By Doug Barrett, adjunct professor in the Arts, Media & Entertainment MBA program at the Schulich School of Business
It is well known that the Canadian government has directed the CRTC to review its definition of Canadian content, and that the Commission is currently wrapping up a vast series of Canada-wide and industry-wide consultations on the topic. Everyone is treating this as an important and vital process.
But the CRTC is not the principle Canadian content certification authority. That role belongs to the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO). CAVCO is an office within the Department of Canadian Heritage which certifies the…
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During CBC’s broadcast of the Juno Awards on Sunday night, Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge announced the federal government is renewing and boosting the Canada Music Fund to help Canadian music creators.
Federal funding of $32 million will be delivered over the next two years (2024-25 and 2025-26) “to keep supporting initiatives that enhance the careers of Canadian artists, while strengthening the competitiveness and stability of the Canadian music sector,” says a press release Sunday from Canadian Heritage.
The funding will be administered by the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR)…
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Canadian Heritage announced Thursday permanent funding for the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO).
The department said it is committing $65 million over five years starting in 2024-2025 and then $13 million annually afterward to the independent and indigenous-led organization fostering of on-screen indigenous storytelling
“The funding will enable more First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to tell their own stories and see themselves reflected on screen,” said a press release.
“It provides stability, increases Indigenous self-determination, and allows the ISO to develop long-term relationships with partners and sponsors,” it added. “This announcement builds off work in the Online Streaming Act to support Indigenous storytelling and help audiences…
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Foreign investments in Canada’s interactive digital media sector by entities owned or influenced by foreign states — particularly states engaging in activities that could pose a risk to Canada’s national security — will be subject to enhanced scrutiny from now on, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne and Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge announced Friday.
For the purpose of the new policies announced by ISED and Heritage clarifying the application of the Investment Canada Act to investments involving interactive digital media (IDM), IDM is defined as digital content and…
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Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge on Friday launched the application process for the next president of CBC/Radio-Canada.
The minister announced the convening of an independent advisory committee consisting of 10 individuals to make the selection ahead of current head Catherine Tait’s term expiry next January. Tait, who became the first woman in the history of the public broadcaster to serve as president and CEO, was extended last June.
“The successful candidate will support CBC/Radio-Canada in transforming the way it engages with Canadians in a rapidly changing environment by making the public broadcaster more digital and more ambitious in its…
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Canadian Heritage announced Thursday the appointment of Nathalie Theberge to a five-year term as the CRTC’s vice chair of broadcasting, starting April 3.
Theberge, who has been vice chair and CEO of the Copyright Board of Canada since 2018, is replacing Alicia Barin, who stepped down last month.
Before her stint at the Copyright Board, the long-time public servant has been working in various capacities in the Canadian Heritage department for 18 years, including her latest as the director general of creative marketplace and innovation. In descending order, she was also director general of copyright and international trade; direct…
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Platforms have 180 days to notify CRTC if they are subject to law
By Ahmad Hathout
Canadian Heritage on Friday provided its final rules for the Online News Act ahead of its enforcement next week, including capping compensation for broadcasters and CBC/Radio-Canada on single agreements.
The legislation, which comes into force on December 19, will require web giants to compensate publishers for hosting news content on their platforms. Deals will be done on the basis of single group agreements or multiple agreements.
Under the single agreement, Heritage announced Friday that news products owned by broadcasting undertakings will have their compensation capped at 30…
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OTTAWA – Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge announced Tuesday the appointment of former Videotron executive Stephanie Paquette to the seat of regional commissioner of Quebec for the CRTC.
The lawyer with nearly 30 years of experience in the media industry will begin a five-year term starting November 23 — in the middle of the first week of the commission’s three-week hearing on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act.
Paquette has been Videotron’s senior director of content and strategic partnerships for the past six years and director of that area for seven years before that. That means she was responsible for acquisition…
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OTTAWA – Canadian Heritage has on Tuesday finalized its policy direction to the CRTC on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act.
The final version doesn’t deviate on major goals from the proposal the department put out in June, specifically outlining that social media creators and certain single transactional media, such as video games, will not be regulated.
The CRTC, which already set a $10-million threshold for broadcasters to register basic information with the regulator, said it still would like social media and other media forms, including podcasts, to register so it can monitor their…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC communicated with Canadian Heritage over months about the information it was going use in its messaging about the Online Streaming Act, but that was not for soliciting comment or approval, the regulator told Cartt.
Earlier this year, Conservative member of Parliament Martin Shields of Bow River, Alberta, tabled a request for the government to provide detailed communications between the regulator and the department about the legislation that requires online streaming services to contribute to Canadian content.
The Conservatives have accused the independent regulator of parroting government talking points about the legislation after…
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