Mr. Speaker, Canadian Heritage was responsible for the research and policy work underlying the development of Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, including its passage through the parliamentary process. However, the Department of Canadian Heritage is not responsible for the implementation of the framework once the parliamentary process is complete. The implementation of the framework is the responsibility of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the CRTC.
With regard to (a), the Online Streaming Act amended the Broadcasting Act. As of March 2025, the CRTC’s total expenditures to implement these amendments have been approximately $15.2 million ($11.9 million in salaries and $3.3 million in operational and maintenance costs), of which $9 million was spent in fiscal year 2024-25.
With regard to (b), employees or full-time equivalents are not assigned to work specifically on items related to measures contained in the Online Streaming Act, as they are interconnected with other provisions in the Broadcasting Act. All the measures contained in the two bills are applied jointly and concurrently.
With regard to (c), the CRTC has hired 59 full-time equivalents to implement and maintain measures contained in the Online Streaming Act. These employees also work on maintaining the measures contained in the Broadcasting Act.
With regard to (d), the CRTC projects that the cost to maintain the systems and items mandated by the Online Streaming Act will be approximately $9.7 million annually.
With regard to (e), as a result of the Online Streaming Act, the CRTC has invoiced streaming service fee payers $19.9 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year and $22.9 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year so far.
With regard to (f), the CRTC uses a cost recovery model wherein the fees it collects from streaming services are used to cover the costs of applying the regulatory framework established through the Online Streaming Act. These funds are not considered revenues and therefore are not distributed. Once fully implemented, the Online Streaming Act will see streaming services make financial contributions directly to the Canadian media and broadcasting ecosystem.