Schitt’s Creek has proven that Canada is hilarious. It’s time we support our comedians.

If you haven’t yet fallen in love with Schitt’s Creek, the Emmy Awards just gave you nine more reasons to do so. This year it won every single award in the comedy category. A recent CBC article put it in perspective, citing that the show won three more awards than the hit series Friends did in its entire first ten season run. To say that’s an unbelievable feat, is an understatement.

That same article went on to praise the win for how it has helped to …”shine an international spotlight on something many of us here in Canada have known for a long time: we make great television.” The whole thing tied off with a little tongue and cheek self-promotion of all the various CBC television shows that have seen their own moments of glory over the years.

The win also shines a light on perhaps a more formidable proposition: Canada produces extraordinary comedy.

Yet, compared to our film and television industry, comedy never really sees the limelight. Or really the light of day at all.

In fact, the comedy North American landscape is almost exclusively dominated by American contenders. The United States has built a powerful infrastructure around its comedians. Venues, television shows, radio programming all contributing to a powerful development chain. The ROI of which is massive when names like Kevin Hart or Amy Schumer become global exports. In fact, the United Stated is such a dominating market in the world of comedy that Canada’s brightest comics often end up in the US in order to see through their career success. Names like Jim Carrey, Seth Rogan, Mike Myers, Tom Green – the list goes on.

It’s because we don’t have those systems here or the resources to do so.

Not the same way that we do in film and television or in music or even visual arts.

Three facts about Comedy in Canada that you may find shocking:

1. Comedy is not recognized by the Government of Canada as an art form. Unlike music, theatre, dance and the other disciplines that like come to mind (perhaps even some that do not come to mind, such as Circus Performance). Comedy is not recognized and therefore there is no arts funding available to support em)erging comedic talent.

2. The world's leading live comedy brand is Canadian. The Just for Laughs Comedy Festival – the largest international comedy festival in the world – takes place in Montreal, Quebec. Yet the majority of the festival are international performers. In 2019, JFL teamed up with SiriusXM to replace Canada Laughs. Had Canadian comics not spoken out, the new program would have prioritized a similar international make-up to that of its festival, wiping out Canadian revenues.

3. Comics have immense trouble with labor mobility. The Government of Canada refused to include them as professionals under Section 16 of NAFTA. The result is immense costs for touring – one of a comics most vital revenue and career development sources.

Yet Schitt’s Creek proves that comedy is not only alive and well in Canadians, it has the potential to dominate. If the systems were in place to help finance, generate opportunity and grant access, how many Levy, Rogan, Carrey and Williams types might emerge?

Look at what has happened in music.

Music is considered an art form. Not only by arms-length Government granting bodies like Canada Council for the Arts and various Provincial councils, but dedicated funding organizations like FACTOR, Music Action, Radio Starmaker Fund and Fonds Radio Star among others have been established for this support. Music is recognized as an art form but also treated as an economic driver - a diologue that the United States has proven relevant for comedy.

Music has major representational bodies that fight to protect rights, increase labor mobility, secure investment from tech and broadcast markets and grow the industry. The Canadian independent Music Association, the Music Managers Forum, the Canadian Music Publishers Association and more. This is only just starting to happen in comedy with organizations like the Canadian Association of Stand-Up Comedians (CASC) or CANCOM. But for how much hard work these groups are doing, with fantastic people around the table, they are underfunded and in a serious uphill battle in the face of Government negligence. Luckily, Ontario Creates has recently invested in CANCOM to undertake a market study in partnership with Nordicity that may help turn the tides – little steps.

Canadian music now dominates. Drake, Justin Beiber, The Weeknd, Shaw Mendes, Carly Rae Jepsen, deadmau5 – there has been a tidal wave of success in the past decade and we continue to top the Billboard.

For the most part, these are all artists that have benefited from this development chain - directly or indirectly. American corporations have taken interest, Canadian corporations have grown. The Canadian music industry is arguably stronger than it ever has been.

So, I propose that we make Dan Levy the Drake of comedy. Seriously. We can do it.

But while we do that and faun over these incredible actors and the hilarity that ensues, let’s not turn a blind eye to the window of opportunity they’re creating. Let’s also shine some of that limelight on Canadian comedy.