Ontario aims to create consistency with movie ratings across Canada

CTV Toronto: People behind the film board Paul Bliss has more details on the organization responsible for watching hundreds of movies to help guide Ontario families.

Ontario is moving toward creating a national standard when it comes to rating movies, CTV News has learned.

A national standard for movie ratings would eliminate varying ratings for movies across each province.

Currently, the Ontario Film Review Board watches over 5,000 films, movie trailers and video games every year and assigns them a rating.

But recent box office hits like “Fifty Shades of Grey” and “Hunger Games” received different ratings in Ontario than Quebec.

For example, “Hunger Games” received a 14A rating in Ontario, which means the movie is not recommended for anyone under the age of 14. In Quebec, it was given a G rating, meaning it is “suitable for all.”

Ontario’s Minister of Consumer Affairs, David Orazietti, says he wants to change the Ontario Film Review Board into the Ontario Film Authority so that it can operate on a national basis.

Orazietti says that making this move would allow “the ability to reach across the country and work with other provinces to establish more consistency.”

The current Ontario rating system rates movies from G, which is suitable for all audiences, to R, which means the film is restricted to anyone under the age of 18.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss