Online Streaming Services to Be Required to Support Canadian Content

The CRTC has announced that streamers will have to hand over five percent of their Canadian earnings to boost funding for domestic broadcasting

Photo: Glenn Carstens Peters

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Jun 4, 2024

Online streaming services operating in Canada will now be required to contribute five percent of their Canadian revenue to support the domestic broadcasting system, the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has announced.

Last year, the regulator passed Bill C-11 (the Online Streaming Act), which amended the Broadcasting Act to modernize the framework in the streaming economy — including legislation that would subject US and foreign streamers to subsidize Canadian content, following a 2020 report that streaming services should invest in Canadian programming.

After launching a regulatory plan and consultations following the bill's adoption, the CRTC is now imposing requirements on streaming services that make $25 million more in annual contributions revenues (and are not affiliated with a Canadian broadcaster) to donate five percent of their Canadian earnings to support domestic programming.

The funds these earnings will be supporting include "areas of immediate need, such as local news on radio and television, French-language content, Indigenous content and content created by and for equity-deserving groups, official language minority communities (OLMC) and Canadians of diverse background," as per the briefing.

The regulator estimates that once this condition takes effect in the 2024–2025 broadcasting year — which begins on September 1 — it will provide approximately $200 million annually in new funding.

"Today's decision will help ensure that online streaming services make meaningful contributions to Canadian and Indigenous content," CRTC chief executive and chair Vicky Eatrides said in a statement.

The requirement will affect both audiovisual content services like Netflix and audio content services like Spotify. You can find the specific breakdown of how the five percent of Canadian revenue will be distributed among various funds under each umbrella below.

Audio-Visual:

Two percent to the Canada Media Fund and/or direct expenditures towards certified Canadian content; 1.5 percent to the Independent Local News Fund; 0.5 percent to the Black Screen Office Fund, the Canadian Independent Screen Fund for BPOC creators, and/or the Broadcasting Accessibility Fund; 0.5 percent to the Certified Independent Production Funds supporting OLMC producers and producers from diverse communities; and 0.5 percent to the Indigenous Screen Office Fund.

Audio:

Two percent to FACTOR and Musicaction; 1.5 percent to a new temporary fund supporting local news production by commercial radio stations outside of the designated markets; 0.5 percent to the Canadian Starmaker Fund and Fonds RadioStar; 0.5 percent to the Community Radio Fund of Canada; 0.35 percent to direct expenditures targeting the development of Canadian and Indigenous content and/or a variety of selected funds; and 0.15 percent to the Indigenous Music Office and a new fund to support Indigenous music.

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