U.S. Motion Picture Association slams CRTC rules on Canadian content investment

A person browses a television menu showing icons for streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime in a photo illustration made in Toronto on Friday, March 22, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini

OTTAWA — The Motion Picture Association is slamming new streaming revenue rules in Canada, saying they impose unprecedented, unnecessary and discriminatory investment obligations on U.S. streaming services.

Canada’s broadcast regulator, the CRTC, said Thursday that large TV streaming services must contribute 15 per cent of their Canadian revenues to Canadian content.

That’s three times the initial contribution requirement the CRTC set out in 2024, which is being challenged in court by streamers including Apple, Amazon and Spotify.

The Motion Picture Association, which represents streamers including Netflix and Prime Video, says those rules triple the cost of doing business in Canada and it’s calling on the federal government to reconsider.

The CRTC made the decisions as part of its implementation of the Online Streaming Act, which the United States has identified as a trade irritant ahead of negotiations with Canada.

Canadian Heritage Minister Marc Miller says he is reviewing the CRTC’s decision, and that it’s paramount Canadians continue seeing themselves reflected on screens.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2026.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press