Carney says no tech tax, but streamer funding for Canadian content remains unclear

OTTAWA · Prime Minister Mark Carney has said a tax on big technology companies is not necessary, but his office will not say if that rules out mandatory financial contributions from streaming services for Canadian content. Carney made the comment in Montreal on Tuesday when asked about a CRTC requirement for streamers to pay a percentage of their revenues. The Liberal government said in June it wanted the regulator to back down on that contribution and would instead provide $600 million in annual funding directly. A government spokesperson confirmed the budget allocated $600 million only for this fiscal year and the amount could vary in future because the CRTC could still impose some level of financial contribution on streamers.

Spokespeople for the Prime Minister's Office did not respond to questions about the government's future position on requiring contributions from streamers. They also did not clarify which tax the prime minister was referencing, as CRTC-mandated contributions are not a tax. Culture Minister Marc Miller said this week that streamers will need to invest in Canadian content. "We will be asking the CRTC to establish some strict minimums that these streamers have to observe by if they want to do business in Canada, in making sure that they're investing, on their own balance sheet, into Canadian content," Miller told CTV News.

Miller suggested a distinction could be made between requiring payments into independent funds and mandating direct investments. He said part of a new directive would be "to establish the funds that these streamers themselves would reinvest, and that would carve out some of the $600 (million) that we announced in June and are now deploying." The minister added he could not guarantee the $600 million from the federal government every year, but "in one way or another, there will be money going into the ecosystem." He said details would come with a new policy directive to the CRTC. Michele Austin, president of Motion Picture Association, Canada, which represents large streamers, said Miller's comments were "definitely concerning and confusing." In a statement, the association said its members invest $5.3 billion annually making movies and series in Canada and commit another $1 billion to financing Canadian content. Canadian Media Producers Association president Reynolds Mastin said a key tenet of the Online Streaming Act is "ensuring that streaming services earning billions from Canadian subscribers contribute meaningfully to Canadian content."

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The contribution rules were imposed by the CRTC under the Online Streaming Act, which the United States has called a trade irritant. Ottawa cited U.S. demands on Canadian content visibility as a reason for cutting off trade talks over the summer. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the issue was the requirement for streaming companies to make financial contributions toward Canadian content. Last year, the Liberal government cancelled a separate digital services tax after opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump.

In 2024, the CRTC ordered large streaming companies to pay five per cent of their Canadian revenues to funds for Canadian content, but the Federal Court of Appeal paused the payments. In May, the regulator said it would require large services like Netflix to contribute 15 per cent of their Canadian revenues, setting rules on how the money must be spent. Netflix, asked for comment, pointed to public information about its commissioned shows, saying it has filmed in Canada for over a decade and contributed billions to GDP. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, representing some tech companies and streamers, opposes the CRTC's contribution requirements. The association's vice-president for digital trade Jonathan McHale said "any mandatory contribution would be discriminatory, so we would oppose it. That said, companies often see it in their interest to invest, and we also support that flexibility."

With files from The Canadian Press and BNN Bloomberg