Canada’s broadcast regulator is urging the federal government in Ottawa to impose new levies on online streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify in order to fund Canadian content.
In a report released Thursday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) recommended that the Liberals consider regulating any online video or music service, no matter where they are located, and have them pay for the creation of, or better promote, domestic content such a music, television shows and movies.
The financial burden for creating new content would be spread past traditional domestic companies to avoid losses of jobs, services and content, save things such as local news and reduce pressures on taxpayers to fund such productions.
Internet service providers might find themselves facing new levies in Canada if the government adopts all the recommendations in the report, while traditional companies would see reductions in their mandatory Canadian content contribution requirements.
To date, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been reluctant to introduce anything that could be seen as a “Netflix tax” or an “Internet tax,” and have repeatedly said it is not in their plans to do so.
But the CRTC report, which the Liberals requested, is likely to play a role in a planned review of the federal laws overseeing television, radio and telecommunications services in Canada.
Canadians are increasingly spending their money on online video services, with estimates that over half the population now subscribes to a service, Netflix being the largest one. Netflix has become so large in Canada that if it were a television network, it would be the most popular for almost all Canadians aged two through 54.
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