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Canadian screenwriters who retain ownership of the IP could earn ongoing revenue through licensing deals, international sales and royalties each time a series is distributed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini

July 2, 2025

How do we define Canadian content? Debates will shape how creatives make a living

Daphne Rena Idiz, University of Toronto and MaryElizabeth Luka, University of Toronto

What qualifies as CanCon is tied in with who profits. Current debates are centred on how intellectual property and AI will be handled, and how big streamers will be forced to pay into it.

An important reason for underrepresentation in cultural industries is the citizenship-based approach to defining what classifies as Canadian content. (Shutterstock)

May 15, 2025

Canada’s audiovisual industry should better reflect the country’s diversity

John Schoales, Toronto Metropolitan University

Today, a new generation of artists and online creators are less likely to see their markets or identities confined by national boundaries.

Canadian decision-makers must understand the arts ‘have a vital role to play as part of the solution’ as we navigate uncertain times, wrote the director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, Michelle Chawla, in a recent open letter. Chawla at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

April 9, 2025

Canada’s identity is at stake if we don’t equitably fund and support its music now

Rosheeka Parahoo, Western University

Now is the moment to equitably invest in the Canadian music industry, to ensure we continue telling bold, complex and uniquely Canadian stories well into the future.

We need to understand two things about Netflix’s support for original film and TV creation: Are creators getting to tell their own stories? Are these stories being bought? (Shutterstock)

May 18, 2023

Online Streaming Act: As we revisit Netflix support for Canadian content, it’s about more than money

Diane Burgess, University of British Columbia

Understanding how Netflix, to date, has fostered screen sector equity and capacity matters as the CRTC consults about Canadian and Indigenous content.

The Online Streaming Act aims to level the playing field between streaming giants and legacy Canadian radio and television broadcasters. (Shutterstock)

April 5, 2023

How the Online Streaming Act will support Canadian content

Mariane Bourcheix-Laporte, Simon Fraser University

The Online Streaming Act is set to soon become law in Canada. The act is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to support BIPOC content.

The Online News Act, or Bill C-18, is Canada’s attempt to address the imbalance between digital platforms and news publishers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

March 13, 2023

The Online News Act could give Google and Meta too much influence over Canadian news organizations

Sara Bannerman, McMaster University

The Online News Act could result in the formation of new agreements between news organizations and digital platform giants, which could give rise to a number of worrying developments.

Bill C-18, the Online News Act, is trying to get the dominant digital platforms to negotiate mutually-acceptable agreements with Canada’s online news outlets. (Shutterstock)

September 6, 2022

Why Ottawa’s efforts to get Google and Facebook to pay for news content misses the mark

Ricard Gil, IESE Business School (Universidad de Navarra)

There’s no evidence that news outlets are worse off because of Google, Facebook and other aggregators. If anything, evidence shows that, overall, news outlets would be in worse shape without them.

The feature ‘Once Were Brothers’ is the first time a Canadian documentary opens TIFF. The film follows Robbie Robertson from his early life in Toronto and on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve to the creation of legendary roots-rock group The Band. Courtesy of TIFF

September 2, 2019

TIFF: Netflix and streaming means Canadian feature films struggle to find audiences

Diane Burgess, University of British Columbia

Even though a Crave produced film has become the first ever Canadian documentary to open TIFF, video streaming services like Netflix raises challenges for filmmakers looking for domestic audiences.

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