If you are taking your kids to a movie, do you usually check to see how the movie is rated and if there are any advisories? I sometimes take my niece or teen cousin to the movies and until I started working at Consumer Protection BC, I didn’t really understand what each rating meant. In this blog, I’ll show you how you can make an informed decision about a movie so that your whole party will enjoy the experience.
Before we get started, let me explain that while I use the word “rating”, the official term is “classification” and I will use these terms interchangeably.
Step 1.
First of all, before you decide which movie to see, visit our ratings and advisories page on our motion picture website and understand what the ratings mean. In BC, all motion pictures are reviewed and classified by Consumer Protection BC, following the Motion Picture Act. Under the act, there are six unique classification categories used for film classification in BC. (Note that each province classifies their own movies and that the classification categories are different in Canada than in the United States.)
Step 2.
Use the classification search function on our website. You can simply type in the title of the movie and you’ll find out what the rating is in BC. The great part of this search function is that it will also give you the advisory attached to the movie.
For example, our search function can tell you that, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” was classified PG and includes:
- Several scenes of violence depicting fighting, burning and explosion
- Several frightening scenes.
This can be very helpful information, especially if you are going to watch the movie with little kids.
Step 3.
You can buy your movie tickets online or go directly to the theatre…and there’s always popcorn. Enjoy the movie!
ADDITIONAL READING:
Curious about video game ratings?
Adult accompaniment – it’s the law
Hi Julie, that’s a great question! PG-13 is a type of classification from the US that does not exist in Canada. In Canada, each province has its own classification system (in BC, Consumer Protection BC classifies general release motion pictures).
The categories don’t include PG-13. Why?
Because PG-13 only exists in the United States
no we have PG-13 in Canada
Hi Tanya, thanks for your comment. Aaron is correct. Here in BC (and all of Canada I believe) there is no PG-13. While you may see PG-13 advertised in movie trailers on TV or YouTube, it is part of the American rating system, not Canada’s. Hope this offers some clarity!
The B grade movie The Little Hours is described as a subversive comedy with no apologies for the graphic sexual content. This is fine for those who are looking for legal porn. Sadly, this movie takes on the Catholic Church and portrays religious persons as depraved sexual deviants. This is an horrific affront to the millions of catholics world wide. Is nothing safe from sacrilegious renditions? Surely, a society that does not learn from history is doomed to repeat it….I’m thinking of the collapse of Rome when it was the center of the known universe at its height. If this type of ‘entertainment’ becomes the legal norm, then this society, too, must collapse. Please work towards a decent, healthy society by doing your part to rate and preferably even prevent the distribution of pornography!!
Hi Pat, thank you for taking the time to reach out to us. We are mandated by the Motion Picture Act to classify movies that are publicly exhibited in BC. We make decisions based on the Act’s Regulations which define the categories. The Little Hours has not been submitted to us for classification. We really value any consumers that take the time to share their thoughts, so thank you, again, for sharing yours.
What does 14A mean in rating?
Hi Staci, thanks for your question – information about ratings is available here on our website. 14A (the A stands for accompaniment) means the film may contain violence, coarse language or sexually suggestive scenes, or any combination of them. It is suitable for viewers 14 years of age or older. Viewers under 14 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. I hope this is helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions.
What if I’m 13 turning 14 in the year the movie came out in theatre like say a movie came out in January and my birthdays in February wanting to see a 14A movie?
Hi Teya, thank you for your question. It’s our understanding that it’s not about the birth year but it’s about the birthdate. I hope this clears things up for you.
This means 14 years old or over
Hi Nileta, thanks for your comment. Like you said, 14A films are suitable for viewers 14 years of age or older. However, viewers under 14 years of age can attend the movie, but they must be accompanied by an adult. The ‘A’ stands for accompaniment 🙂 I hope this is helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
Hey so what does Ao Mean? Cause I know it’s a rating but I could find one for my Mom
Hi Dark, thanks for your question. The full list of what our ratings mean can be found here. I’m not too sure about the ratings you reference, as they may be ratings from other countries. If you would like to know about the rating for a specific movie in BC, you can do a search here. I hope this helps!
What does Ec mean cause I wanna put one on For My Little Brother
Is there anyway to find out specifically what the ratings mean? i.e: the difference between violence, graphic violence and horror? The descriptions are very general and ambiguous.
My daughter just saw bad boys (14A), seems almost the same as bad boys 2 (R)…
Seems like there’s alot of content and mature themes that 14 year olds maybe shouldn’t be watching…
Hi Adam, thank you for your question. I’m not sure if you’ve checked out our page that has rating details (click here to visit the page) but 14A is defined as:
May contain violence, coarse language or sexually suggestive scenes, or any combination of them. Suitable for viewers 14 years of age or older. Viewers under 14 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.
For each movie that we classify, you can go to our “find a rating page” and get more details. For example, you can check out Bad Boys (14A) here and BAD BOYS II (18A) here. If you have further questions, please feel free to reach out to our classification team through our contact page!
I am very new to the Canadian ratings and I find them very interesting and something I would side with when it comes to ratings. Has there been incidents where idiotic parents took their little children to see 14A or 18A films?
Hello there, thank you for contacting us. We have some data published about inquiries when it comes to the motion picture industry on our website. For example, in 2022 there were 20 inquiries about the industry and the top 3 topics were licence inquiry, return/refund and general questions. So it is possible that we heard from consumers about the rating system (included in the general questions category) but the topics could vary. If you are interested in looking at this industry overview document, you can review it on our website here.
What Is The Movie The Legend Of The Five Rated Or How Can You Figure Iut What A Youtube Movie Is Rated?
Hi Elise, thank you for contacting us. I did a quick ratings search on our website (you can access the page here) but I did not find any results for The Legend of the Five. This means that the movie wasn’t released for exhibition in BC. For any other movies you find on YouTube, you may or may not find classifications on our website as we only classify movies that are exhibited in BC.
What is 18A mean
Hi! 18A means 18 Accompaniment. The movie will contain horror, explicit violence, frequent coarse language or scenes that are more sexually suggestive than in the 14A category, or any combination of them. Suitable for viewers 18 years of age or older. Viewers under 18 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. Here’s a link to the ratings page for all the details: https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/motion-picture-ratings/what-ratings-mean/