Best Animation Studios in Toronto (2026)

Introduction

Toronto is one of the main centres for animated series in North America, and the 12 studios below all have an active base in the city in 2026. They range from studios producing hundreds of episodes of preschool television a year to small teams making character spots for brands and sports broadcasters. They were chosen for 2025 and 2026 work, recent recognition and the range of what they can deliver.

Ownership across the local industry shifted a good deal over the past two years. Corus paused all new production at Nelvana in September 2025, keeping the brand for distribution and licensing. Boat Rocker took a majority stake in Industrial Brothers in August 2025, the same month Blue Ant Media completed its purchase of Jam Filled Entertainment, and Scholastic completed its acquisition of 9 Story Media Group, parent of Brown Bag Films, in June 2024. The work kept coming all the same: Brown Bag's Toronto studio animated three Canadian Screen Award winners in May 2026.

Every studio here has an active Toronto office in 2026. The list covers 2D, CG, stop motion and motion design for episodic, film, brands and broadcast; visual effects houses have their own Toronto page. It runs in no fixed order of merit, since the right fit depends on the format, the schedule and the budget.

The best animation studios in Toronto

1. Guru Studio

Founder-led · Downtown · gurustudio.com

Frank Falcone founded Guru Studio in 2000 as a small commercial shop, and he still runs it as president. It grew into one of the city's largest series studios and marked its 25th year in 2025 with a slate of creator-led originals, YouTube shorts and an animated feature film in development. The studio works from Church Street in downtown Toronto.

Guru has animated PAW Patrol for Spin Master for more than ten seasons, and its own series include Justin Time, True and the Rainbow Kingdom, Pikwik Pack and Big Blue, which has since launched on the Roku Channel. It recently wrapped a Charlotte's Web miniseries for Sesame Workshop and HBO Max, and in 2025 it acquired television rights to 25 Where's Spot? titles from Penguin Random House.

2. Brown Bag Films Toronto

9 Story Media Group (Scholastic) · Liberty Village · brownbagfilms.com

Brown Bag Films is the animation studio of 9 Story Media Group, which Scholastic acquired in 2024. 9 Story's Toronto 2D studio took the Brown Bag name in 2017, and it now offers CG and 2D series production from Liberty Village alongside sister studios in Dublin and Bali.

At the Canadian Screen Awards in May 2026, Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood won Best Pre-School Program or Series and Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum won for both direction and writing in animation; the Toronto team animated both. Other Toronto-animated series include Wild Kratts, Rosie's Rules and Let's Go, Bananas!.

3. Industrial Brothers

Majority-owned by Boat Rocker · Corktown · industrialbrothers.com

Industrial Brothers creates and produces its own children's series from King Street East. Boat Rocker Studios raised its minority stake to a majority in August 2025 and renewed its first-look co-production deal with the studio. Co-founder Matthew Fernandes remains chief creative officer, with Tammy Semen as chief operating officer.

Its best-known show, Dino Ranch, won a Kidscreen Award in 2024, and the spinoff Dino Ranch: Island Explorers returned with a new season on CBC in September 2026. Other originals include Kingdom Force, Remy & Boo, Daniel Spellbound and Top Wing.

4. Tendril

The Forever Group · Queen West · tendril.studio

Tendril is a design and animation studio on Lisgar Street with a second office in São Paulo. It formed The Forever Group with the London studio FutureDeluxe in 2023 and is a certified B Corporation. The work sits between motion design, CG and brand identity.

For FX's Alien: Earth, Tendril built the alien gestation sequences from Houdini simulations, and the studio lists a Clio Award for the campaign. Other clients include IBM, Meta, Figure AI, Hublot, Tiffany & Co. and ESPN, and its motion branding for NBA on NBC was Emmy-awarded. Its work page also lists the design system for Questrade's rebrand.

5. Jam Filled Entertainment

Blue Ant Media · Corktown · jamfilled.com

Jam Filled was founded in Ottawa in 2007 and opened its Toronto studio in 2016 by acquiring the assets of Arc Productions. Boat Rocker owned the company until August 2025, when Blue Ant Media completed its purchase. The Toronto studio is on Adelaide Street East.

The studio is a major service partner for US networks and streamers, with credits including The Loud House, Rubble & Crew, Vida the Vet, Wylde Pak, Clone High Season 2 and A Loud House Christmas Movie: Naughty or Nice (2025). Its portfolio also lists Thomas & Friends, Bubble Guppies and Final Space.

6. Pipeline Studios

Independent · Toronto · pipelinestudios.com

Pipeline Studios develops, produces and distributes animated series from its Toronto headquarters, with further studios in Hamilton, Medellín, Santiago and Madrid. It is led by CEO Luis Lopez and president Juan Lopez, and it covers CG, 2D, hybrid and stop motion.

It produces Lyla in the Loop with Mighty Picnic for PBS Kids, which was renewed in May 2026 for a second season due in 2027. Recent work also includes Dora for Paramount+, Work It Out Wombats! and Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie. Partners include Netflix, Nickelodeon, Universal, Mattel and Spin Master.

7. House of Cool

WildBrain · Financial District · houseofcool.com

House of Cool specialises in animated pre-production: storyboards, animatics, story development, visual development and character, environment and prop design. WildBrain completed its acquisition of the studio in July 2023, and it works from York Street.

Recent features include Night of the Zoopocalypse, released in March 2025, and PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, and in June 2026 it announced Little Santa for Apple Original Films. Series credits include Unicorn Academy, Curses!, What If...? and Maya and the Three. It suits productions that need story and design capacity before the main animation vendor starts.

8. Yowza! Animation

Independent, owner-run · Toronto · yowzaanimation.com

Claude Chiasson founded Yowza! in 1996, and Heather Walker, an executive producer there since 2008, bought the studio in 2016. It is one of the few Toronto studios centred on classical and tradigital 2D animation, with 2D/3D hybrid work as well, and it describes itself as Emmy and Annie award-winning.

Its long service record covers features such as The Princess and the Frog and Klaus, and series such as Looney Tunes Cartoons and Animaniacs. Current work includes Carl the Collector, and clients include Warner Bros., Walt Disney Animation Studios, Cartoon Network, Netflix, Nickelodeon and PBS Kids.

9. Polyester Studio

Independent · Kensington Market · polyesterstudio.com

Polyester is a character-led animation and design studio on Augusta Avenue that works for agencies and marketing teams in Canada and abroad. It mixes 3D, cel animation, illustration and motion design, usually built around a recurring brand character.

Recent projects include the 2026 Canadian Census campaign, a run of DoorDash spots and Fidelity's Holiday 2025 film. Earlier clients include Canada Goose, Interac, The Globe and Mail, Mozilla, Target and TIFF.

10. Head Gear Animation

Independent, partner-run · King West · headgearanimation.com

Steve Angel and Julian Grey founded Head Gear in 1997, and they direct alongside Isaac King from a studio on Brant Street. The studio produces 2D, 3D, stop motion, live-action combination and mixed-media work for commercials and television, and it has been recognised at The One Show, AICP, the London International Awards, the ADCC and Annecy.

Recent campaigns include EQ Bank's "Makes Bank" series and WSIB's "Keep Your Bits", and earlier clients include Toyota, American Express, H&R Block, Dove and Indigo. Its Schoolhouse Rock-style segments for CBS's The Good Fight drew wide press coverage.

11. Big Studios

Independent · Toronto · bigstudios.com

Big Studios is a Toronto animation and design studio working in association with Little Blackstone Studios. It has carved out a niche in sports and broadcast animation, and the studio lists ten Emmy Awards and an Oscar shortlisting.

Its 3D explainers for ESPN's Toy Story Funday Football won two Sports Emmys in 2024, and it contributed to ESPN's Monsters Funday Football in December 2025. Other recent work includes Dunk the Halls for Disney and the NBA, NASCAR and Roland Garros packages for TNT Sports and The Masters 2026.

12. Smiley Guy Studios

Independent · Liberty Village · smileyguystudios.com

Smiley Guy Studios was founded in 1998 by graduates of the Canadian Film Centre, including Jeremy Diamond, Adrian Carter and Denny Silverthorne, and works from King Street West. It is one of the best-known Canadian producers of adult animation, and it also makes family content and provides services to other producers.

Its shows include Odd Job Jack, Sons of Butcher, The Dating Guy and Corner Gas Animated, whose 2018 premiere was the highest-rated ever on The Comedy Network. More recently it made Playing with Stu for CBC Kids.

What to look for in a Toronto animation studio

Start with the format. Toronto's studios split into fairly clear groups: large series houses built for 52-episode orders, specialist pre-production and 2D service studios, and smaller teams making brand spots, motion design and broadcast packages. A studio that runs a preschool series on a weekly delivery schedule works very differently from one making a 30-second character spot, so ask for recent examples in your format and at your scale.

Ask who owns the studio and who owns the work. Several Toronto studios changed hands in 2024 and 2025, and many divide their time between their own IP and service work for networks and streamers. Find out how your project fits alongside the studio's originals, who your director and producer will be, and whether production stays in Toronto or is shared with other sites.

Check how the studio fits Canadian content and tax credit plans. Ontario's production and computer animation credits shape a lot of local budgets, and studios that co-produce regularly can explain what counts and how the work should be split.

Finally, agree how scripts, boards, animatics, builds and renders will move between the client and the studio. Animation runs on many review rounds at every stage, and approvals stall when notes on an animatic arrive by email while the latest cut sits in another folder. One place for current versions, with comments tied to each file, keeps a schedule on track.

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Search works by meaning across documents, images and transcribed recordings, so a story note from a recorded review or a line in a script can be found by describing it. Colour search finds frames and designs by shade, and similar search surfaces character or environment designs close in composition, colour and subject to one you select. The canvas works as an infinite board for style frames and moodboards, with embedded Vimeo and YouTube references.

An episode or shots folder can become a kanban board whose cards are the files themselves, which suits tracking work from boards to final. For client and network review, any folder can be published as a web page with password protection, and link analytics shows when each named recipient opened it. Reviewers can leave threaded comments through a shared link without signing up. Timestamped comments and drawing on video and images are coming soon; today, annotations cover PDFs and documents such as scripts and board PDFs.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the best animation studio in Toronto?

It depends on the project. For series, Guru Studio, Brown Bag Films, Industrial Brothers, Jam Filled and Pipeline Studios all delivered major 2025 and 2026 titles, and Brown Bag's Toronto team animated three Canadian Screen Award winners in May 2026. For brand and motion work, Tendril, Polyester Studio, Head Gear Animation and Big Studios are regular agency and broadcaster partners.

What happened to Nelvana?

Corus Entertainment paused all new production at Nelvana in September 2025, after cutting staff and development in 2024, and wound down its remaining projects. Nelvana continues as a distribution, merchandising and library business, so it is left off this list.

Which Toronto studios make animated commercials?

Tendril, Polyester Studio and Head Gear Animation focus mainly on brand work, from CG product films to character-led campaigns, and Big Studios specialises in sports and broadcast packages. Guru Studio also began as a commercial shop and still takes on advertising.

What does an animation pre-production studio do?

A pre-production studio such as House of Cool handles storyboards, animatics, story development and visual development before the main animation begins. Producers often hire one alongside a separate animation vendor, especially on features.

Do Toronto animation studios also handle visual effects?

Some overlap exists, but most live-action shot work goes to specialist VFX houses. For those, see our list of the best VFX studios in Toronto.

Related lists

Animation studios in other cities: New York · Los Angeles · London · Chicago · San Francisco

More in Toronto: Creative agencies · VFX · Post-production · Sound design · Video production · Content studios

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for creative teams · Fabric for motion design teams · Best video review software for creative teams