Statement from Friends of Canadian Media on CRTC Policy Decisions
Friends of Canadian Media welcomes yesterday’s CRTC’s decisions as an important step toward building a stronger, fairer, and more sustainable Canadian broadcasting system.
For years, Friends of Canadian Media has argued that global streaming platforms must contribute meaningfully to the Canadian media ecosystem from which they benefit. Yesterday’s decisions confirm a basic but essential principle: if companies profit from Canadian audiences, they must also help support Canadian stories, Canadian services, and Canadian democracy.
The CRTC’s new framework moves Canada in the right direction by bringing online streaming services more fully into the system, establishing new obligations to support Canadian programming, and creating a new fund for services of exceptional importance. These are positive developments that recognize the real value of Canadian media and the need to protect it in a rapidly changing digital environment.
We are especially encouraged that the Commission has recognized the importance of discoverability. Canadian and Indigenous stories cannot simply exist somewhere online; they must be visible, accessible, and easy for audiences to find. A broadcasting system that supports Canadian culture must ensure that Canadian voices are not buried by global algorithms or drowned out by the market power of foreign platforms.
Friends of Canadian Media is also pleased to see the CRTC acknowledge the importance of news programming within the Canadian broadcasting system. At a time when newsrooms are shrinking, local coverage is disappearing, and misinformation is spreading, support for trusted journalism is more important than ever.
These decisions are not perfect. More must be done to support local news, protect Canadian ownership and control, and ensure that foreign online platforms contribute at a level that reflects their growing power in our market. But yesterday’s decisions represent real progress, and they show that public advocacy works.
This is a moment to keep pushing. Friends of Canadian Media will continue to participate actively in the next stages of the CRTC’s process to ensure that these frameworks are implemented in a way that strengthens Canadian journalism, supports Canadian programming, and protects our cultural sovereignty.
Canadian stories matter. Canadian news matters. Canadian voices matter. And today, Canada took another step toward ensuring they continue to be heard.
Read the CRTC decisions:
• Decision 2026-95: https://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2026/2026-95.htm
• Decision 2026-96: https://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2026/2026-96.htm