The CRTC’s new TV policy is eliciting mixed reactions from the creative community which, despite its reintroduction of minimum spending requirements, is raising concern that the commission is not doing enough to ensure the visibility of Canadian programming.

The landmark group-based policy requires Canada’s three largest broadcasters – CTVgm, Canwest and Rogers – to spend 30% of their gross revenue on Canadian programming. It also calls on broadcasters to put 5% into ‘programs of national interest’ – drama, comedy and award shows. Spending requirements have been off the books since the controversial 1999 TV policy, and their reintroduction marks a significant win for labor groups including the WGC and ACTRA.

However, broadcasters will be allowed to bounce such programs to specialty channels or other platforms. The CRTC says it’s to ensure they’re ‘available on whatever platform Canadians choose to consume their media,’ but creators worry it will leave shows high on the dial and out of sight.

‘It’s great that broadcasters are being told to spend money on Canadian drama, but they’re not being told they have to air it. Instead they’ve been given free-reign to dump all of their drama on their specialty channels while feeding Canadians a steady diet of made-in-the U.S. programs in prime time,’ warned veteran thesp Nicholas Campbell (Da Vinci’s Inquest, The Border) in a release from ACTRA.

Unions have long decried broadcasters’ spending on U.S. and other foreign programming, which rose 9.2% to $846 million last year, according to recent CRTC data. Also irksome is that the commission will no longer mandate eight hours per week of Canadian content, and is lowering Cancon requirements for English- and French-language television from 60% to 55%.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union says the change will amount to an ‘astounding’ loss of Canadian programming.

The WGC expressed optimism over the minimum spending requirements, but noted ‘it remains to be seen whether the specific requirements for specific services will be enough to ensure that Canadians have a variety of high-quality Canadian shows.’

The new rules come into effect in 2011 following licence renewals, which were originally scheduled for later this year.