Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2026-18

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Reference: 2025-299

Gatineau, 2 February 2026

Public record: 1011-NOC2026-0018

Call for comments on proposed Regulations Prescribing Canadian Programs and proposed amendments to the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987, the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, and the Discretionary Services Regulations

Deadline for submission of interventions: 7 April 2026

[Submit an intervention or view related documents]

Summary

In Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2025-299, the Commission set out a modernized certification framework for Canadian programming in the audio-visual sector. In order to give effect to the Commission’s policy determinations, the Commission calls for comments on proposed Regulations Prescribing Canadian Programs and on proposed consequential amendments to the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987, the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, and the Discretionary Services Regulations.

Anyone can comment on the wording of the proposed new regulations and of the proposed amendments to the existing regulations, and of their proposed coming into force date (September 1, 2026), by filing an intervention on or before 7 April 2026.

Background

1. In Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2025-299 (the Policy), the Commission set out a modernized certification framework for Canadian programming in the audio-visual sector, including a modernized definition of what constitutes a Canadian program in the audio-visual sector. More specifically, the Commission set out the specific criteria, including a points system for key creative positions and functions, to be used to define what constitutes a Canadian program for all broadcasting undertakings (including online undertakings) in the audio-visual sector.^{Footnote 1}
2. To give effect to the Commission’s policy determinations, paragraph 10(1)(b) of the Broadcasting Act (the Act) authorizes the Commission to make regulations defining what constitutes a Canadian program. Therefore, the Commission proposes to make the Regulations Prescribing Canadian Programs to incorporate the criteria set out in Appendix 1 to the Policy, as well as the information on interpreting the modernized certification framework and verifying applications for certification set out in Appendix 2 to the Policy.
3. In light of this, the Commission proposes to amend the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 and the Discretionary Services Regulations to remove the definition of “Canadian program,” which would now be set out in the proposed new regulations for the purposes of broadcasting undertakings in the audio-visual sector.
4. As determined in the Policy and reflected in the proposed new Regulations Prescribing Canadian Programs, the Commission will allow productions that already qualify as Canadian programs under the current regulations to maintain their qualification as Canadian programs. In other words, programs that qualified as Canadian programs before the proposed new regulations come into force will still qualify as Canadian programs.
5. To align with the start of the broadcast year and to allow the transition to the new certification framework, the new regulations and consequential amendments to existing regulations would come into force on 1 September 2026, or on the day they are registered if registration occurs after 1 September 2026. The modernized certification framework would apply to all applications received after this date.
6. The Commission will assess applications for certification of a Canadian program received before the new regulations take effect (including those submitted before and after the publication date of the Policy) under the framework set out in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2023-90.
7. However, during that period, applicants can request in their applications to be certified under the modernized certification framework. In such cases, the application will be put on hold and subsequently evaluated after the proposed new regulations come into force.

8. Finally, the Commission proposes to make certain housekeeping amendments to existing regulations. Specifically, it proposes to:

   • delete the definition of “clock hour” in the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 since the term no longer appears in those regulations;
   • amend the definitions of “advertising material” in the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 and the Discretionary Services Regulations to remove the references to Canadian feature films and to align the wording of the two definitions; and
   • modernize the title of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 by replacing it with Television Broadcasting Regulations,^{Footnote 2} and make consequential amendments to certain provisions of the Discretionary Services Regulations and the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations to reflect the new title.

What you need to know to participate in this proceeding

Procedure

9. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure (the Rules of Procedure) apply to the present proceeding. Accordingly, the procedure set out below must be read in conjunction with the Rules of Procedure and related documents, which can be found on the Commission’s website under “Statutes and Regulations.” The guidelines set out in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-959 provide information to help interested persons and parties understand the Rules of Procedure so that they can more effectively participate in Commission proceedings.

Submitting comments

10. The Commission invites comments on the wording of the proposed Regulations Prescribing Canadian Programs, set out in Appendix 1 to this notice of consultation, and on the wording of the proposed amendments to the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987, the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, and the Discretionary Services Regulations, set out in Appendix 2. Interest persons are also invited to provide comments on the appropriateness of the proposed coming into force date (September 1, 2026) for the proposed new regulations and consequential amendments to the existing regulations. The Commission will accept interventions that it receives on or before 7 April 2026.
11. Interested persons who wish to become parties to this proceeding must submit an intervention.
12. Any interested persons and parties can request accommodations to participate in this proceeding. Accommodations could be related to disability, or to other reasons, like religious observance, or to a combination of reasons. If you wish to request accommodations in filing your comments, you are encouraged to make your request within the first 15 days after this notice of consultation is posted on the Commission’s website.
13. Interested persons and parties who require assistance submitting comments can contact the Commission’s Hearings & Public Proceedings group at hearing@crtc.gc.ca.
14. For more information on accessibility and accommodations in Commission proceedings, please see Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2025-95.
15. Pursuant to Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2015-242, the Commission expects incorporated entities and associations, and encourages all interested persons and parties, to file submissions for Commission proceedings in accessible formats (for example, text-based file formats that allow text to be enlarged or modified, or read by screen readers). To provide assistance in this regard, the Commission has posted on its website guidelines for preparing documents in accessible formats.
16. Interested persons and parties can coordinate, organize, and file, in a single submission, interventions by other interested persons or parties who share their position. Information on how to file this type of submission, known as a joint supporting intervention, as well as a template for the covering letter to be filed by the parties, can be found in Broadcasting Information Bulletin 2010-28-1.
17. Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary. Each paragraph of all submissions should be numbered, and the line ***End of document*** should follow the last paragraph. This will help the Commission verify that the document has not been damaged during electronic transmission.
18. All documents required to be served on parties to the proceeding must be served using the contact information contained in the interventions.
19. The Commission encourages interested persons and parties to monitor the record of the proceeding, available on the Commission’s website, for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their submissions.

20. Submissions must be filed by sending them to the Secretary General of the Commission using only one of the following means:

    by completing the
    [Intervention/comment/answer form]

    or

    by mail to
    CRTC, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0N2

    or

    by fax at
    819-994-0218

21. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, a document must be received by the Commission and all relevant parties by 5 p.m. Vancouver time (8 p.m. Gatineau time) on the date it is due. Parties are responsible for ensuring the timely delivery of their submissions and will not be notified if their submissions are received after the deadline. Late submissions, including those due to postal delays, will not be considered by the Commission and will not be made part of the public record.
22. The Commission will not formally acknowledge submissions. It will, however, fully consider all submissions, which will form part of the public record of the proceeding, provided that the procedure for filing set out above has been followed.
23. Parties who send documents electronically must ensure that they will be able to prove, upon Commission request, that filing or, where required, service of a particular document was completed. Accordingly, parties must keep proof of the sending and receipt of each document for 180 days after the date on which the document is filed or served. The Commission advises parties who file or serve documents by electronic means to exercise caution when using email for the service of documents, as it may be difficult to establish that service has occurred.

Confidentiality notice

24. The Commission’s proceedings are designed to allow everyone to provide input so that it can make an informed decision in the public interest. As a result, the general rule is that all information filed with the Commission is placed on the public record so that it can be accessed by everyone.
25. However, the Commission also often needs detailed information from the companies it regulates and supervises to make an informed decision. This information can be commercially sensitive, especially as the environment in which the companies operate becomes more competitive. The Commission will therefore accept certain information as confidential.
26. Parties can designate information as confidential under subsection 25.3(1) of the Act and provide a detailed rationale as to why that information should be considered confidential. The Commission reminds parties that when a document is filed with confidential information, an abridged version must also be filed so that it can be included in the public record.

Privacy notice

27. Please note the following:

    • Documents will be posted on the Commission’s website exactly as received, in the official language and format in which they are received. This includes any personal information contained in them, such as full names, email addresses, postal/street addresses, and telephone and fax numbers.
    • All personal information parties provide as part of this proceeding, except information designated as confidential, will be posted on the Commission’s website and can be accessed by others.
    • However, the information parties provide can only be accessed from the web page of this particular proceeding. As a result, a general search of the Commission’s website using either its search engine or a third-party search engine will not provide access to the information that was provided as part of this proceeding.
    • Personal information that parties provide may be used by the Commission for the purpose the information was obtained, or for a similar purpose.

Availability of documents

28. Links to interventions, as well as other documents referred to in this notice, are available on the Commission’s Consultations and hearings: have your say page.
29. Interested persons can find electronic versions of the documents by clicking on Submit an intervention or view related documents at the top of this notice.

30. Documents are available upon request during normal business hours by contacting:

    Documentation Centre
    Examinationroom@crtc.gc.ca

    Client Services
    Toll-free telephone: 1-877-249-2782
    Toll-free TTY: 1-877-909-2782

Secretary General

Related documents

• The Path Forward – Defining “Canadian program” and supporting the creation and distribution of Canadian programming in the audio-visual sector – Part 1 – Certification framework for Canadian programs, artificial intelligence, data collection and publication, and reporting requirements, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2025-299, 18 November 2025
• Accessibility and accommodations guidelines, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2025-95, 14 May 2025
• Change to the treatment of stock footage costs as part of the evaluation of applications for Canadian program certification, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2023-90, 23 March 2023
• Filing submissions for Commission proceedings in accessible formats, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2015-242, 8 June 2015
• Guidelines on the CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-959, 23 December 2010
• Changes to certain practices for filing interventions – Expansion of filing practices to include the filing of joint supporting comments for broadcasting policy proceedings, Broadcasting Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-28-1, 10 December 2010

Appendix 1 to Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2026‑18

Proposed Regulations Prescribing Canadian Programs

Regulations Prescribing Canadian Programs

Canadian program

1 A program consisting of visual images or a combination of sounds and visual images constitutes a Canadian program for the purposes of the Broadcasting Act if it is

(a) a program in respect of which a Canadian film or video production certificate, as defined in subsection 125.4(1) of the Income Tax Act, has been issued;

(b) a program that qualifies as a Canadian program in accordance with the criteria established by the Commission in Appendices 1 and 2 to Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2025-299 dated November 18, 2025 and entitled The Path Forward – Defining “Canadian program” and supporting the creation and distribution of Canadian programming in the audio-visual sector – Part 1 – Certification framework for Canadian programs, artificial intelligence, data collection and publication, and reporting requirements; or

(c) a program that, immediately before September 1, 2026, is a Canadian program as defined in section 2 of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 or section 1 of the Discretionary Services Regulations as that section reads immediately before that date.

Coming into force

2 These Regulations come into force on September 1, 2026, but if they are registered after that day, they come into force on the day on which they are registered.

Appendix 2 to Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2026-18

Proposed Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Broadcasting Act

Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Broadcasting Act

Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987

1 The long title of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 ^{Footnote 3} is replaced by the following:

Television Broadcasting Regulations

2 Section 1 of the Regulations and the heading before it are repealed.

3 (1) The definitions Canadian program and clock hour in section 2 of the Regulations are repealed.

(2) Paragraph (d) of the definition advertising material in section 2 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(d) a promotion for a Canadian program, even if a sponsor is identified in the title of the program or is identified as a sponsor of that program, as long as the identification is limited to the sponsor’s name and does not include a description, representation or attribute of the sponsor’s products or services; (matériel publicitaire)

4 Section 19 of the Regulations and the heading before it are repealed.

Broadcasting Distribution Regulations

5 The portion of the definition locally reflective news programming in section 1 before paragraph (a) of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations ^{Footnote 4} is replaced by the following:

locally reflective news programming means a program from category 1 or 2(a) set out in item 6, column 1, of Schedule I to the Television Broadcasting Regulations

Discretionary Services Regulations

6 (1) The definition Canadian program in section 1 of the Discretionary Services Regulations ^{Footnote 5} is repealed.

(2) Paragraph (c) of the definition advertising material in section 1 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(c) a promotion for a Canadian program, even if a sponsor is identified in the title of the program or as a sponsor of that program, as long as the identification is limited to the sponsor’s name and does not include a description, representation or attribute of the sponsor’s products or services. (matériel publicitaire)

7 Section 18 of the Regulations is repealed.

8 The portion of item 6 of Part C of Schedule 2 to the Regulations in column 2 is replaced by the following:

9 The portion of item 1 of Part D of Schedule 2 to the Regulations in column 2 is replaced by the following:

Coming into force

10 These Regulations come into force on September 1, 2026, but if they are registered after that day, they come into force on the day on which they are registered.

Date modified:

2026-02-02