OpenMedia’s community believes in Canadian Content, not protectionism

OpenMedia’s recent survey showed our members love Canadian Content as storytelling that reflects Canada’s people, culture, and values – and believe that content can flourish on the global stage. The results shaped our submission to the CRTC’s consultation on modernizing the definition of Canadian Content as part of implementing the Online Streaming Act.

On January 20, 2025, OpenMedia submitted its intervention to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)’s consultation on modernizing the definition of Canadian Content (CanCon) as part of implementing the Online Streaming Act.^1,2 In preparation for the consultation and the upcoming March 2025 hearing on defining “Canadian program” and supporting Canadian programming in the audio-visual sector, we launched a community survey of our members earlier this month to gather input.

Between January 7th and January 20th, the survey received 2,332 responses about what Canadian content means to the community. The results are clear: our community loves Canadian content and storytelling – and doesn’t believe it should be sheltered from the global system.

Our community defines Canadian Content as storytelling that authentically reflects Canada’s people, culture, and values. A total of 85.68% believe CanCon should be created by Canadian creators, and 81.60% value stories that reflect Canadian culture, history, and values. Additionally, 79.29% believe that CanCon should represent what Canada has been, and 73.84% believe it should also represent who we are in Canada today.

Our community believes in Canadian creators, not Canada’s entrenched media industry. The survey revealed that ownership by Canadian companies is not seen as a key defining factor of Canadian storytelling (a priority for only 43.48%), but there’s strong agreement (85.68%) that content from anyone living or working in Canada is “Canadian.” The results highlight a desire to honour the past of media while embracing the future. Respondents support continued funding both legacy formats like TV and radio (77.70%), as well as emerging formats like podcasts (49.53%), online videos (37.26%) including TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube content, and interactive or experimental media (37.91%) like games and AR/VR. Overall, there's a clear preference for competing internationally rather than isolating Canadian storytelling.

The community overwhelmingly prioritizes funding for early-career creators, to help our creators acquire the skills and equipment they need to succeed in a global system. Our members also told us they valued extra funding for fostering diversity in storytelling, and wanted global visibility for Canadian content, with an emphasis on durable but flexible Canadian creator IP ownership over domestic company control (82.33%).

In its submission, OpenMedia, on behalf of the community, made the following recommendations and urged the CRTC to consider them carefully as the regulatory plan is shaped for implementing the Online Streaming Act. These steps will ensure new definitions and content ecosystems represent diverse creators and reflect all Canadians:

• Respect user choice in CanCon promotion: We support promoting Canadian content wherever Canadians consume it, so long as personal preferences are respected. For example, offering toggle options to include more Canadian content in feeds or not, based on user preferences. We strongly oppose mandatory quotas or promotion requirements for algorithmically generated feeds or playlists.

• All Canadian creators work counts as CanCon: It should be easy for all Canadian creators to have their work designated as Canadian and benefit from related visibility, promotion, and financial support. No creator should be excluded, regardless of who they work with or how they distribute their content. A streamlined process should allow any creator established in Canada to have their work recognized as Canadian.

• Modernize the points-based system: The points system that is currently used to determine whether large productions are “Canadian” or not should recognize depictions of Canada’s history and current realities, not just production criteria. We also recommend moving away from binary designations to incremental ones that would prevent arbitrary disqualification, and potentially allow partial “Canadian” credits for some productions. For large services required to invest in CanCon, storytelling elements that represent rural, historical, and minority Canadian experiences should contribute to the designation, alongside production and authorship criteria.

• Prioritize financial support for long-term impact: We urge the CRTC to focus funding on initiatives that empower creators to succeed in the global cultural system rather than isolating them. We call for special focus on supporting early-career creators, as well as providing training, tools, and equipment, and help for existing creators to adapt to new media formats. This approach will give Canadian creators the flexibility and control needed to compete globally and ensure Canada’s cultural voice is heard and celebrated.

• Support culturally and socially significant production: We ask that government funding prioritize works with cultural and social importance, including news (71.14%), educational and historical material (79.55%), and content representing minority languages and communities (68.65%). Our community indicated that not all CanCon holds equal value—low-cost “entertainment” content produced only to meet CanCon  quotas fails to reflect Canadian identity or interest us as consumers. In contrast, local reporting connects communities and preserves independent cultural representation. Subsidy programs should focus on high-impact areas, especially as traditional media declines. We recommended investing in audio media, like podcasts and local radio, to address cultural and news gaps cost-effectively without the high budgets required for TV and film.

We invite you to download a copy of our submission in PDF format to explore the key survey results and recommendations we built from them  on how best to modernize our definitions of Canadian content.

Sources

1. Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2024-288 – The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
2. Online Streaming Act – Government of Canada