CRTC's 25% broadcaster rate and 15% streamer rate are under review before any payments are due

The operational point for a CanCon professional is simple: the CRTC published 25 percent and 15 percent Canadian programming expenditure rates on May 21, 2026, and thirteen days later the minister ordered those decisions reviewed. Until that review lands as binding regulation, neither percentage is a live invoice. Cassels, writing June 15, put it the same way—the May policies set direction for future rules and do not impose immediate obligations.

Once the new CRTC rules are finalized, the level of government investment will be adjusted as appropriate.

The CRTC said more than 600 submissions arrived during the consultations, and it held public hearings where nearly 150 groups presented. For traditional broadcasters the new rate is 25 percent of annual revenues. For online broadcasters it is 15 percent, which the CRTC said includes the 5 percent base contribution it established in 2024.

What each rate covers, according to the primaries

Both rates apply only where annual Canadian broadcasting revenues exceed $25 million. The CRTC said no broadcaster below that threshold is required to spend.

The CRTC news release describes the 25 percent as applying to traditional broadcasters and the 15 percent to online broadcasters. Canadian Heritage’s June 3 Question Period note adds an ownership frame the release does not spell out in the same words: differentiated rates of 25 percent for Canadian-owned broadcast groups and 15 percent for unaffiliated and non-Canadian online streamers. That is the government’s own briefing language, not a law-firm gloss.

Two secondary summaries still describe the 15 percent group differently. Blakes identifies it as non-Canadian operators of online streaming services. Cassels defines the same group as unaffiliated online undertakings and says the term applies regardless of national origin, covering any operator not licensed under Canada’s Broadcasting Act. Those descriptions do not match each other. The Heritage note’s “unaffiliated and non-Canadian” phrasing sits between them: it ties the lower rate to affiliation and nationality together. The full policy text is Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2026-96; the rate figures and thresholds above are taken from the CRTC release and the Heritage note, with law-firm detail marked as secondary.

On the revenue base, Blakes says Canadian broadcasters must spend 25 percent of their total annual Canadian broadcasting revenues, and that the 15 percent for streamers applies to the same kind of base. Cassels phrases the streamer base as online revenue from Canadian broadcasting activities.

The CRTC noted that major broadcasters currently face requirements in the range of 30 to 45 percent, so the new 25 percent rate is lower than what large broadcast groups currently pay. For broadcasters with revenues between $25 million and $100 million, Blakes notes those groups have more flexibility, counting both direct spending (commissioning or acquiring Canadian content) and indirect spending (payments into production funds) toward the requirement.

What the 15 percent includes, and what is contested

The CRTC said the 15 percent includes the 5 percent base contribution from 2024. The sources do not confirm whether both percentages apply to the same revenue base.

The 2024 base contribution is under legal challenge. Blakes said the policy was stayed while court challenges proceeded. Cassels said it remains under appeal. The Canadian Heritage briefing note, prepared June 3 for Minister Miller, says Amazon, Apple, the Motion Picture Association Canada and Spotify filed for judicial review and leave to appeal, that the Federal Court of Appeal heard the parties in June 2025, and that a decision is pending. The sources together describe a policy that is stayed while challenges proceed, with a court decision still outstanding.

Canadian broadcasters told the CRTC the new rules place a greater burden on private broadcasters than on streamers. That is their stated position, recorded in the briefing note. It is not a CRTC finding.

What the June direction changed

On June 3, Minister Miller announced $600 million per year in federal investments for Canada’s audio and audiovisual sectors and directed the CRTC to review the May decisions. The announcement gives no deadline or procedure for that review. It also says that after the new CRTC rules are settled, the government will recalibrate its investment level as appropriate.

The Canadian Heritage briefing note, prepared the same day for the minister, describes the $600 million as support to stabilize the sector during a transition and calls it temporary. That matches the conditional duration in the announcement rather than an open-ended pledge.

Cassels, writing twelve days after the government’s direction, described it as ambiguous and noted that the two May policies establish a framework for future regulations, with no current obligations imposed on anyone. On that reading, the 25 percent and 15 percent figures are a policy direction under review. No payment obligation has come into force.

On May 22, 2026, the Motion Picture Association issued a statement calling the decisions discriminatory and arguing they violated CUSMA. The Canadian Heritage briefing note records broad support from the Canadian creative community for the decisions, though several organizations raised concerns about the removal of targeted support for Programs of National Interest. Those positions are summarized in the note; this piece does not quote the organizations’ own releases.

A separate date in the briefing note concerns the definition of a Canadian audiovisual program, not the spending rates. The CRTC’s November 2025 decision set new regulations to come into force on September 1, 2026, with the new content definition expected to take effect well into 2026. The note says previously certified content, including CAVCO certifications, continues to be recognized. Whether those regulations came into force as scheduled is not established by any source cited here.