The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) took a big step in implementing Bill C-11 (a.k.a. The Online Streaming Act) into the domestic broadcasting system on Tuesday (June 4), garnering praise and disappointment from various parts of the sector.

The Commission has ordered eligible online streaming services not affiliated with Canadian broadcasters to contribute 5% of their annual domestic revenues to a variety of funds – including the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) Fund – as of Sept. 1.

The contributions are expected to generate about $200 million per year total for the audiovisual and audio sectors.

The division of the contributions prioritized a number of groups in order to advance policy priorities for the government, including Indigenous communities and other equity-deserving groups, official language minority communities (OLMCs), and more.

The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) called the decision a “watershed moment that was years in the making.”

“This first phase of implementation of the Online Streaming Act is a welcome step forward, which will see online streaming services, including foreign streamers, contribute to the production of Canadian content,” said CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin in a statement. “We were particularly pleased to see explicit support for content from Indigenous and equity-deserving groups emphasized in today’s decision.”

“This decision is a win for Indigenous and Canadian creators, as well as the many domestic and international streaming services that are now formally part of the Canadian  broadcasting ecosystem,” added Valerie Creighton, president and CEO of CMF. “Streamers have often stated that they believe in the importance of investing in our stories and bringing those stories to the world. Today’s decision provides a framework to ensure these investments serve the interests of creators and audiences alike.”

Speaking with Playback Daily, ISO CEO Kerry Swanson says the 0.5% allocation to the ISO (which roughly equates to 10% of the contributions from audiovisual streaming services) is “in line with what we were hoping for.”

“We’re really happy that the CRTC heard us and heard the industry endorsing the success of the ISO, and the importance of supporting Indigenous-made content,” she says.

Swanson says the ISO is still awaiting a decision from the CRTC on how much flexibility the ISO Fund, a newly Certified Independent Production Fund (CIPF), will have in its ability to spend the funds.

The ISO itself has a number of programs that support production and development for various platforms, including TV, film and podcasts, and previously made a $1 million investment in a production studio in Iqaluit, Nunavut to support the growing industry there.

“I think [the contributions are] going to have a transformative impact on the sector, as we’ve already seen with the existing funding that the ISO has dispersed to the community,” she says. “More Indigenous production companies are able to build their capacity so they can take on larger-budget projects, and they have leverage when they’re negotiating with broadcasters and other production companies to retain their intellectual property, so that Indigenous storytelling remains in the hands of Indigenous peoples.”

The Black Screen Office (BSO) Fund is part of the 0.5% contribution for equity-deserving groups. BSO executive director Joan Jenkinson said the Fund “has the power to revolutionize the lives of Black creators and dismantle existing barriers,” adding that the BSO is eager to collaborate with streamers “as a trusted partner who can effectively leverage these funds for transformative change.”

Organizations such as the Director’s Guild of Canada (DGC), the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists and the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) similarly praised the decision for its efforts to level the playing field in Canada’s screen sector.

The decision hasn’t been universally praised, however. Wendy Noss, president of the Motion Picture Association – Canada, said in a statement that it “reinforces a decades-old regulatory approach designed for cable companies.”

“Today’s discriminatory decision will make it harder for global streamers to collaborate directly with Canadian creatives and invest in world-class storytelling made in Canada for audiences here and around the world,” she said. “We hope the next stages of the process will consider the full scope of benefits that global streaming services bring to Canada, modernize the definition of a Canadian program, and lead to a new flexible approach that will deliver more value to Canadian creative workers and consumers.”

A spokesperson for Amazon told Playback that the company is “concerned by the negative impact [the CRTC decision] will have on Canadian consumers,” calling it an “onerous and inflexible financial levy.”

John Lewis, International VP and director of Canadian Affairs at the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), said in a statement that “there is not enough flexibility to allow global streamers to use a portion of their contribution requirement for independent initiatives such as training or mentoring programs for Canadian creative workers.”

Lewis said IATSE was pleased to see diversity addressed, but “puzzled that the Online Streaming Act seems to be spilling over into the jurisdiction of the Online News Act with the requirement that global streamers must now contribute to independent local news.”

He argues that the 1.5% contribution to the Independent Local News Fund (roughly 30% of the audiovisual streamer contributions) will take away funding from film and TV productions that employ Canadian creative workers.

“The IATSE has always taken the position that global studios and streamers should contribute to the Canadian film industry, but the manner in which they contribute needs to be more flexible,
given the ever-changing media landscape,” he continued, adding that as global content spend slows, this could push global producers to direct funds outside of Canada.

While the Writers Guild of Canada also welcomed the decision, assistant executive director Neal McDougall said “there is still more work to do.”

“The government promoted the Online Streaming Act by pointing to approximately $1 billion in expected annual contributions by online broadcasters to Canadian content and creators. Today’s decision begins to fulfill the promise of Bill C-11,” he said. “It is an investment in Canada’s economy, promoting Canadian intellectual property as well as supporting well-paying, unionized jobs for screenwriters in the Canadian audiovisual broadcasting industry. Canadian screenwriters remain uniquely vulnerable in our regulatory system, and we must ensure the benefits of this vital legislation do not pass them by.”

Kevin Desjardins, president of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, said the decision will “begin to rebalance the obligations between all players who benefit from their access to Canadian audiences and advertisers,” adding that “the CRTC must take action to reduce the burden on traditional broadcasters, and act with urgency in having these critical new funds flow as soon as possible.”

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