A new white paper commissioned by Rocket Fund Canada (formerly Shaw Rocket Fund) is calling for Canada to put the rights of children and youth at the centre of how kids’ media is created, funded and governed, while also urging action to address the current crisis facing the industry.
The white paper, Project Sunbeam: Kids’ Rights in Canadian Media, calls for a “Team Canada approach” to building a stronger future for Canadian children’s media. According to the report, 85 per cent of both Anglophone and Francophone industry members feel the sector is in crisis or declining. Eighty per cent of Francophones described financial challenges they are experiencing as a cultural emergency requiring immediate government intervention.
“Children and youth have rights that Canada has committed to, and we are not living up to those expectations. There is an urgency to act now,” Agnes Augustin, president and CEO of Rocket Fund Canada, said in a press release last week. “Eleven independent Canadian children’s channels have closed. Funding for kids’ content keeps falling. As kids move online, safety concerns grow while Canadian and Indigenous stories disappear. And we still don’t fully understand who Gen Alpha are, or who Gen Beta will be.”
Rocket Fund Canada — the only certified independent production fund (CIPF) dedicated to investing in Canadian and indigenous children’s and youth content — noted in its press release Canada’s children and youth are increasingly consuming media across streaming services, YouTube, gaming, podcasts and social platforms, “often filled with international content that does not reflect Canadian and Indigenous values.” At the same time, public funding and policy frameworks continue to rely largely on traditional media models, it noted.
“Despite being described as Canada’s future, children and youth were not represented in the House of Commons Finance Committee’s 2026 pre-budget report, which included no recommendations on children’s or youth media, or on the federal AI Strategy task force,” Rocket Fund Canada’s press release said. “Their absence is significant as AI and media increasingly shape children’s learning, development, health, sense of belonging, cultural identity and understanding of Canada.”
Saying children and youth are valued and important to Canada is no longer enough — they need a seat at the table, says the white paper, authored by lead researcher Kim Wilson, director of OneFish TwoFish Consulting.
“Children are rights holders, and their best interests must come first,” Wilson said in a statement. “They have the right to be heard, to take part in culture, to privacy and to expression. Indigenous children and youth, and those in equity-deserving groups, have the right to have their language needs met. These rights extend to digital services, algorithms, data, devices, AI and platform design. Media is not just entertainment. It is part of every area of kids’ lives, including education, health and cultural connection. Children can’t vote and have little political power, so we must amplify their voices.”
The white paper puts forward a policy approach built on six priorities: treat children and youth as the rights holders they are; create a protected children’s and youth media fund with a new architecture; treat discoverability and audience development as part of the investment; build Canada’s capacity to understand childhood as it changes; make platforms and AI accountable to children’s rights and development; and protect cultural continuity through Francophone and indigenous media pathways and public broadcasting.
The report has 36 recommendations, 137 supporting findings and 49 key findings, including:
- Childhood has changed. Kids are growing up amid the effects of the pandemic, eco-anxiety, global unrest and constant political news, and they want stories grounded in hope, caring, kindness and belonging.
- Global technology companies play an outsized role in shaping what Canadian children see and how they see the world, without responsibility for child development, education, age-appropriate entertainment or Canadian culture.
- Children and youth have little voice in decisions shaping their media, even as media, technology and AI increasingly influence their learning, development, cultural identity and understanding of Canada.
- Francophone children are increasingly hearing European French on streaming services and YouTube, with focus testing showing some are beginning to recalibrate what sounds “normal” on screen, potentially contributing to linguistic insecurity.
“The opportunity in front of us is to apply a Team Canada approach to children’s and youth media, bringing together children and youth, families, educators, researchers, creators, industry, communities and government,” said Rocket Fund Canada’s Augustin. “A child rights approach would allow for Canadian content that reflects what children and youth need to engage with, and strengthen our cultural and economic future. Our country is exploding with talent, and a child rights approach would enable this incredible country to truly lead on children’s rights, and to live up to our commitments to those who are the future of Canada.”
