Carney Won’t Bring Back Canada’s Tech Tax or Streaming Fees

Prime Minister Mark Carney is standing by two major concessions Canada made during trade negotiations with the United States, even though the talks ultimately failed to produce an agreement.

Ottawa has no plans to revive its digital services tax on major tech companies or reverse its decision to eliminate the CRTC’s contribution requirement for streamers under the Online Streaming Act.

The digital services tax would have imposed a 3% levy on revenue generated from Canadian users by some of the world’s largest technology companies, including Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb.

Carney scrapped the tax in June 2025, just before the first payment came due, after U.S. President Donald Trump called it a “blatant attack” and cut off trade talks.

Ottawa followed with another concession this June, announcing plans to eliminate the CRTC’s financial contribution requirement for large streaming services. The government hasn’t officially started that process, however, and the original CRTC order remains tied up in court after streamers challenged it.

The issue returned to the House of Commons on Monday when Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet asked Carney whether he would reconsider the two decisions, according to The Canadian Press. Blanchet argued the concessions had failed to secure progress with Washington. “No,” Carney replied.

Blanchet argued in French that major tech companies, some with revenues larger than those of entire countries, should be required to contribute to arts and culture.

Carney instead pointed to another source of friction with Washington. He said last month that the U.S. had pressured Canada to weaken rules governing how Canadian content is discovered online, which he said would have affected Canada’s ability to protect its culture, including the French language. He cited those demands as one reason his government ended negotiations in August.

The discoverability rules are enabled by the Online Streaming Act but aren’t yet in place. The CRTC had previously said large streaming services such as Netflix would be required to contribute 15% of their Canadian revenues toward supporting Canadian content.

For companies such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, Ottawa’s position means the push for new federal financial contributions is moving in the opposite direction. It could also signal a win for consumers, as any tax paid by streaming giants would likely be passed onto consumers.