Canadian airwaves could soon be flooded with more U.S. TV and movies

At a Monday hearing with the CRTC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation took the stand to argue against relaxing the rules on Canadian content. 

The CRTC started with public consults in February and has heard from large Canadian broadcast companies like Bell and Rogers. Large foreign companies like Netflix and Amazon were represented by the Motion Picture Association-Canada. 

As it stands, there are various rules for making sure Canadian content is played in Canada. This applies to how much music and TV/movies we see, and how many of the people who worked on it are Canadian.

Presentation by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada https://t.co/visttq16xOhttps://t.co/DFEh20ICrv

— CRTC Hearings (@CRTCHearings) May 26, 2025

These rules haven't been changed in a while but generally, 55 per cent of all programming aired on Canadian TV each year needs to be Canadian-made. These rules were lowered from 60 per cent in 2011.

Now, these rules are being debated again with the inclusion of large streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and others debating how these rules should be followed with modern streaming services that are based out of the U.S.

The CBC has taken the stage to argue that foreign streamers shouldn't be the ones to mandate what happens with Canadian content, according to a document published by the CRTC. The public broadcaster said that relaxing CanCon rules is a "slippery slope" and that Canadian stories should be told by Canadians.