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Canada Stands Firm on CanCon Streaming Regulations Despite Opposition from the U.S.
Trade talks between Canada and the U.S. fell through this weekend (Aug. 22) after the Trump government requested that American streaming services be exempt from CanCon regulations. "We were not prepared to compromise on our sovereignty, the protection of the French language, and our culture," said Prime Minister Mark Carney.
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Canada is standing firm when it comes to CanCon.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) confirmed that it is sticking with its plans to regulate how Canadian content is presented and made available to users on major streaming services, following recent resistance from the United States.
A spokesperson from the CRTC tells the Canadian Press it will move forward to determine exactly how streamers must ensure Canadian content is available and visible to audiences and is still finalizing the dates for the regulatory proceedings.
The ongoing controversy surrounding the Online Streaming Act, which became law in 2023, reached a fever pitch over the weekend after trade talks between Canada and the U.S. fell through, partly due to the Trump administration's last-minute demand for American streaming platforms to be exempt from Canadian content regulations.
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"There were some things we wouldn't do. We were not prepared to compromise Canada’s sovereignty or undermine our key industries," Mark Carney said in an extensive speech following the collapse of the discussions. "We were not prepared to compromise on our sovereignty, the protection of the French language, and our culture. To our American colleagues, let us be clear: for my government and for Canada, these issues were never on the table, even though the United States tried until the very last minute."
It's the latest development in a continuous back-and-forth between the Canadian government, Canadian companies and U.S. streaming companies, which stems from the controversial Online Streaming Act introduced by the Trudeau government in 2023.
In its implementation, the CRTC mandated a 5% tax contribution on all broadcasters making over $25 million, intended to fund the production of Canadian, French language and Indigenous content, which caused major pushback from affected streaming giants like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. Back in May, the CRTC announced plans to triple that contribution to 15% for audiovisual streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV in an attempt to stabilize the $200 million funding rate for Canadian companies,.
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The Canadian government then stepped in and announced a landmark, $600 million yearly investment, which includes covering the $200 million base contribution that would have otherwise been taxed on foreign streaming services.
While Canadian funding and benefit organizations like FACTOR and Musicaction would benefit from this boost in Canadian funds, the announcement was simultaneously criticized by organizations like the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), who described it as a buyout that "lets billionaire streamers off the hook" and "hands a $600 million bill to Canadian taxpayers."
Beyond financial contributions, discoverability has also been a point of contention during discussions between Canada and the U.S. Back in December, Quebec passed Bill 109, the Act to affirm the cultural sovereignty of Québec, which sought to impose quotas on the amount of French-language content presented and promoted on the homepages of foreign streaming platforms like Netflix and Prime Video. Like with the CRTC, these platforms voiced their displeasure, asking the National Assembly to forego the quotas.
Carney stood up for the language's preservation over the weekend, after Trump and his representatives directly denied that the French language was a factor within their talks. "I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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“We were close to reaching a comprehensive agreement with the U.S., but they made changes, including threats on French language and culture and Canadian culture that would never be acceptable for that reason,” Carney said.
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