By Victoria Ahearn
CBC/Radio-Canada says it welcomes what it calls a “landmark” decision from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regarding the renewal of the pubcaster’s broadcasting licences until 2027.
In announcing the new five-year licences on Wednesday, the CRTC said it is adopting “a new approach to ensure that the CBC∕Radio-Canada’s programming meets the needs and interests of all Canadians, in both official languages, across all its services.” It also wants to ensure CBC “supports and broadcasts programming that is relevant to and reflective of all Canadians of diverse backgrounds and Indigenous Peoples living in Canada.”
The new licences for CBC’s English- and French-language audiovisual and audio services run from September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2027. They include new spending requirements to promote the creation of more diverse content, and permission to include some program expenditures on certain digital services, such as CBC Gem, toward its regulatory requirements.
For the broadcast years spanning 2023 to 2026, CBC’s English-language services must ensure no less than 30% of its overall expenditures on Canadian independent programming be allocated to Indigenous producers, official-language minority communities (OLMC) producers, racialized producers, producers with disabilities, and producers who self-identify as LGBTQ2. For the 2026-2027 broadcast year, beginning on September 1 2026, that minimum expenditure level increases to 35%.
For CBC’s French-language services, no less than 6.7% of all its programming expenditures allocated to Canadian independent productions must be directed to the aforementioned communities for the 2023-2024 broadcast year. That will increase to 9% for the 2024-2025 broadcast year, 12.3% for the 2025-2026 broadcast year, and will reach a minimum 15% beginning September 1, 2026.
There is also a minimum requirement specifically for Indigenous programming.
Starting September 1, 2023, CBC’s English-language audiovisual programming services will be required to allocate no less than 6% of all its programming expenditures on Canadian independent productions to Indigenous producers. That increases to 8% per broadcast year, starting with the 2024-2025 broadcast year and for the remainder of the licence term.
For CBC’s French-language audiovisual programming services, those expenditure allocation requirements for Indigenous-produced content must be no less than 1% for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 broadcast years, and no less than 1.8% for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 broadcast years.
The CRTC will also drop the requirement for CBC to maintain minimum thresholds of local programming such as news in urban markets, where Canadians have multiple options for that content, but it’s maintaining thresholds in more rural parts of Canada where choices are limited.
Other new terms in the licences include “rigorous and enhanced” reporting and measurement requirements for programming on all CBC/Radio-Canada platforms in an effort to increase accountability and transparency. CBC will now be required to submit multiple new reports to the Commission, covering areas including audiovisual production and diversity of workforce.
CBC must also conduct regular surveys of all Canadians on how it is meeting their needs, and hold formal consultations every two years with Indigenous Peoples, OLMC, racialized persons, persons with disabilities and persons who identify as LGBTQ2.
The Commission is also adopting a multiplatform expenditure approach for all of the CBC’s English- and French-language licensed audiovisual services, allowing the pubcaster to count expenditures made for Canadian programming on its DMBUs in order to fulfill its Cancon expenditure requirement.
For children’s and youth programming, the CRTC is maintaining the requirement relating to the broadcast of one hour per week of original first-run programming aimed at children under 13 years of age on CBC’s English-language conventional television network and stations.
The CRTC launched CBC/Radio-Canada’s licence renewal application on November 25, 2019 and held public hearings in early 2021. It issued two administrative renewals for the licences, which include its 88 over-the-air radio stations, 27 over-the-air television stations and five discretionary services.
The Commission said it’s adapting the way it regulates CBC “to provide it with more flexibility to fulfill its mandate across traditional and online platforms, while recognizing the need to make the new framework adaptable for the years to come.”
“We’re pleased that the CRTC has, for the first time ever, recognized the significant contribution of our digital streaming services, CBC Gem and ICI TOU.TV, and CBC Listen and Radio-Canada OHdio, to the Canadian content ecosystem. CBC/Radio-Canada’s services as a multiplatform digital and linear media company will now be reflected in our regulatory obligations,” Catherine Tait, president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, said in a statement.
“We’re equally heartened that the Commission’s decision recognizes diversity and representation of contemporary Canada in our content as critical to the future of the national public broadcaster.”
