Finance committee calls on government to ‘strengthen’ Online Streaming Act as public support for streamer payments grows

A parliamentary committee dominated by Liberal MPs is calling on the government to uphold mandatory Cancon payments for U.S. streaming companies under the Online Streaming Act (OSA), after Ottawa announced the policy would be changed. The House finance committee tabled its pre-budget report on Tuesday, representing the culmination of a monthslong consultation process with key stakeholder and advocacy groups. MPs heard from 90 witnesses representing a variety of industries and received more than 1,350 briefs over the summer. The final report contained 130 recommendations, including a call to “strengthen the Online Streaming Act by requiring meaningful Canadian content spending obligations and exhibition requirements on streaming platforms, tied to robust definitions of Canadian content that prioritize Canadian talent.” The OSA was introduced by Justin Trudeau’s government in 2022 with the intention of funnelling millions from U.S. companies, like Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., and Netflix Inc., to Canadian cultural producers, akin to regulations facing conventional broadcasters. In 2024, the CRTC mandated that eligible streamers allocate five per cent of Canadian revenues to designated funding agencies, though the decision continues to face ongoing legal challenges. More recently, the CRTC upped the contribution requirements to 15 per cent, but Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, Que.) asked the commission to review the decision and promised to issue the regulator a new policy direction. As first reported by The Wire Report, Ottawa also plans to axe the original five per cent rule, though the government has suggested some payments will still be mandated moving forwards, leaving the future of the policy unclear. However, the finance committee, the majority of which is composed of Liberal MPs, is recommending that Prime Minister Mark Carney (Nepean, Ont.) keep the policy and protect the payment structure in any future trade discussions with the U.S. One recommendation read that refusing U.S. efforts to scrap the policy (the White House has repeatedly identified the OSA as a trade “irritant”) would help “preserve Canada’s cultural sovereignty.” Liberals have held decision-making power in committee rooms since each group’s makeup was changed in April to mirror Carney’s majority in the House of Commons, which was earned following a slate of floor-cossings and byelection victories. Trudeau-era cabinet minister Karina Gould (Burlington, Ont.) chairs the committee, which also includes Liberal MPs Steeve Lavoie (Beauport—Limoilou, Que.), Carlos Leitão (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, Que.), Kent MacDonald (Cardigan, P.E.I.), Danielle Martin (University—Rosedale, Ont.), Jake Sawatzky (New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, B.C.), and Ryan Turnbull (Whitby, Ont.). The lone Bloc Québécois MP, Jean-Denis Garon (Mirabel, Que.), published a supplementary report, emphasizing that “the Bloc prompted the Committee to position itself in favour of strengthening the Online Streaming Act.” A dissenting opinion from the committee’s four Conservative MPs did not mention the OSA, though Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre (Battle River—Crowfoot, Alta.) has previously advocated for the end of what he calls a ‘Netflix tax’ and asked for the law to be repealed. The Wire Report contacted Miller’s office to ask for the minister’s thoughts on the committee’s recommendations. In response, spokesperson Hermine Landry said the government is “developing a new policy direction and will have more to share in due course.” Canadians overwhelmingly support streamers paying their way: Nanos Meanwhile, a new survey by Nanos Research discovered support for making foreign streamers contribute to Canadian programming has increased over the past four years. The public opinion firm conducted a poll earlier this month and found those who said they “support” the measure was at 48 per cent, while the “somewhat support” tally was 25 per cent, making a grand total of 73 per cent in favour. In comparison, a sampling done in May 2022 found 39 per cent supported the initiative and 28 per cent somewhat supported it, for a total of 67 per cent. The poll has an accuracy rate of plus or minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20. “Three out of every four Canadians support or somewhat support streaming services financially getting behind the creation of Canadian content, similar to the way that the broadcasters do,” company founder and chief data scientist Nik Nanos told The Wire Report. “So, they want to see Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, which are the ones we tested on, they’d like to see them put their shoulder to the wheel when it comes to supporting Canadian content.” Nanos also found that support for the measure was noticeable in all parts of the country. “One of the surprises is that the proportion of Canadians that support or somewhat support this is a majority across all regions and all demographic groups,” he explained. “It doesn’t matter what part of the country you’re from.” Support was weakest in the Prairies, where about six out of 10 favoured making streamers pay, which Nanos attributed to a historical aversion to government intervention in the marketplace. On the other hand, Quebecers enthusiastically endorsed the idea, with 80 per cent of those from la belle province either supporting or somewhat supporting the policy. “Quebec is kind of like the flip side to the Prairies,” Nanos said. “In Quebec, they’re more likely to be supportive of the government playing a role in promoting content, specifically Canadian content.” The poll also suggested there is a pronounced appetite for Canadian content regardless of platform, and Nanos assigned that to a “patriotic spillover” from the current battle with the U.S. over tariffs. dlegree@thewirereport.ca ppark@thewirereport.ca

Finance committee calls on government to ‘strengthen’ Online Streaming Act as public support for streamer payments grows

Regulatory |
By Paul Park and Davis Legree
|September 23, 2026

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Finance committee calls on government to ‘strengthen’ Online Streaming Act as public support for streamer payments grows

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