Broadcasting - Secretary General Letter addressed to Matthew Woodley and Tess Layton (Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP)
Gatineau, 19 December 2025
Reference: 2025-0453-9
BY EMAIL
Matthew Woodley
Tess Layton
Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP
Suite 1800 – Stantec Tower – 10220 103 avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0K4
MWoodley@rmrf.com
TLayton@rmrf.com
Subject: Application to designate The Western Producer as an eligible news business under the Online News Act (application 2025-0453-9)
Dear Matthew Woodley and Tess Layton,
Thank you for your application dated 11 August 2025, filed on behalf of Western Producer Publications Limited Partnership (The Western Producer), to be designated as an eligible news business under the Online News Act (the Act).
As you know, under the Act, the Commission is responsible for implementing and overseeing the bargaining framework to support fair negotiations between news businesses and the largest online platforms. Factors that determine whether the Act applies to a platform are set out in the government’s Online News Act Application and Exemption Regulations (the Regulations). Google Search, operated by Google LLC (Google), is the only regulated platform at this time.
In June 2024, Google entered into a funding agreement (the Agreement) with the Canadian Journalism Collective (CJC) and filed an exemption application with the Commission. As required by the Act, the Commission held a public proceeding to gather input on the Agreement. Based on the public record, the Commission exempted Google from participating in mandatory bargaining for a period of five years in Exemption Order from the Online News Act granted to Google, Online News Decision CRTC 2024-262, 28 October 2024 (Google Exemption Order). In light of the exemption, there is no mandatory bargaining taking place for the Commission to oversee.
Under the Regulations, the Agreement, and the Google Exemption Order, the CJC is responsible for the equitable distribution of the annual funding received from Google.
The CJC is an independent body that operates separately from the Commission. The Commission does not have the authority to participate in the CJC’s funding determinations or to override them.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Daniel Pye, Acting Director General, Broadcasting Policy, at Daniel.Pye@crtc.gc.ca or 613-614-5926.
Sincerely,
Marc Morin
Secretary General and Executive Vice-President
c.c.:
Orest Smysnuik, Chief Financial Officer, Glacier Media Inc., osmysnuik@glaciermedia.ca
Sarah Spring, Executive Director, Canadian Journalism Collective, Sarah.Spring@cjc.ccj.ca
Daniel Pye, Acting Director General, Broadcasting Policy, CRTC, Daniel.Pye@crtc.gc.ca
- Date modified: