By Ahmad Hathout
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) says it is committing to expanding funding eligibility to online streamers and international distributors in what it calls a “meaningful evolution in who gets a seat at the table.”
The fund says it wants to “remove barriers” to the money “for a wider range of creators, platforms, and partners,” which also includes indigenous and equity-deserving communities. This comes as the CRTC works to integrate streamers into the broadcasting system and having them get more involved in Canadian productions.
The CMF goal falls under the “maximize” portion of a four-part, three-year strategic plan, released Thursday.
“The CMF is moving toward a market-driven model that reflects how content is made, financed, and watched today,” a CMF spokesperson said. “That means rethinking everything from our Contribution Agreement with Canadian Heritage to broadening access for Indigenous and underrepresented creators, diversifying revenues, taking a more proactive posture in international markets, and more.”
The plan also includes integrating indigenous perspectives into operations and accelerating industry growth through innovation, strategic investments, and supporting companies that leads to a “stronger union between content performance and cultural relevance.”
The CMF is also looking to “modernize” the organization by strengthening its financial model, which is a public-private partnership, and to “monetize” by establishing “predictable revenues,” launching a revenue strategy that attracts private and public funding, securing long-term public commitments, leveraging technology to make operations and program delivery more efficient, while “enabling reinvestments into the sector, increasing internal contributions, boosting recipient self-reliance, maximizing return on investment, and facilitating re-capitalization.”
The fund also seeks to advocate for Canadian stories by boosting them in annual national campaigns, domestic media and targeted campaigns in priority international markets to amplify their visibility to show Canada’s cultural industry is worth investing in.
To get there, the organization says it is building “structured and inclusive engagement with the industry through regular in-person consultations, videoconference sessions, and targeted surveys to inform our overall strategy and respond well to evolving audience behaviors and emerging platforms.”
The CMF, which gets its money from the federal government and industry, has invested $346 million in the Canadian audiovisual industry this fiscal year, which started on April 1, 2025.
Last year, the CMF teamed up with Telefilm, the Indigenous Screen Office, and the National Film Board of Canada to harmonize the measurement and collection of audience data to better understand and amplify Canadian stories.
