CRTC to require online streamers to pay 15% of annual revenues to support Canadian content

OTTAWA — The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced on Thursday it will require online streamers to pay 15 per cent of its annual Canadian revenues towards Canadian and Indigenous content.

The decision was made following consultations on how to implement the Online Streaming Act; legislation passed in 2023 that obliges Netflix and other streaming services to financially support Canadian content and promote it on their platforms.

In 2024, the CRTC required online streamers that generate more than $25 million in annual Canadian broadcasting revenues, to pay five per cent of its revenues towards funds that fostered Canadian content.

U.S. tech giants such as Apple, Amazon, Spotify and the Motion Picture Association-Canada, which represents the largest American studios, are challenging the order in Canadian federal court.

A decision is expected soon, with the payments paused in the meantime.

The CTRC said the 15 per cent contribution includes the pre-existing 5 per cent base contribution, the majority of which can be spent on Canadian content productions. Nearly 30 per cent of that expenditure must go towards French content.

The Online Streaming Act has become a major trade irritant for the U.S. In March, Republican lawmaker Lloyd Smucker a bill titled the Protecting American Streaming and Innovation Act, which if passed, could use Section 301 in the 1974 Trade Act to investigate whether Canada’s new broadcasting law discriminates against American companies.

Canada has argued the streaming legislation falls within the cultural exemption laid out in the Canada-United-States-Mexico-Agreement (CUSMA).

As part of Thursday’s decision, the broadcast regulator also decreased the level of financial contributions required from traditional broadcasters, who now only must spend 25 per cent of their annual revenues on Canadian and Indigenous content, down from the current 30-45 per-cent obligation.

The CRTC also laid out a discoverability framework, which lays out expectations for online streamers to ensure Canadian and Indigenous content is visible to an audience.

More to come.

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