OTTAWA (Reuters) – Major online streaming services operating in Canada will be required to contribute 5% of their Canadian revenues to support the domestic broadcasting system, the country’s telecoms regulator said on Tuesday.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said the money would be used to boost funding for local and aboriginal broadcasting. The measure would raise roughly C$200 million ($146 million) a year, they said.
“Today’s decision will help ensure that online streaming services make meaningful contributions to Canadian and Indigenous content,” CRTC chief executive Vicky Eatrides said in a statement.
The measure was introduced under the auspices of a law passed last year designed to make sure that firms like Netflix and Alphabet Inc-owned YouTube make more of a contribution to Canadian culture.
The government says the legislation will ensure that online streaming services promote Canadian music and stories, and support Canadian jobs.
The CRTC said the funding would be directed to areas of what it called immediate need in the broadcasting system, such as local news on radio and television, French-language content, and Indigenous content.
The decision is final and comes into effect in September. It will only apply to services that are not already affiliated with Canadian broadcasters.
($1 = 1.3676 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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