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Damaged vehicles are seen on the Power Rangers movie set in Steveston Village in Richmond, B.C., on Monday May 2, 2016..DARRYL DYCK/The Globe and Mail

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is raising concerns about the provincial government's plan to trim tax credits for B.C.'s booming film and TV production sector – making him the highest-profile critic yet of the cost-cutting measures.

Mr. Robertson's thumbs-down review comes after a year that saw Vancouver host production of such feature films as Deadpool and this summer's Star Trek Beyond television series. The city has also hosted the production of 309 episodes of various TV shows last year, including seven Warner Bros series such as Arrow and The Flash. Production has been up 40 per cent in 2015 over the previous year.

"It's not ideal to see changes being made to a growing sector that is providing good-paying jobs for B.C. residents," Mr. Robertson said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Earlier this week, Finance Minister Mike de Jong announced a plan to cut the basic production-services tax credit by five percentage points – to 28 per cent, from 33 per cent. The credit compensates producers for B.C. labour costs. At the same time, the digital animation or visual-effects tax credit will be cut to 16 per cent, from 17 per cent.

Mr. de Jong had previously complained about the increasing cost of the tax credit and said he was reviewing the issue. An increasing number of mostly Hollywood productions drove the cost of the tax credits to nearly half a billion dollars in the last fiscal year.

Mr. de Jong has defended his plan by insisting the government worked closely with industry to come up with its approach, and some industry figures have praised the government for its consultations.

However, Mr. Robertson remains concerned, describing film and TV production as "an important part" of Vancouver's creative industries.

"The city will closely monitor the impacts of the tax-credit changes and continue to support the sector as one of Vancouver's high-growth industries."

Earlier this year, the city issued an overview on the impact of production. Among other points, it said that the city earned $710,000 in revenue for film and street-use permits, and that film permits in January of ths year were up 30 per cent from the previous year.

In 2015, there were 10 additional feature films shot in Vancouver compared with the year the year before. Deadpool alone was estimated to create jobs for 2,000 cast and crew, who together earned $19-million in wages.

The CEO of the Vancouver Economic Commission, an agency of the city that seeks to attract investment to Vancouver and make policy recommendations on the economy, said the impact of the tax changes will be hard to predict.

However, Ian McKay noted in a statement that the city lost thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in investment in video-game development, as well as film and TV production, when companies left Vancouver for jurisdictions offering better incentives around 2008.

Still, he said that Vancouver has a "very competitive ecosystem" that can compete for production on more than just tax incentives.

Industry representatives have cited the province's trained crews, its varied locations and a good stock of soundstages ready to host productions.

Ms. McKay said he hoped the province will show some "flexibility" in adjusting policy to react to changing circumstances for the industry.

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