The regional and distant location bonuses have separate tests and prorations; they are not automatic additions to every B.C. budget.
The regional bonus is 6%, prorated by qualifying principal-photography days outside the designated Vancouver area over total B.C. principal-photography days. A live-action production needs at least five days outside the designated Vancouver area, and those days must be more than half of its B.C. principal-photography days. Episodic productions apply that test and calculation to each episode.
The distant location bonus is a further 6%, prorated by distant-location principal-photography days over total B.C. principal-photography days. The production must first qualify for the regional credit and complete at least one principal-photography day in a distant location. That makes the order and location of the B.C. days part of the planning conversation.
Keep the daily record.
Creative BC's regional and distant location bulletin asks live-action applicants for the address and postal code of every B.C. principal-photography day, supported by final daily production reports. Documentary productions may use a final schedule that records the dates and locations.
A day split between zones can qualify only when principal photography happens substantially in the claimed zone. Creative BC interprets substantially as 90% or more and recommends tracking filming time. Put the zone, postal code and company-move timing beside each day while the schedule is still changing, not after the production wraps.
Confirm the production qualifies.
Tax-credit geography is only one part of eligibility. Advertising, industrial or corporate productions, news, sports events, reality television and other categories can be excluded under the B.C. rules. The production corporation, labour and application also have to meet the program requirements.
KFS can help turn an Okanagan location list into a workable local schedule, but KFS does not certify a production or provide tax advice. Confirm the production type and calculation with Creative BC and the production's tax adviser before putting an expected credit into the locked budget.
Send the location list early.
Start with the script or boards, exact addresses, B.C. principal-photography day count, episode breakdown where relevant, company moves, crew assumptions and any locations still being compared. That is enough to test the regional schedule before the scout and budget begin pulling in different directions.
Use the Creative BC zone map for the official planning check. For the production work around it, review KFS's guide to filming in Kelowna and the Okanagan or send the location and schedule brief before the local days are fixed.
