Canada is moving ahead with a major expansion of its Online Streaming Act (OSA), raising the financial burden on large streaming platforms and renewing a fight with major US media and tech companies. The latest move by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) deepens rules that already sparked legal and trade concerns when the law first took effect in 2023.
The Online Streaming Act was designed to bring streaming services under rules that long applied to traditional broadcasters. The goal is simple: companies that profit from Canadian audiences should help fund Canadian culture, local storytelling, and public interest media.
Now, the CRTC has taken that goal further.
Canada Increases Streaming Revenue Levies to Support Domestic Content
Under earlier rules announced in 2024, streaming companies making more than $25 million each year from Canadian subscribers had to devote 5% of their Canadian revenue to support domestic content programs. That alone drew pushback from companies such as Netflix, Spotify, Apple, and Amazon.
The regulator’s new framework increases the overall levy to 15%.
The expanded system keeps the original 5% contribution but adds broader funding duties tied to content production, partnerships, and media support. Much of the money will go toward Canadian programming. The CRTC also set aside 30% of the allocation for French-language content, reflecting Canada’s bilingual media system and long-standing efforts to protect French cultural production.
The new rules do not stop there.
Broadcasting groups that earn more than $100 million each year will face added requirements. They must direct 30% of some spending toward partnerships with Canadian production firms. At least 15% of those funds must support Canadian journalism.
Canadian regulators say the full rollout of the OSA could generate about $2 billion in new funding for Canadian, Indigenous, and French-language content. The CRTC is also building a discoverability system meant to make Canadian programs easier to find on streaming platforms.
Supporters argue that these measures are needed because media habits have changed. Viewers now spend more time on streaming services than on cable or broadcast television. Traditional broadcasters have funded Canadian content for decades under regulatory rules. Streaming companies, critics of the old system say, operated without the same obligations while drawing growing revenue from Canadian households.
Yet the new framework faces strong opposition.
US Tech Giants and CRTC Clash Over New Canadian Regulations
Several US companies and industry groups challenged the earlier OSA rules in Canadian federal court. Those challengers include Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and the Canadian arm of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). Many expect legal fights to continue after the CRTC’s latest announcement.
CRTC vice-president of broadcasting Scott Shortliffe made clear that the regulator does not plan to pause implementation.
He noted that the CRTC operates as a quasi-judicial body with powers similar to a federal tribunal. Any challenge to its rulings must go through the Federal Court of Appeal.
Shortliffe also defended the regulator’s role in blunt terms. The commission, he said, must carry out its mandate. It will not wait for court decisions before moving forward. He added that companies rarely welcome regulation, especially when it requires higher payments into an existing system.
The federal government has signaled that it is reviewing the decision.
Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller said Canadians should be able to access local shows and series on the digital platforms they use every day. His comments reflect a broader policy argument behind the OSA: cultural protection in the streaming age.
US companies see the matter very differently.
The Motion Picture Association called the new rules “unprecedented, unnecessary, and discriminatory”. The group argues that the obligations target American streaming services that operate in Canada and force them into a funding model they did not choose.
The dispute may also grow into a trade issue.
Canada’s Cultural Policy Faces a Trade Showdown
Canadian officials maintain that the Online Streaming Act fits within the cultural exemption included in the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). That exemption gives Canada room to protect and promote its cultural industries.
The MPA disputes that view. It argues that the OSA framework violates trade commitments under the agreement.
The outcome could shape more than Canada’s media market.
Countries around the world are looking for ways to regulate global streaming platforms while protecting local culture and media industries. Canada’s approach offers one model. The legal and trade response may show how far governments can go when they try to make global platforms fund national content systems.
