Big streamers challenging financial disclosure rules in CRTC Cancon decision

OTTAWA – Large foreign streaming companies are fighting a requirement by the federal broadcast regulator to disclose financial information — part of the CRTC’s modernization of its definition of Canadian content.

A group of streamers, including Netflix and Amazon, filed the challenge in the Federal Court of Appeal in December.

The new disclosure requirements would see the regulator publish information about each large streamer’s broadcasting revenues and their spending on Canadian content.

In the court application filed by the Motion Picture Association—Canada, the companies say the new rule doesn’t give them a chance to argue the information should be treated confidentially.

The CRTC has a process allowing companies to make the case for treating the information they file in a confidential manner, but it would not apply to the new requirement.

“The CRTC unreasonably applied s. 25.3 of the Broadcasting Act in its determination to publish future sensitive financial information without giving the Applicants an opportunity to designate it as confidential and make representations at the time the information is provided,” the companies argue in the court document.

The streamers also say that disclosing the information would be seriously detrimental to them.

The CRTC declined to comment on the cases Wednesday. The regulator said in the November decision it believes it’s unlikely that any harm caused by the disclosure of the data would outweigh the public interest.

Scott Shortliffe, the CRTC’s vice-president of broadcasting, said at the time that the CRTC doesn’t see the disclosure requirement as particularly onerous and it’s something Canadian companies have long been required to do.

The Canadian Media Producers Association also filed a separate court challenge targeting a portion of the decision that sets new copyright ownership criteria. The decision states that in order for a program to be considered Canadian content, Canadians must hold at least 20 per cent of the copyright.

The group, which represents independent media producers, said the CRTC didn’t adequately consider whether copyright ownership actually “enables Canadians to control and benefit in a significant and equitable manner from the exploitation of the program,” as the law stipulates.

It said copyright ownership alone isn’t enough to satisfy that requirement, noting the association argued in front of the CRTC there is a significant imbalance in bargaining power between Canadian producers and broadcasters, which is amplified when it comes to foreign companies.

The November decision to modernize the definition of Cancon was part of the CRTC’s work to implement the Online Streaming Act, which updated broadcasting laws to capture online platforms like Netflix.

A number of streamers are already challenging an earlier decision by the CRTC that says they must pay five per cent of their annual Canadian revenues into funds devoted to producing Canadian content. That challenge was filed in 2024 but the court has not yet issued a decision.

The latest challenge comes amid pressure from the United States for Canada to scrap the Online Streaming Act as part of the review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2026.