Now in its 12th year, National Canadian Film Day (CanFilmDay) on Wednesday, April 16 is a coast-to-coast-to-coast salute to Canadian cinema. Film exhibitors of all types come together to show Canadian films for free on CanFilmDay.
This year, there will be over 100 CanFilmDay screenings in NICE cinemas across the country. And that’s not all: Many NICE members are expanding CanFilmDay…into CanFilmWEEK.
This is the fourth year of collaboration between the Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors (NICE) and REEL CANADA for CanFilmDay, and it’s never been more important.
“In this time, our stories matter, and our culture matters – more than ever. They show us who we are, who our neighbours are, what we care about. CanFilmDay gives us all the opportunity to celebrate our country, and our shared values – together, with our elbows way up,” said National Canadian Film Day artistic director Sharon Corder.
To celebrate, here’s a sampling of the films Canadians will be able to see on the big screen this April.
Featured image: Promotional image from the Revue Cinema; full image found here.
National Canadian Film Weeks
In Victoria, BC, Cinecenta is partaking in a Canadian Film Week with 11 screenings, featuring a mix of new and retro titles. Their lineup includes Paying For It, Hard Core Logo, Red Rooms and Seven Veils.
In Charlottetown, PEI, City Cinema features an exciting lineup of Canadian films including the work of auteurs like Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter), Denis Villeneuve (Incendies) and David Cronenberg (Crash); genre classics like Fubar and Bon Cop, Bad Cop; and a matinee of Paw Patrol: The Movie!
The Film House at FirstOntario Place in St. Catharines, ON, is hosting Canadian Cinema Week 2025. Their lineup includes The Museum, Shepherds (Bergers), The Grand Seduction, Can I Get A Witness? and Your Tomorrow.
In Grand Forks, BC, The Historic Gem Theatre is running a National Canadian Film Week of four films and a homegrown live performance titled Welcome Guide to Grand Forks. The featured films are Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe, Away From Her and Long Time Running.
In Toronto, ON, the Revue Cinema is hosting Keep It Reel. Keep It Canadian. The series includes a very special screening of Waydowntown on 35mm with cast and crew in attendance on CanFilmDay!
Beyond the day itself, the Revue is also hosting The Players with cast and crew in attendance; Village Keeper; Ginger Snaps presented on 35mm; a 15th anniversary screening of Heartbeats; Starbuck; Montréal Girls; It Feeds with cast and crew in attendance; a new restoration of The Rubber Gun; The Shrouds; The Legacy of Cloudy Falls; the Toronto theatrical premiere of Field Sketches with cast and crew in attendance; and a free members-only screening of Strange Brew.
The Rio Theatre in Vancouver, BC, is celebrating with their Made In Canada film series. They are extending CanFilmDay over two days, with free screenings of Incendies, Universal Language, It Feeds, Jesus of Montreal and Ginger Snaps. The series expands with Strange Brew; 500 Days in the Wild with director Dianne Whelan Q&A; Dead Ringers; Skeet with filmmaker in attendance; Talk About Lonely with filmmakers Charles Wilkinson and Tina Schliessler Q&A; Last Night with Don McKellar and Bruce McDonald Zoom Q&A; Highway 61 in a double bill with Last Night; and The Spoils with historian Dr. Sharon Meen Q&A.
In Vancouver, BC, VIFF Centre is celebrating Canadian Film Week with 18 features, including six Vancouver premieres and four new films from BC filmmakers, most of whom will join for Q&As.
Their titles include Sweet Summer Pow Wow with producer Leslie Bland Q&A; The Decline of the American Empire; Village Keeper; The Barbarian Invasions; Incandescence with filmmakers Q&A; Crocodile Eyes with director Ingrid Veninger Q&A, Universal Language with actor, co-writer and producer Pirouz Nemati Q&A; The Players with writer-director Sarah Galea-Davis and actor Tess Degenstein Q&A, Field Sketches with filmmaker Q&A; Young Werther, Are We Done Now? with filmmaker Q&A; Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story; Seven Veils; Matt and Mara; Who by Fire; Tea Creek with Indigenous food sovereignty activist Jacob Beaton in attendance; Scared Sacred in tribute to producer Tracey Friesen and with Velcrow Ripper and other guests in attendance; and My American Cousin.
Yukon Theatre in Whitehorse, YK, has a stacked Canadian Film Week lineup with 11 screenings through the week. Their titles include Project Grizzly, Night of the Zoopocalypse, 7 Beats Per Minute, Singing Back the Buffalo, The Company of Strangers, The Saddest Music In the World, Strange Brew, and of course: Fubar.
On CanFilmDay, their free screenings include Northlore paired with short film Arctic Song, Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, Universal Language and Seeds paired with short film Fistful of Vodka.
National Canadian Film Day in the cinema
Cinemas across the country are taking part in CanFilmDay. You can find a CanFilmDay screening near you on this website.
In Halifax, NS, Carbon Arc Cinema is partnering with local genre film festival Hellifax Horror Fest to screen Rhymes for Young Ghouls. Mi’kmaq vendors will be in attendance before the film selling artisanal goods, and Indigenous scholars will attend for a post-film conversation. Al Whittle Theatre in Wolfville, NS, will screen Bergers (Shepherds) and Jesus of Montreal.
In Charlottetown, PEI, Tivoli Cinema will screen cult classic Ginger Snaps.
Montréalers have a cornucopia of Canadian film options, with Yintah! at Cinéma Beaubien, Rhymes for Young Ghouls at Cinéma du Parc and Ladies and Gentlemen…Mr. Leonard Cohen at Cinéma du Musée. Cinéma Public in Montréal, QC, is screening Matthew Rankin’s Le vingtième siècle (The Twentieth Century). Cinéma Beaumont in Québec City, QC, is screening Les Affamés (Ravenous).
The ByTowne Cinema in Ottawa, ON, is showing My American Cousin. The Circle Theatre in Alliston, ON, will show Universal Language. The Fox Theatre in Toronto, ON, is playing timeless music doc The Tragically Hip – Long Time Running. The Regent Theatre in Picton, ON, will screen Universal Language. The Westdale in Hamilton, ON, will show Universal Language and a sneak preview of The Players, followed by a Q&A with the film’s director, Sarah Galea-Davis, and stars Eric Johnson and Stefani Kimber.
Reel Attractions in Humboldt, SK, is screening a CanFilmDay double header of Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe along with the premiere of new horror film It Feeds.
In Edmonton, AB, Metro Cinema is screening Seeds and a new restoration of the 1991 film Clearcut. In Hinton, AB, in partnership with the Town of Hinton, Hinton Movies will screen Brotherhood.
In Vancouver, BC, The Cinematheque will screen a Michel Brault double bill of Between Salt And Sweet Water and Les ordres. In West Vancouver, BC, the Kay Meek Arts Centre will screen Universal Language. In Kamloops, BC, the Paramount Theatre will screen Incendies and Ginger Snaps. In Terrace, BC, the Tillicum Twin Theatres is showcasing Island Between Tides, Margaret Atwood: A Word After a Word After a Word Is Power and 1:54, all in double features with Safe Haven by local filmmaker Damien Gillis.
In the Hay River, NWT, Hay River Film Society will show new horror film It Feeds.
