The Department of Canadian Heritage has issued the federal government’s final policy direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) around the implementation of Bill C-11, a.k.a. the Online Streaming Act, including a directive to examine how it defines audio and audiovisual Canadian programs.

Canadian Heritage issued the policy direction on Tuesday (Nov. 14), which the CRTC is now bound to follow, according to a news release. An initial draft of the policy direction was issued in June for a 45-day public consultation, with more than 500 comments received during that time period.

The finalized version includes a call for the CRTC to “prioritize its examination of how it defines Canadian programs,” adding that a definition should “be multi-faceted” and work with “evolving” policies. It also recognizes the role of independent producers, as well as key creatives, such as actors, writers, directors and showrunners, used by “both Canadian and foreign broadcasting undertakings.”

Similarly, the policy direction also includes a call to “ensure that the broadcasting sector will maximize its use of Canadian creators,” as well as support diverse Canadian programming.

The industry had previously called on the government to ensure its policy direction would help avoid the creation of a “two-tiered system,” thanks to wording in one of the clauses in Bill C-11 that calls for domestic broadcasters to make “maximum use” of creatives, while foreign-owned undertakings are required to “make the greatest practicable use.”

Notably, the policy direction also instructs the CRTC to create a regulatory framework that is “equitable, flexible and adaptable,” taking various business models into account.

The finalized policy direction also includes a number of directives around diversity and inclusion. They include a call for the CRTC to support reconciliation efforts and narrative sovereignty for Indigenous persons in the screen sector; support the funding and discoverability of programs from official language minority communities; create meaningful engagement with Black and other racialized communities, and ensure expenditure requirements support the creation of programming from those communities; and support programming that is accessible to persons with disabilities.

Additional highlights from the policy direction include a directive to look at outcome-focused methods of discoverability for Canadian programs, and to exclude social media creators from its regulation.

“The Online Streaming Act is the result of years of work and collaboration between our government and the cultural sector,” said Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge (pictured) in a statement. “It’s about levelling the playing field and making sure we can share our stories and see ourselves on screens.”

The CRTC is less than one week away from the start of a three-week hearing process to determine how its new regulatory framework under the modernized Broadcasting Act will be implemented. The hearings will begin on Nov. 20, with the Canada Media Fund and the Canadian Media Producers Association among the first organizations scheduled to appear.