The Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) have agreed to renew the National Commercial Agreement (NCA) for another year.

The NCA is the collective agreement that governs how advertisers and their agencies are to engage with unionized actors for commercial productions. The document, which is currently over 200 pages long, is in need of simplification, according to both the ACA and ACTRA, and well as updates that account for changes in the media landscape. Last year, the parties decided to renew the existing agreement for a year while work on simplification continued, rather than leave actors and the industry working without an agreement.

As it did last year, the one-year renewal provides a pay increase for performers while ACTRA and the ACA continue to work on a modernized and simplified version of the NCA. The agreement also outlines steps for that work, with industry consultations on a draft framework and agreement taking place over the next year. ACTRA has spent the last year working on a draft version of the agreement.

“This agreement ensures that Canada’s advertisers and partner agencies can engage ACTRA members on terms that respect and recognize the value professional performers bring to the industry,” said Marie Kelly, ACTRA’s national executive director and lead negotiator, in a statement.

ACTRA could not provide comment or further detail on the renewed agreement until after it was able to have a meeting with its members.

The renewed agreement still requires ratification from ACTRA’s members and approval from the ACA’s board, which negotiators for both sides are recommending.

ACTRA remains engaged in what it describes as a lockout of its performers by the Institute of Canadian Agencies, which stepped away from negotiations before last year’s NCA renewal.

The ICA has said it wants an “opt-out clause” in the agreement to level the playing field between its members and new agencies that have been able to recognize the NCA as they please through the use of third-party companies as signatories. ACTRA has described this – which would let agencies choose if and when they recognized the agreement – as clear attempt to limit its collective bargaining rights, and insisting on it to the point of causing an impasse in negotiations amounted to bad faith bargaining. This resulted in a complaint being made to the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

ACTRA remains engaged in labour actions targeting ICA member agencies, which have included protests outside of offices and boycotts of their clients. Last month, Cossette was removed from ACTRA’s list of locking out agencies after it signed a letter of continuance.