The CRTC has told Groupe TVA it must continue to submit reports twice a month regarding the progress it has made to resolve issues related to closed captioning on its television services.
In a letter dated Oct. 2, the CRTC denied TVA’s request to reduce the frequency of these reports to once per month.
The broadcasting regulator said, since June 2025, it has received numerous complaints from TVA audience members about incorrect or missing closed captioning. TVA told the commission these errors were due to failures in TVA’s closed captioning equipment that occurred following the relocation of its broadcasting facilities in June 2025, according to the CRTC’s letter.
Starting in September 2025, CRTC staff asked TVA to submit twice-per-month reports on progress made to resolve the closed captioning issues. Reports submitted up until January 2026 confirmed the existence of deficiencies but also indicated progress in addressing the problems, the CRTC said. As such, the regulator in early February told TVA it could discontinue submitting these reports.
“Since the reporting requirement was discontinued, the Commission has received additional complaints, resulting in the reinstatement of the twice-per-month reporting requirement effective 31 March 2026. Since reporting resumed at that frequency, the situation has improved; however, some issues persist,” the CRTC wrote in its letter to TVA last week.
In its reports submitted since March, TVA has asked to move to monthly reporting, the CRTC said, adding TVA argued the reduced frequency would enable it to provide more accurate and comprehensive reports. According to the CRTC’s letter, “TVA explained that improvements to its closed captioning systems depend largely on timelines set by external suppliers and that resolving the situation is complex. It also indicated that preparing the reports requires significant resources, particularly during the summer period due to staff vacations.”
The CRTC said it acknowledges the efforts undertaken by TVA, as well as the operational constraints it has described, and also recognizes that broadcasters may experience technical failures related to closed captioning. “Nevertheless, it remains extremely concerned about the length of time required to remedy the situation and about the absence, despite staff requests, of a clear timeline for its permanent resolution,” the CRTC wrote.
“Given the tangible impact of closed captioning issues on TVA viewers, the Commission considers that ongoing monitoring remains necessary to ensure TVA’s continued accountability,” the CRTC’s letter said. “For these reasons, the Commission denies TVA’s request and confirms the requirement to submit reports on a twice-per-month basis.”
The CRTC said it may consider more formal enforcement measures if TVA fails to fully and permanently resolve its current closed captioning issues by demonstrating that 100 per cent of its programming is captioned in accordance with its conditions of service within three months of the Oct. 2 date of the commission’s letter, or if TVA fails to submit biweekly reports as requested.
