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Vicky Eatrides to the Radiodays North America conference

Press Release

From: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

June 4, 2024

Before I begin my remarks, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and Wendat peoples. I also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Thank you for inviting me to speak today. I am pleased to be joined by some of my fellow Commissioners and CRTC colleagues, including our Vice-Chair of Broadcasting, Nathalie Théberge, our regional Commissioner for Ontario, Bram Abramson, and our head of Broadcasting, Scott Shortliffe. It is also great to see so many other familiar faces.

I am thrilled to be here at Radiodays North America. I think that the forward looking and future focused mission of this conference really resonates with all of us, particularly during this time of significant change.

The theme got me thinking back to the first speech that I gave as Chairperson and CEO of the CRTC, just over a year ago.

The Online Streaming Act had just received Royal Assent and we were in the early stages of consulting. The Online News Act was still “Bill C-18.”  And I was just back from my first public hearing in Whitehorse on Telecommunications in the Far North.

I mentioned during that speech what a privilege it was, meeting with many of you and speaking with fellow Canadians.

And that privilege has continued over the past year.

What I heard a year ago, and what I continue to hear, is how important the communications sector is to Canadians.

It touches every aspect of our lives. It is the pathway that connects us to each other, to our communities, and to the world around us. It is the backbone of our economy, our culture and our society.

The importance of the sector has not changed. What has changed is the legislative and regulatory framework.

We are now well into the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, having launched four proceedings and, as of this morning, issued four decisions. And we are advancing the implementation of the Online News Act.

We are also tackling other complex issues in broadcasting, including the co-development of the Indigenous Broadcasting Policy.

And we are just as busy in telecommunications.

So let me start there today.

Promoting competition and investment to deliver affordable and high-quality telecommunications services

The CRTC’s vision for telecommunications is clear. We want to ensure that Canadians have access to affordable and high-quality cellphone and Internet services.

Last year, the Government issued a direction to the CRTC on a renewed approach to telecommunications policy. It requires us to consider how our decisions can promote competition, affordability, reliability, and consumer interests.

The message to us is that our decisions need to deliver affordable services for Canadians through enhanced competition.

We also know that we need telecommunications providers to invest in high-quality networks, and that they need incentives to do so.

Though our goal is the same for cellphone and Internet services, our approach to these two markets is different.

Let me explain.

So, starting with cellphone services. Last year, the CRTC established rules that allow regional competitors to compete across Canada as mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs, using the networks of large cellphone companies. With this access, regional providers can expand their reach and offer Canadians more choice.

However, this access is time limited. Regional providers can use it now, but they must build out their own networks within seven years.

Our approach is already showing results. Canadians can go online today and find offers from both regional and national players that were not there a year ago. These early improvements are an indication that we are moving in the right direction.

While our MVNO framework is already helping to promote competition for cellphone services, we are working to improve competition for Internet services as well.

Last year, we launched a proceeding on the Internet services market to increase competition, create more choice and lower prices.

In November, we released an interim decision that provided competitors with a workable way to sell Internet services using the fibre-to-the-home networks of large telephone companies in the provinces where competition has declined most significantly.

And we held a week-long public hearing in February to consider whether the interim measure should be expanded across the country or made permanent, and if there are additional measures that we should take.

During the hearing, we heard about the importance of finding the right balance between delivering more choice to consumers and ensuring continued investments in high-quality networks.

We will aim to strike that balance in our final decision, which will be coming later this summer.

We have a lot of other work underway in telecommunications, including with respect to the Far North and the reliability of Canada’s networks.

We are also continuing to support projects that improve high-speed Internet and cellphone services in rural, remote and Indigenous communities. The CRTC’s Broadband Fund, which was launched in 2019, has committed more than $300 million to improve services in more than 230 rural, remote and Indigenous communities. And I am pleased to share that we will release a major funding decision for the North in the coming weeks.

Laying the foundation for a modernized broadcasting system

So that is some of our work in telecommunications.

This brings us to our work in broadcasting, including the implementation of the Online Streaming Act.

As you know, under the old Broadcasting Act, traditional broadcasters have obligations, including being required to spend certain percentages of their revenues on Canadian content, and contribute to funds.

The Online Streaming Act requires the CRTC to modernize the Canadian broadcasting framework and ensure that online streaming services make meaningful contributions to Canadian and Indigenous content.

The changes that are needed to implement the Online Streaming Act are substantial and complex. There are many interconnected issues to be addressed.

Building the new framework is like building a house, and the Online Streaming Act gave us the blueprint.

Immediately after it became law, the CRTC started preparing the construction site. We published a regulatory plan and launched four public consultations.

And in the fall, the Government issued a policy direction to the CRTC – building on the blueprint and emphasizing its broad policy approach, key priorities and the importance of engaging with all interested parties as we design and implement the new framework.

With the blueprint in hand and construction site prepared, we got to work building the house.

We started pouring the foundation through our decisions. First, on registration of online streaming services. Second, on exemption orders and basic conditions of service. And third, on regulatory fees.

And just this morning, we issued our decision on base contributions to support Canadian and Indigenous content.

But before we get to today’s decision, let me spend a few moments talking about the public consultation that got us here.

During the consultation, we considered the modernized contribution framework that will support Canadian and Indigenous content in the future.

We received more than 360 written submissions over the course of the proceeding and heard from over 120 presenters during our three-week public hearing in November and December.

We heard from a wide range of interested parties, including local radio stations, national broadcasters, distributors, online streaming services, consumer groups, actors, producers and creators. From large companies to individual Canadians participating in their very first CRTC hearing.

And here is some of what we heard. At a high level, we heard that Canadians care about content. We heard concerns that certain types of content like local interest stories will not be made or distributed anymore. Or that they will become less available because they will not be funded by market forces alone.

Representatives of local news broadcasters and community radio stations told us that they are struggling to meet the needs of their communities.

Groups representing Canadians of diverse backgrounds also told us that they are struggling in the current system and need support to fully participate, so that audiences can continue to see a diversity of stories reflected in the broadcasting system.

Some interveners noted that there is no local news fund for radio the same way there is for television.

And we heard that streaming services are an important source of entertainment, information and music. That their business models are different and that they make contributions to the system in different ways.

We heard many diverse perspectives that contributed to a robust public record. And that record formed the basis for today’s decision.

The CRTC announced this morning that it is requiring online streaming services that make $25 million or more in annual contributions revenues, and that are not affiliated with a Canadian broadcaster, to contribute 5% of those revenues to certain funds.

This requirement will take effect in the 2024-2025 broadcast year, which begins on September 1st, and will provide an estimated $200 million per year in new funding.

These base contributions will be directed to areas of immediate need, such as local news on radio and TV, French-language content, Indigenous content and content created by and for equity-deserving communities, official language minority communities, and Canadians of diverse backgrounds.

To ensure that these areas receive contributions quickly, the CRTC relied on existing funds as much as possible.

At the same time, we have given online streaming services some flexibility to direct parts of their contributions to support Canadian television content directly.

So we have laid the foundation for the house, and we need to keep building it together, quickly.

As we move forward with implementing the new legislation, we will fine tune the contributions made by traditional broadcasters and online streaming services.

We will continue to hold public proceedings and make decisions as we go on important issues, including news, audio services, public interest participation, definitions of Canadian content, and diversity and inclusion.

So that covers the Online Streaming Act.

Setting up a Bargaining Framework for Online News

We are also busy implementing another piece of legislation — the Online News Act.

The Online News Act aims to ensure that news organizations operating in Canada can negotiate fair commercial agreements with the largest online platforms. The CRTC must set up the framework for mandatory bargaining between these parties.

We have an open public proceeding on the framework and will issue a decision in the coming months.

At the same time, the government has made it possible for companies to ask for an exemption if they reach a deal with a news collective. This means that a company can reach an agreement with a single collective for a set amount of money, and not have to bargain with individual news outlets.

If a company asks for an exemption, we will be ready to move fast on that front as well — to consult on that request and determine whether the agreement fulfills the requirements of the Online News Act.

Conclusion

So, I have covered a lot of ground this morning. Let me conclude where I started. And that is by going back to the first speech I gave as Chairperson and CEO.

The focus of that speech was on creating the future of the communications sector together, and the importance of doing it quickly.

We are moving forward together, and we are moving quickly.

From more competition in cellphone and Internet services, to helping bring Internet to rural, remote and Indigenous communities, to implementing the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act.

Today’s decision is a good example of the progress we are making.

And in the coming months, we will continue to build on this progress — with more public consultations, more decisions, and more results for Canadians.

As Winston Churchill famously said: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning.”

We have laid the foundation for the house.

Now let’s keep building.

Thank you.

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