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BILLBOARD CANADA FYI
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FYI
The Issues That Will Define The Canadian Music Industry in 2026
From ongoing debates around the Online Streaming Act to label layoffs to the continual threat of A.I., these stories will continue to shape policy into the new year.
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As the music industry returns from the holiday breaks and out-of-office replies expire, a number of issues continue to loom.
With the calendar turning over to 2026, it's time to look at some of the political, legislative, financial and creative issues that continue to affect music in Canada. Many reflect broader conversations that have been hotly debated for the last few years, but continue to intensify with changing pressures and political situations, both north and south of the border.
Here is what we're following into 2026.
Ongoing Debates Around The Online Streaming Act and 'Streaming Tax'
Back in 2023, Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, updated the country’s laws around broadcasting for the first time since 1991. The hotly debated bill passed in the Senate, received royal assent and became law in April 2023.
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On June 4, 2024, the CRTC announced streaming platforms that are not affiliated with a Canadian broadcaster and make at least $25 million a year will have to pay 5% of their annual Canadian revenues in order to contribute to Canadian Content. The estimated $200 million in funding each year will support the creation of Canadian film, TV, music and local news, and will be also directed toward the creation of Indigenous content, French language film, TV and music and productions by Black filmmakers and other Canadians from diverse backgrounds.
Platforms affected would include big music streamers like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, as well as TV and film services like Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime. These foreign streaming platforms have launched legal challenges to avoid paying those fees, arguing they are already contributing to Canadian Content.
One Canadian music trade organization that opposes the Online Streaming Act is Music Canada, which advocates for the major labels in Canada. Earlier in 2025, it sought to intervene in the legal challenge of the CRTC's 2024 decision that major streaming services must pay into Canadian content funds as part of the implementation of the Online Streaming Act.
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The Online Streaming Act remains a very hot political potato, with intense U.S. government and entertainment industry pressure being placed upon the Canadian government to dismantle the act. Canadian industry leaders are now warning that an increasing number of Canadian TV and radio stations could close if the act becomes a casualty of the trade war with the United States. Canadian Press reports that Kevin Desjardins, president of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, said if the act is shelved as a result of American pressure, it would prove a "'crushing blow' to Canada’s cultural sector."
As the year comes to a close, bipartisan members of Washington’s House ways and means committee, led by Republican Lloyd Smucker and Democrat Linda Sánchez, wrote to Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Kristen Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., calling on Ottawa to rescind the act. “While we are strong supporters of the bilateral relationship with Canada, discriminatory policies, like the online streaming act, undermine the value of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” the letter said.
It is now rumoured that this contentious topic will be a key part of upcoming United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations between the Canadian and U.S. governments in 2026. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has demonstrated a willingness to backtrack on such issues, something that has caused concern to Canadian trade groups and cultural sovereigntists. Back in June 2025, he axed Canada’s Digital Services Tax, one targeting U.S. technology firms, seemingly in the face of American pressure and just one day before the first payment was due.
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In the CP feature, Desjardins accused foreign streamers of “attempting to use the trade negotiations as a hammer to maintain the status quo and remain completely unregulated and able to continue to generate billions of dollars out of Canada without having to support the Canadian media system.”
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These debates will no doubt continue well into 2026 and could have major ramifications in the Canadian music industry.
A Push to Foster Indigenous Music and Broadcasting in Canada
Another Canadian music organization lending support to the retention of the Online Streaming Act is The Indigenous Music Office. In Nov. 2025, it released a report outlining how stronger policy and industry support could increase the global reach of Indigenous music across Canada.
The study also sheds light on the challenges affecting Indigenous artists and music companies accessing international markets. Pathways to International Markets: A Strategy to Increase Export Capacity for Indigenous Music is the music organization’s first major research project, and it establishes four key strategic directions that identify the roles that funders, music industry organizations and partners play in increasing financing, professional development and discoverability for Indigenous artists and industry professionals.
In the study, the IMO highlights that export activities generate significant career development opportunities for Indigenous music artists. However, most funds available to the Canadian music industry lack a strategic focus on assisting the development and export of Indigenous music.
“A strategy to increase the export capacity of the Indigenous music sector is timely as demand for Indigenous music is growing in Canada and around the world,” the report reads.
This includes financing the growth of a domestic Indigenous-owned and led music ecosystem, strengthening export readiness of Indigenous artists, prioritizing international showcasing, touring and networking and promoting discoverability of Indigenous music on streaming and broadcasting platforms. Ontario Creates, Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia are all funding partners of IMO's study.
In addition to working closely with the CRTC on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, the IMO has assisted in the development of the commission’s new Indigenous Broadcasting Policy, in partnership with First Nations, Métis and Inuit broadcasters, along with Indigenous content creators and audiences.
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In its revised Commercial Radio Policy, the CRTC has laid out an expectation that commercial radio broadcasters include Indigenous music in their playlists, without setting quotas.
Quebec Streaming Quotas and Regulations
While the Online Streaming Act also affects the music, broadcasting and cultural industries in Quebec, that province's unique situation has also brought its own responses to the challenges posed by streaming.
A recent Billboard Canada feature story explored the debate over Québec’s proposed Bill 109, legislation that would require digital platforms to prioritize French-language cultural content. The story notes that "escalating debate has widened the divide between the streaming industry and the cultural sector, as fresh consumer data adds a critical layer to the conversation."
A new survey, commissioned by The Digital Media Association (DiMA), which represents platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, found that 66% of Québecers believe the government should not influence the music available on streaming services, while 76% say they would oppose the bill if it resulted in higher subscription prices.
Québec’s National Assembly introduced the bill on May 21, 2025, via Culture and Communications Minister Mathieu Lacombe. The bill, formally titled An Act to affirm the cultural sovereignty of Québec, aims to strengthen the visibility of francophone cultural content on digital platforms and would impose new obligations on major global streaming services and connected-device manufacturers. Services like Spotify have countered by highlighting the growth of francophone music on their platforms.
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Québec cultural organizations and industry representatives, including ADISQ, ARRQ (the Quebec Directors’ Guild), GMMQ (the Quebec Musicians’ Guild), SARTEC (the Quebec Society of Radio, Television and Film Authors) and UDA (the Quebec performers’ union) have pushed back against claims that Bill 109 would limit consumer choice, instead framing the proposed legislation as a necessary tool to support French-language culture in an increasingly globalized digital environment.
While major cultural institutions have largely rallied behind Bill 109, some artists working across Québec’s hip-hop, electronic, anglophone, Afro-diasporic and Latin scenes argue the legislation fails to reflect how audiences discover and consume music today. They argue that the bill is incomplete if it does not reflect Québec’s multilingual creative reality, one that goes beyond the French and English binary.
Canadian Record Label Layoffs
In early December, Billboard Canada reported that Warner Music Canada laid off at least 24 employees in Nov. 2025, a significant percentage of the major label's staff. The cuts came amidst global restructuring and layoffs at Warner Music Group.
The layoffs reportedly included positions in business, catalogue, design and video production, publicity, sales and more, including significant reductions in A&R and marketing. Cuts in those latter departments have raised concerns about Warner Music Canada's commitment to maintaining a large and active roster of domestic artists.
In Sept. 2025, former WMC president Kristen Burke departed the company, with New York City-based president of East West Records and head of global A&R at Warner Music Group Eric Wong stepping in to lead business in Canada. In mid-Dec., Wong was named EVP of Recorded Music by Warner Music Group, and the New York-based executive will continue to serve as president of Warner Music Canada and East West Records U.S., and oversee flagship global marketing campaigns and lead global A&R efforts. In November, Julia Hummel and Madelaine Napoleone were named new Warner Music Canada co-general managers, reporting to Wong.
Significant staffing cuts at major record labels in Canada and internationally have been recurring in recent years, a trend expected to continue in 2026. In Feb. 2024, Universal Music Group announced a “strategic organizational redesign,” including job cuts, to generate U.S. $270 million in savings globally by 2026.
As global companies continue to consolidate, could there be more cuts coming across the Canadian music industry?
The AI Question
The explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is already having a major impact on the music industry, forcing artists, music companies and trade organizations to rapidly assess and address both the opportunities and dangers AI presents.
The three major North American performing rights societies (PROs), SOCAN (Canada) and ASCAP and BMI (U.S.), have responded rapidly. In October, they announced they have each adopted policies to accept registrations of musical compositions partially generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. These works can now be registered directly with the individual societies. All three policies define a partially AI-generated musical work as "one that combines elements of AI-generated musical content with elements of human authorship" and does not include musical compositions that are created entirely with AI.
Similar conversations are happening across the music industry. The song "I Run" by electronic duo HAVEN. is charting on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 currently, and has become a case study for questions around AI-generated music. The track, which was created using AI-manipulated vocals through the controversial music platform Suno, has been accused of faking vocals by R&B singer Jorja Smith. Due to legal disputes, the song was initially withheld from the Billboard charts before a rerecorded version with singer Kaitlin Aragon, who was discovered by the duo’s team after posting a TikTok cover, was rereleased. This is the version currently charting on the Canadian Hot 100.
Meanwhile, industry stakeholders are speaking up about AI before the Canadian House of Commons.
"Nearly every song ever written by a Canadian songwriter has already been scraped and stolen by these AI companies without consent, credit or compensation," Music Publishers Canada (MPC) CEO Margaret McGuffin told Billboard Canada after speaking in Ottawa. "This is an important issue for creators and businesses in the creative industries and it is wonderful that the Heritage Committee is listening."
TikTok Canada's Uncertain Future
Could 2026 be the last year for TikTok in Canada? The company is seeking to talk to Canadian government officials, who ordered the app to wind down operations in Canada back in 2024.
Back in Aug. 2025, a Canadian Press story reported that TikTok was preparing to comply with a federal order to shut down its operations in Canada. The company removed its sponsorships of such arts institutions as the Toronto International Film Festival and the Juno Awards. Many Canadian artists who have benefited from TikTok exposure have expressed support for the platform.
TikTok has had a major impact on the music industry in Canada and internationally in recent years, but the company's future in Canada has been under a cloud for two years now. In early 2024, the U.S. passed a bill to ban TikTok if Chinese company ByteDance didn't sell, and, also in 2024, the Canadian federal government ordered the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business following a national security review of ByteDance.
Canada launched its inquiry in Feb. 2023 into whether TikTok is a national security concern. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and privacy regulators in Quebec, B.C. and Alberta examined whether the organization’s practices are in compliance with Canadian privacy legislation and in particular, whether valid and meaningful consent is being obtained for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.
A report was not released until Sept. 2025, and Canadian Press noted that "TikTok’s efforts to keep children off the platform and prevent the collection and use of their sensitive personal information were termed 'inadequate' but the company is taking steps to address concerns, federal and provincial privacy authorities said... While the platform isn’t meant for kids under 13, they found hundreds of thousands of Canadian children use TikTok each year and the company collects and uses their personal information.
TikTok has also faced criticism from Canadian music trade orgs. In May 2025, CIMA (The Canadian Independent Music Association) welcomed the just-appointed Steven Guilbeault as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture (a role he has since resigned), and one of the issues CIMA brought to his attention was TikTok’s withdrawal from global licensing negotiations with Merlin, a key advocate for independent music.
Rapid Turnover at Ministry of Canadian Identity and Culture
A political issue that has had a real impact on the Canadian music industry in recent years has been the extremely rapid turnover of federal Liberal MPs who have served as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture (formerly Minister of Heritage).
Mélanie Joly served as Heritage Minister from 2015-2018, but since her departure, a revolving door situation has been the norm. Those occupying that role have been Pablo Rodriguez, 2018-2019, Steven Guilbeault, 2019-2021, Rodriguez again, 2021-2023, Pascale St-Onge, 2023-2025, Guilbeault for just a few months in 2025 and now, as of Dec. 1, 2025, Marc Miller is serving as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture.
The latest change as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture came on Nov. 27, 2025, when Steven Guilbeault resigned from the Mark Carney-led cabinet to protest PM Carney's controversial energy deal with Alberta. Guilbeault was also Minister Responsible for Official Languages and Minister of Nature and Parks Canada, as well as Carney's Lieutenant in Quebec.
In his first stint as Minister, Guilbeault made headlines by introducing the Online Streaming Act, which became law under his successor, Rodriguez, along with the Online News Act. Guilbeault was brought back to the ministry (now called Canadian Identity and Culture) after this spring’s federal election, in May 2025.
His previous stint in the heritage portfolio was well-received by the music industry. In 2021, he gave the keynote address at Canadian Music Week (CMW). Introducing him there, then-Music Canada COO/Connect Music Licensing president Jackie Dean termed Guilbeault “a champion for our community and a steadfast source of support for the industry.”
The seemingly constant changes in Culture ministers are of concern to many in the Canadian music industry, as the Ministry of Canadian Identity and Culture has a direct impact on the Canadian music industry. It administers the recently-renewed Canada Music Fund, which supports both FACTOR and Musicaction. These granting bodies provide artists, labels and other organizations with funding for a wide range of activities, including recording, touring, marketing and music video production.
The changing of the guard also comes at a time when the Culture and Identity portfolio is facing significant challenges. Canadian Press notes that "Under the Trudeau government, the Heritage ministry was focused in large part on taking on U.S. tech giants with legislation to compel them to make financial contributions to Canadian content and news. The ministry’s mandate was less clear as Carney’s government moved away from tech regulation." The U.S. has placed heavy pressure on the Canadian government to erase both the Online Streaming Act and Online News Act.
The subsequent political fortunes of some of the recent Culture ministers have not been happy. Following Guilbeault's slide down the Liberal ranks, in mid-Dec. 2025, Pablo Rodriguez announced his resignation as leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. This came after a six-month tenure marked by internal discord and allegations of vote-buying by party members during his leadership race. Rodriguez has denied any wrongdoing.
Additional reporting by Richard Trapunski.
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