Canada Halts 15% Netflix Fee as U.S. Pressure Forces Streaming Rules Rewrite
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 4
Canada Halts 15% Netflix Fee as U.S. Pressure Forces Streaming Rules Rewrite
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 4
Summary
Canada’s Liberal government ordered a new policy direction Wednesday that will make the CRTC rewrite its Online Streaming Act rules, sharply reducing or potentially scrapping payments from foreign streamers.
The reversal followed U.S. pressure after Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who has called the measure discriminatory and tied it to broader trade talks.
The CRTC had ruled that streamers with more than C$25 million in Canadian revenue must devote 15% of that revenue to Canadian and Indigenous content, a move expected to channel about C$2 billion a year.
Ottawa instead pledged C$600 million for the audio and audiovisual sector, drawing backlash from producers and Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet, who accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of yielding to U.S. tech interests.
The retreat echoes last summer’s repeal of Canada’s digital services tax, which had been projected to raise C$7.2 billion over five years before Trump threatened to halt negotiations.