Any content produced, commissioned by Canadian broadcasters should count under CanCon framework, Rogers argues to CRTC

In the CRTC’s review of its framework identifying what qualities classify audio-visual productions as Canadian content (CanCon), Rogers Communications Inc. stated Friday, May 23 that any content made by Canadian broadcaster companies should get that distinction. Vice president of regulatory with Rogers Sports & Media Susan Wheeler told a CRTC hearing panel the company believes any program produced or commissioned by a Canadian owned and controlled broadcaster “should automatically qualify as Canadian,” because such productions would fall under the control of Canadians. “Adopting this approach would support the principle that Canadians should exercise creative and financial control over Canadian production by ensuring Canadians retain a majority ownership interest in the intellectual property rights…of the Canadian program if all broadcasting undertakings are required to operate under a point system. According to the existing points system, points are awarded to productions that place Canadian workers in key creative positions, including director, screenwriter, production designers, and picture editors. In addition to other requirements, “the production earns a minimum of six out of 10 points based on the key creative functions that are performed by Canadians,” the rules state. Rogers is of the opinion that “only a simple majority” of the creative positions on a production must be met to be Canadian to qualify as CanCon, Wheeler said, adding that none of the creative positions should be mandatory in meeting that simple majority. “This simplification and added flexibility will encourage partnerships and help ensure that Canadian programs being produced reflect the market and meet the needs of domestic audiences,” Wheeler said. The CRTC has proposed expanding the current framework to a 15-point system, where productions would need to earn at least nine points. The new criteria would bring in several other positions, including showrunner – a position which has been contested during the hearing, as well as head of costume design, key make-up or hair artist, and visual effects director. Wheeler argued the expanded point system proposed by the regulator is “suited more for foreign online streamers than Canadian broadcasters.” Increasing the number of eligible positions to 15 “would do little to enhance our flexibility or encourage collaborations,” Wheeler said. Friends of Canadian Media’s executive director Marla Boltman said Friday that arguments to include roles such as editors or hair and makeup artists come off as “the streamers putting their thumb on the points scale in an attempt to have foreign service production masquerade as Canadian content,” given that those positions do not have the same sort of influence over a production as a producer or director would. “The foreign streamers have given every indication that they do not like Canadian broadcasting regulation and in the last three years, more particularly in the last 10 days, they’ve done very little to build up the good will and credibility that would enable the commission to grant the blind trust to which they believe they are owed,” Boltman said Rogers’ representatives also spoke about “risky” content, meaning content that might not be successful, financially, offering the example of producing local news and children’s content, a format which has been raised several times during the hearing so far. “From our perspective, this is not a case of market failure – this is actually a market outcome. This is a response to a functioning market audience. In this case, kids have spoken, and they're leaving the traditional system. We know that's the case,” said Dean Shaikh, Rogers’ vice senior vice president of regulatory. “My fear is that because there's a perceived market outcome that the commission is not satisfied with, it may introduce regulatory tools that really aren't about market failure, but actually create market distortions and inefficiencies.” Shaikh went on to say it’s an issue of demand and that kids do not want programming from traditional platforms in the way they once did. To force allocation of more money for kids content could mean less content makes its way to content like local news. “The right response to an issue of decreasing demand is not to increase supply. And my fear is, in this hearing, there's been a suggestion that, because kids are leaving the traditional system, maybe we need to fund more or dedicate more funds to kids programming, allocate some CPE to kids programming. This would be an example of what we would argue is a harmful regulatory distortion, because you're actually responding in the wrong way to the wrong problem,” Shaikh said. Jocelyn Hamilton, president of television at Lionsgate, told the panel the company would propose not to include any mandatory positions in the list of key creative positions and instead include a list of supplementary positions to select from once a minimum of six out of 10 have been reached. “Eliminating mandatory positions ensures a fair application of the points across all genres and ensures there is no discrimination against other key contributors, outside of writers and directors. We also think the addition of supplemental positions is important because it reflects bench depth that we have as a Canadian industry,” Hamilton said. Lionsgate is against the introduction of a showrunner position since it is not currently a credited position in the Canadian production industry and does not have a consistent definition. hdaley@thewirereport.ca

Any content produced, commissioned by Canadian broadcasters should count under CanCon framework, Rogers argues to CRTC

Regulatory |
By Hannah Daley
| May 23, 2025

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Any content produced, commissioned by Canadian broadcasters should count under CanCon framework, Rogers argues to CRTC

Regulatory | By Hannah Daley | May 23, 2025

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Regulatory |
By Hannah Daley
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