Finance Committee on Feb. 9th, 2026

[Scott Shortliffe, Vice-President, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]

Thank you for the question. I'm not here to talk about a minister's testimony, so I can't comment on his remarks.

That said, we're responsible for the entire system, including traditional television and radio, and now the online services mentioned in the broadcasting bill. It's clear that this is a system, and we're responsible for regulating the entire system.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

That's great. Thank you very much.

I have a bunch more questions lined up and I have about a minute and 45 seconds left, so I'll keep them short.

Again, I've got a broader question. Often, when we and people in the industry follow the CRTC's work, it seems like you take a long time to make decisions. I think that's a recurring criticism.

Is anything being done at the CRTC to speed up the process, particularly the regulatory decision-making process?

[Vicky Eatrides]

Yes, absolutely.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've heard this. I would say that, as a quasi-judicial tribunal, we naturally have processes, public hearings, and we hear from all interested parties. Naturally, this takes time. We work hard just to move things along more quickly.

I can talk about this a little, but I know we don't have much time.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

That's all right, I'll give you the 30 or 40 seconds we have left.

Does it come down to financial resources? We've looked at the budget. Do you have enough resources? What are the main reasons why decisions take so long and why people in the industry often have to wait so long?

[Vicky Eatrides]

What it comes down to is the nature of our work, because we have formal processes. Public hearings take time. As I mentioned, we had 500 stakeholders for a single process, a single case dealing with the definition of Canadian content. It takes time. We had a three-week public hearing. Plus, there are many different perspectives.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Mr. Garon.

We will continue with Mr. Lawton for five minutes, please.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Thank you very much, witnesses and officials, for being here.

I'd like to go back to the Online Streaming Act and, specifically, the new definition of Canadian content that the CRTC has set out.

What is the mechanism by which streaming companies that fall under the act—whether it's YouTube, Netflix or a podcast platform—are expected to conform to their obligations?

[Vicky Eatrides]

We are working through these various proceedings, and there are some more to come. We have other public proceedings that are ongoing. Through those decisions, we will be moving to conditions of service, and those will apply to specific companies.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

In effect, they would have to make sure that their algorithms conform to serve up the required amount of content that you've said is fitting that new definition. Is that correct?

[Vicky Eatrides]

The act actually prohibits us from regulating algorithms, so we don't do that.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

How are they supposed to ensure that they are offering up the right balance of CRTC-approved content without an algorithm change?

[Vicky Eatrides]

Perhaps I'll turn this over to our head of broadcasting to provide more detail.

[Scott Shortliffe]

We have certain decisions that are still before us. We ask questions about discoverability. Discoverability is more than algorithms. We had several of the streamers intervene in those proceedings and bring to our attention the amounts they already spend on promoting Canadian content: for example, what they do in terms of billboards and promotions and what they do in terms of bringing Canadian artists forward.

By their own testimony, they've said there are many ways they can make content discoverable. We are now examining whether we will build rules around that. Those decisions are still forthcoming, but the concept of discoverability is not the same as algorithms. As the chair said, the act clearly says we will not make orders regulating the use of specific computer algorithms or source code.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

You mentioned advertising. Are you saying that YouTube could satisfy its obligations by running a billboard campaign promoting Heated Rivalry, but not changing anything about the YouTube home page or the user suggestions?

[Scott Shortliffe]

I'm saying that we ask questions about the best ways to promote Canadian content and make it discoverable, because it was an objective in the act. We have a record in front of us.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

You've had several years of this already. I feel that you're saying you don't prescribe an algorithm, knowing full well that in order to conform to the regulations, these streaming companies will have to modify their algorithms.

Can you give me an example of how they would meet your definition or your expectation without having to amend their algorithms?

[Scott Shortliffe]

I'll just take this in two parts, if I could. First of all, our definition of Canadian content that is applied throughout the system is not necessarily about promoting specific shows.

In terms of how they could meet that, that is a subject of a public consultation and a forthcoming decision. Since we're a quasi-judicial tribunal, I can't give you examples at this time.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Okay. Then, we're just supposed to trust that it will all work out. Is that the expectation on Canadians?

[Scott Shortliffe]

I think the CRTC always expects that Canadians will hold us to account when our decisions come out, and we will be pleased to answer questions when our decisions come out.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Consumers desire a variety of things. There are Canadians and people who live in Canada representing diverse backgrounds who may prefer to watch content from their home country or in a different language. In the past, the CRTC has actively fought certain aspects of consumer preference. A notable example of this is the simsubbing debate from some years ago, where Canadians wanted to be able to access American Super Bowl ads, and the CRTC erred against consumer choice.

What safeguards are in place to ensure that this isn't going to happen with the online streaming regulations?

[Scott Shortliffe]

What I can say is that we will act within the ambit of the law that Parliament has given us. Simsub is a very complicated discussion, but I will say that the CRTC actually brought in a rule saying that Canadians could watch the Super Bowl on whatever platform they wished. However, we were taken to court, and the Supreme Court of Canada found that we had exceeded our powers in that respect.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

What recourse is available if a platform is not complying with the framework that's set out? I won't name any, but let's say there's a company that doesn't believe this has all that much authority, but they meet what you believe is the threshold for it. What can the CRTC do to force compliance or disconnect service in Canada?

[Scott Shortliffe]

I'm sorry. I'm just trying to parse your question and make sure that I answer it correctly. Forgive me if I'm taking a long—

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

If someone doesn't comply, what do you have available?