What exactly is ‘Canadian content’ in 2024?

In today’s The Big Story podcast, the CRTC decided last week to levy a tax on the Canadian revenue made by the giant streaming services. This money will ostensibly go towards supporting Canadian creators and improving Canadian content … which is what exactly?

This is where Bill C-11 gets interesting, because streamers already spend a ton of money-making content in Canada, or purchasing stories and IP created by Canadians. 

Michael Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. “[The CRTC] say it’s going to amount to about $200 million a year. That is admittedly a far cry from the kinds of claims the government was making when Bill C-11 was being debated,’ said Geist. 

So, who will end up paying for the tax on those services — American corporations or, as some experts have warned, all of us, with rising Netflix prices?

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