Credit photo Philippe Oursel

The Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE), which represents more than 350,000 creators and nearly 3,000 cultural enterprises in Canada, applauds the publication of a first decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to implement the Online Streaming Act, which was enacted in April 2023.  With this major step in the regulation of online platforms, the CRTC requires online streaming companies to contribute 5% of their revenues to the funding of Canadian and Indigenous music and audiovisual content, and independent local news. In the short term, this decision will inject more than $200 million a year into our ecosystem: a long-awaited breath of fresh air.

“The last two decades of laisser-faire regulation are well and truly over: like the European Union before us, Canada has had the courage to modernize its Broadcasting Act, giving the CRTC the responsibility of implementing regulations designed to protect our cultural sovereignty. The publication of this first decision is a great day for our cultural industries,” declared CDCE co-chair, Bill Skolnik.

“This first CRTC decision will have concrete, short-term effects for our creators and cultural enterprises: at last! The obligation for online platforms to contribute to the funding of Canadian and Aboriginal music, films and programs is an excellent first step, and we look forward to the next steps in the implementation of the Act, including measures to ensure the promotion of Canadian cultural content,” said Marie-Julie Desrochers, Executive Director of the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

The CRTC’s expanded decision includes several elements that will be further analyzed by the Coalition and its members. The cultural community, which has been mobilized for several years around the modernization of the Broadcasting Act, will continue to follow the CRTC’s work closely to ensure that the regulations adequately protect Canadian cultural sovereignty and benefit the diversity of cultural expression.

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