Netflix has stopped its sponsorship of several development programs at Canadian arts institutions in response to the government’s Bill C-11, better known as the Streaming Online Act.
Playback, sister publication of Media in Canada, has confirmed that impacted organizations include Hot Docs, the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO), the Whistler Film Festival Society (WFFS), the Pacific Screenwriting Program (PSP) and L’institut national de l’image et du son (L’inis).
However, the streamer has not entirely pulled its support. The Canadian Film Centre said Netflix confirmed its support in 2025 for its Norman Jewison Film Program, which includes labs for writers, directors, producers and editors. The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television also said Netflix is still supporting Women in Post; and the Banff World Media Festival confirmed continued financial support for the Netflix-BANFF Diversity of Voices market access program.
The streamer’s decision comes after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that, beginning late next year, foreign streaming services operating in Canada must contribute 5% of their annual domestic revenues to the production of local news and Canadian content.
In a statement shared with The Globe and Mail, Netflix said it had to transfer resources to meet the new requirements of the legislation: “Despite our long-standing commitment, the government has chosen not to acknowledge our substantial support for the Canadian film and TV sector. Consequently, we will be unable to continue funding many of the programs that have come to rely on our backing, as we are now required to allocate resources to meet the CRTC’s new investment mandate.”
Netflix – which had invested more than $25 million in local film and TV programs since 2017 – reported a surge in profit following the addition of 9.3 million new paid subcribers in the second quarter of 2024. Revenue at Netflix rose 15% to $9.4 billion in the three months ending 31 March, while net income jumped 79% to $2.3 billion over the same period.
The decision comes at a critical time for the country’s arts festivals, which have been losing major sponsors in recent years. Last year, Bell announced it would end its sponsorship of the Toronto International Film Festival after a 28-year-long relationship, bringing on Rogers as a presenting sponsor just a few weeks before the 2024 edition. And in March of this year, Scotiabank terminated its sponsorship of Toronto’s Contact Photography Festival after more than a decade of collaboration.
Other festivals have also been forced to cease their operations and restructure. Toronto’s Just for Laughs comedy festival, which was set to take place in September of this year, was cancelled after the event’s organizers stated that they are restructuring their operations. Meanwhile, the Shaw Festival posted a $5.7 million deficit in 2023, forcing it to reduce operations for the next season, and Hot Docs has issued statements from its president that this year could be the last for the festival if it continues without financial support.
The Motion Picture Association-Canada, which represents Netflix, Disney+ and Paramount+, has also filed two legal challenges to oppose the new bill.
With files from Playback
