Becoming a member of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television Radio Artists is a significant 
commitment undertaken by performers working in this industry. It is not a matter to be taken lightly 
and while it demands a good deal of responsibility, joining the ACTRA community can be extremely 
rewarding. By taking this step in your career, you are joining the nearly 21,000 other professional 
performers across Canada who believe that working together is the best way to assure that producers
treat performers with respect and provide them with fair and equitable wages and working conditions.
 
Regardless of whether you are earning your first credit as an Apprentice Member, becoming a Full 
Member or joining as an ACTRA Extra, it is important to recognize that being a member - any 
member - of ACTRA, requires a level of professionalism and dedication to your fellow members 
and this organization.
 
ACTRA is a Union
Like many other unions, we:
· Negotiate collective agreements with management (in our case, producers). Like other unions, our 
collective agreements define working conditions (length of day, meal times, etc.). Unlike other unions,
our agreements define minimum rates, not fixed rates. Performers and their agents can negotiate 
higher rates than our established minimums.
 
· Enforce collective agreements. Every production has an ACTRA Steward assigned to it who makes 
sure you are paid accurately and that our working conditions are respected.
 
· Provide services to members.
 
While ACTRA is a union, we are unlike many other traditional unions in four significant ways:
· Canadian performers are not employees, but freelancers. In Canada, performers are independent 
contractors, not employees (unlike in the U.S., where performers are employees). And Canadian 
performers' professional relationships with producers are not the same as the traditional employer-
employee relationship. Canada's professional artists have their own legislation and regulations, known 
as Status of the Artist legislation.
· Our members compete every day with each other. A performer's work differs substantially from the
stability and routine of most occupations. Performers compete with friends and colleagues for work 
every day. 
· We have no guarantee of continued employment beyond a single job. We are subject to the vagaries
, trends and whims of the industry. 
 
· There are few regular places of employment. Union work typically takes place at a fixed physical 
place, like manufacturing plants, stores or offices, where many workers are employed. Performers' 
workplaces are constantly moving. In the event that Canadian performers must undertake labour action
, each individual performer must make the choice to put the needs of the group first and 
refuse to audition or to take non-ACTRA work until the dispute is resolved. Given this most
 unconventional style of working, it is no small achievement that performers have agreed
to stand together to improve our collective and individual futures.
 
Unions ARE its membership
ACTRA is run by its members. You define the organization. What that means is, from now on, do not 
think of ACTRA as an outside organization that defines your working conditions and wages. You can
 participate in making decisions within ACTRA.

Advantages & Responsibilities of being a member

Becoming an Apprentice member and the Permit System

Becoming a Full member

Becoming an ACTRA Extra