Canada’s broadcasting regulator said Tuesday streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney would be required starting in September to contribute five per cent of their Canadian revenues to fund local content.
The Online Streaming Act, passed in 2023, created a legal framework to regulate digital platforms and oblige them to contribute financially to the creation, production and distribution of Canadian content such as TV shows as well as its promotion.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) estimated that the measure — which effectively brings streamers under the same rules as traditional Canadian broadcasters — will provide $200 million per year in new funding for the country’s broadcasting system.
“The funding,” the CRTC said in a statement, “will be directed to areas of immediate need in the Canadian broadcasting system, such as local news on radio and television, French-language content (and) Indigenous content.”
Online streaming services will be permitted some flexibility to direct parts of their contributions to support Canadian television content directly, it added.
The Canadian law is part of a series of recent measures introduced by the government to better regulate web giants.
