January 23, 2026

My fellow ACTRA Montreal members,  

2025 is now behind us. It wasn’t an easy year for film and TV and by extension it wasn’t a good year for many ACTRA Montreal members. The decline in work opportunities is a global trend in our industry, not due to anything specific that we are or are not doing in Montreal. But we can’t resign ourselves to this situation. We must be proactive to both halt and reverse this decline. 

We must support and encourage more Canadian and English Production in Quebec, and we must celebrate our own – how can we expect others to celebrate us if we don’t uplift each other and proudly give credit where credit is due.  We will be doing that again this year at the ACTRA Awards in Montreal in June.

We must make more of our own stories and we must not be afraid to take up space. Performers are at the heart culture – and ACTRA Montreal members are an important and integral part of Quebec culture. 

Happily, 2026 is off to a much better start than last year. However, there is a lot to do to protect and promote ACTRA Montreal members and I hope you will pitch in when called to do so.  

The threat of AI and it’s impact on work opportunities looms over us all. Especially those working in voice, stunts, and background. 

We cannot rely on legislation eventually saving us. It is too slow and inflexible. We need strong protections now and we need them to change as the technology evolves. The best place to do this is at the bargaining table. But we can only succeed there if you, the members, are behind us. Producers must see that our membership will not back down, will not accept being sidelined by algorithms, and will fight to keep doing the work we love. 

Last year, we made major strides controlling AI: we have gone from no AI language or protections in any of our Collective Agreements to the strongest anywhere in the world, but this challenge is only just beginning. 

We need your strength and resilience. With these, we will not rest, we will not yield, and we will not be replaced. 

We must act. Actors must act. 

Simon Peacock,
President, ACTRA Montreal
speacock@actra.ca