The federal government is preparing to tell Canada’s broadcasting regulator to drop its rules requiring foreign streaming services to help fund local news and niche broadcasters, according to two senior government sources who spoke to the Globe and Mail.
The sources say the Liberal government is lining up moves that would push the CRTC to walk back key parts of how it’s been rolling out the Online Streaming Act. That law, which passed in 2023, makes foreign streamers pay into Canada’s cultural industries the same way traditional broadcasters have for years.
The problem is it’s become a sore spot with the Trump administration because it essentially targets American companies like Netflix and Amazon, and the feds are signalling they’re willing to ease up.
Last week the government told the regulator to review its recent decision to triple the share of Canadian revenue streamers have to contribute, bumping it to 15 percent. The two sources then told the Globe that Ottawa is now getting ready to ask the CRTC to scrap its original 2024 ruling entirely, the one that set a 5 percent base contribution including money for local news.
The government will also issue a policy direction letting foreign streamers off the hook for a new fund for niche broadcasters like CPAC, APTN, and TV5/Unis.
According to the sources, Ottawa plans to work out “a more reasonable rate” with streamers, but the local news and niche broadcaster requirements won’t be part of it.
Not everyone is happy, as expected. Kyle Irving, chair of the Canadian Media Producers Association, said, “We are concerned that the federal government has sold out Canadian culture in favour of big U.S. tech interests.”
Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller said last week Ottawa would put in $600 million to support the sector. His spokesperson Hermine Landry said Sunday to the Globe, “We will not back down from protecting and strengthening the Canadian cultural sector at a time when it needs it most.”
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