The Trudeau government’s controversial Online Streaming Act will be put on hold until late 2025, according to a new regulatory plan released by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
The delay may even outlast the next federal election, slated for Oct. 20, 2025.
The law would force platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Spotify to promote Canadian content as well as contribute financially to the Canadian government.
According to the CRTC, the new regulatory framework will take effect late next year after the agency finalizes how much online streaming services and traditional broadcasters will be required to pay to support the creation of Canadian and Indigenous content.
Being responsible for drafting the regulatory framework of the act, the CRTC is carrying out a series of consultations and public hearings on the details of the bill, which will require an updated definition of what is considered Canadian film, TV and music.
Defining Canadian content has been a grey area for some time and a point of contention between content creators and regulatory bodies.
The CRTC will continue consultations on how best to manage diversity, equity and inclusion via the act after its implementation, from December 2025 to March 2026.
Following those consultations, the CRTC will present rules and governing proceedings to make it easier for platforms and content creators to understand.
Despite the Online Streaming Act receiving stark criticism from YouTube and numerous Canadian digital creators, the bill gained royal assent last April.
Many of Canada’s broadcasters were in favour of the bill, however, complaining that tech giants have held a monopoly over them for years due to having fewer regulations.
“The Online Streaming Act and the Policy Direction are both complex and multi-faceted, and we have announced an ambitious set of public hearings and proceedings to address all of the elements they contain,” CRTC spokesperson Leigh Cameron told the Globe and Mail.
“The CRTC anticipates that by 2026 it will have both had the opportunity to consult widely with Canadians and to have put in place the key elements of the new broadcasting framework.”
The CRTC said it plans to have an updated definition of what Canadian content is by next spring for television and online programming, which will be imperative for deciding what constitutes Canadian music and film for promotion and financial support.
However, online music streaming platform Spotify has urged the CRTC to make this more of a priority, saying it already promotes Canadian music to listeners in Canada and abroad, despite the changing definition.
According to Spotify’s director of global music policy Xenia Manning, defining Canadian content should be considered much earlier on the CRTC’s agenda as confusion remains as to what defines Canadian content.
“With the revised timeline on the implementation of the Act, there is a renewed opportunity for the CRTC to proceed in the right order and prioritize updating the definition of Canadian Content to include all Canadian and Indigenous music, as it was directed by the Trudeau government,” said Manning.
Under the act, podcasts which earn $10 million or more will also be required to register with the CRTC as broadcasters, being subjected to the same regulations as the CBC and other mainstream networks.
