CRTC updates definition of Canadian content, says AI doesn’t count

OTTAWA – The federal broadcast regulator has released a new definition of Canadian content — and it says artificial intelligence can’t qualify.

The new definition maintains the same approach as the previous one by using a system to determine whether something is Cancon based on the number of Canadians occupying key creative positions in a production.

The modernized definition expands the list of positions that count toward the total to include jobs like showrunner, special effects director and head of costuming.

The CRTC says those roles must be staffed by humans, not AI. 

“Today’s decision also recognizes the usefulness and potential benefits of artificial intelligence as a creative tool to assist producers and creators. But that being said, we’ve heard concerns about the use of AI,” Scott Shortliffe, the CRTC’s vice-president of broadcasting, told a press briefing Tuesday.

The new definition allows productions to earn bonus points for cultural elements — identifiable Canadian characters or settings, for example, or stories based on Canadian publications.

“What we’re trying to do in this definition is broaden it so that more productions can be certified as Canadian,” said Shortliffe.

“Long-term, what we hope that will do is it will spur more collaborations, more money going into Canadian productions that will lead to more better-financed, high-level, glossy Canadian productions, as well as ensuring that you continue to get small point-of-view films and documentaries and television series.”

The Cancon definition, which applies to both traditional media and online streaming services, was released after the regulator held a two-week public hearing on the issue earlier this year.

The decision is part of the CRTC’s ongoing work to implement the Online Streaming Act, which updates broadcasting laws to capture online platforms like Netflix.

It introduces new disclosure requirements for large streaming platforms that will see the CRTC publish information on each streamer’s broadcasting revenues and spending on Canadian content.

“Certain online undertakings have expressed concerns that data disclosure could affect their level of competitiveness in the market,” the decision notes.

The regulator said in its view, it’s “unlikely that any harm resulting from disclosure of that data would outweigh the public interest, given the relatively large size of the online undertakings whose information is intended to be made public and their associated large impact on the Canadian broadcasting system.”

Shortliffe said the regulator doesn’t see the disclosure requirement as particularly onerous.

“Canadian companies have been required to do this for a very long time,” he noted.

The Motion Picture Association-Canada, which represents large streamers like Netflix, Paramount, Disney and Amazon, said Tuesday it was reviewing the decision.

Large foreign streamers are already challenging an earlier decision by the CRTC that says they must pay five per cent of their annual Canadian revenues into funds devoted to producing Canadian content.

Apple, Amazon and Spotify are fighting the order, while the Motion Picture Association-Canada is challenging a section requiring them to contribute to local news.

The Cancon decision also introduces a new minimum copyright requirement that applies in addition to the system that counts key creative positions. It says in order for a production to qualify as a Canadian program, at least 20 per cent of copyright must be held by a Canadian.

In a statement, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters said the decision issued by the CRTC Tuesday “is balanced, and adds some flexibility, while recognizing the importance of Canadian ownership of IP.”

It said the group is “also encouraged by the commission’s commitments to reducing administrative burden and levelling the reporting requirements of foreign and Canadian broadcasting companies.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2025.

— With files from Alex Nino Gheciu