CRTC Will Begin Process of Defining ‘Canadian and Indigenous Content’ Under Revised Broadcasting Act Later This Year

The social media page of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on a cellphone in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Canada’s broadcast regulator will begin it’s process later this year of defining “Canadian and Indigenous content” under the new broadcasting-system regulations that will come into effect as a result of Bill C-11, Online Streaming Act, passing into law.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) wrote in its online “Regulatory Plan to modernize Canada’s broadcasting system” on May 30 that it plans to begin holding “preliminary engagement sessions” this fall with media industry stakeholders and creators that it says “will help design the approach for a full public consultation.”

The CRTC then plans to begin holding public consultations this winter and into early 2024 to receive feedback from Canadians about its incoming proposed definitions of Canadian and indigenous content.

The broadcast regulator says the consultations will “review the definition of Canadian content and examine possible changes.”

The CRTC also plans to hold public consultations on a number of other related matters, such as potential “tools to support Canadian music and other audio content.”

The development of the new online broadcasting framework is in response to the Liberal government’s recently passed Online Streaming Act, which amended the federal Broadcasting Act to bring digital streaming giants like Netflix and YouTube under the CRTC’s regulating authority.

The new legislation dictates that these streaming platforms must contribute to new Canadian content standards or face steep penalties.

The CRTC, which supervises and regulates all aspects of Canada’s broadcasting system, is tasked with outlining the new regulations in line with the amended Broadcasting Act.

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is yet to issue his policy directive to the CRTC, which will help inform the new regulations.

Ongoing Consultations

The CRTC says it plans to implement its new online regulatory framework by late 2024. It is currently holding three public consultations to help inform its future policies in that framework.

One of the consultations is collecting feedback from Canadians on the possibility of creating a public registry whereby certain online streaming services would need to be registered in order to operate within the country.

The broadcast regulator is currently proposing that only those streaming services posting over $10 million in annual revenue be required to register.

The CRTC is also accepting feedback from the public until June 27 about “how traditional broadcasters and online streaming services should support the Canadian broadcasting system, including Canadian and Indigenous content.”

The third ongoing consultation is only open until June 12 and is collecting feedback on proposed “basic conditions” that certain online streaming services should be required to meet under the revised Broadcasting Act when doing business in Canada.

Along with holding the three public consultations, the CRTC also announced in May that it is considering implementing certain “requirements or incentives” that it says would help ensure online streaming platforms promote Canadian and indigenous content both in Canada and abroad.

‘Transition Period’

In particular, the broadcast regulator said its proposed new policies outlined in the ongoing consultations are meant to ensure that “online streaming services make meaningful contributions to Canadian and Indigenous content.”

In a consultation notice issued on May 12, the CRTC said one of its proposed policy objectives was making sure that “both Canadian and international online undertakings participate in the support of Canadian and Indigenous audio and video content and have equitable access to those supports when creating this content.”

Yet another proposed objective said the federal government should implement both “incentives and other regulatory measures” in order to better support the “creation and distribution of Canadian content by communities that are currently under-represented in the broadcasting system.”

At the same time, the CRTC said Canadian and indigenous “audio and video content” should be widely distributed on both domestic and international streaming platforms.

As the CRTC holds the consultations, Rodriguez said he anticipates that the new policies stemming from the Online Streaming Act will change Canada’s internet landscape so much over the next 18 months that the government will have to revise CBC’s mandate in response.

As a result, Rodriguez only reappointed CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait to an 18-month second term after she was initially appointed to a five-year term in 2018.

Rodriguez said the “context” of Canada’s online landscape “will be so different” with the passage of the Online Streaming Act, the anticipated passage of Bill C-18, or the Online News Act, and “the modernization of CBC.”

“We’re in a transition period,” he told reporters on June 1. “There will be a very different environment in a year and half.”