Departmental Results Report 2021-22

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

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The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage

His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, 2022

Catalogue No. BC9-27E-PDF

ISSN 2560-9971

Table of contents

• From the Minister
• Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer’s message
• Results at a glance
• Results: what we achieved
  • Core responsibility
  • Internal services
• Spending and human resources
  • Spending
  • Human resources
  • Expenditures by vote
  • Government of Canada spending and activities
  • Financial statements and financial statements highlights
• Corporate Information
  • Organizational profile
  • Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
  • Operating context
  • Reporting framework
• Supporting information on the program inventory
• Supplementary information tables
• Federal tax expenditures
• Organizational contact information
• Appendix: definitions
• Endnotes

From the Minister

Each year, organizations within the Canadian Heritage Portfolio make arts and culture shine, preserve our heritage and strive to listen to Canadians in order to best respond to their needs. In 2021-22, these organizations, including the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), fulfilled their mandate despite challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. They also contributed to the Government of Canada’s efforts in promoting the cherished values of equity, diversity and inclusion in Canadian society.

During the last fiscal year, the CRTC focused on the proceeding for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada’s broadcasting licences. The CRTC assessed Canadians’ comments and the evidence submitted by interested parties on how the national public broadcaster should continue to fulfill its mandate across all its services and platforms in the coming years. After the publication of the CRTC’s licence renewal decision, an order from the Governor in Council was issued, referring the decision back to the Commission for its reconsideration on how to ensure that the Corporation continues to make important contributions to local news, children’s programming, original French-language programming and programming produced by independent producers.

The CRTC has also been working towards introducing a three-digit number for mental health and suicide prevention services. Implementing this in Canada would have many benefits, including directing a caller to the appropriate mental health or suicide prevention service in their area. This initiative could help someone receive the support they urgently need.

Finally, the CRTC has been actively working to prepare for its new responsibilities under Bill C-11 and Bill C-18. As the media ecosystem changes, we must rethink the way we regulate online content and digital platforms. The CRTC will have an important role in establishing how online broadcasters will support Canadian content and in ensuring that there is fairness across the digital news market.

As Minister of Canadian Heritage, I invite you to have a look at the 2021–22 Departmental Results Report for the CRTC to get a better idea of its accomplishments in service to Canadians.

The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez

Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer’s message

Over the course of the last year, the CRTC has continued its work in the public interest towards a better, more inclusive and world-class communications system for all Canadians. We strive for a fully connected Canada, and more reliable and affordable telecommunications services for all Canadians.

In April 2021, the CRTC announced measures to increase competition in the mobile wireless services market. As a result, regional providers will be able to offer competitive services to Canadians, as well as resell wholesale access to mobile virtual network operators. We are confident that our actions will provide Canadians with more choice and further contribute to lower prices, while ensuring that wireless providers continue to invest in their networks.

Furthermore, the CRTC’s Broadband Fund selected 21 additional projects in the last year. By the end of March 2022, the Broadband Fund had committed $206 million towards upgrading existing or building new infrastructure across Canada where communities need it most. Canadians in remote and underserved areas are increasingly getting access to reliable, high-speed Internet.

Additionally, a major focus, on the telecommunications side, was paving the way for the introduction of a three-digit number for mental health crisis and suicide prevention services. The CRTC held a public consultation to seek views on how this number could be implemented across Canada, among other issues. This is an extremely important matter and the CRTC worked diligently to analyze the comments and evidence submitted.

In February of this year, we also directed telecommunications service providers to provide paper bills upon request and at no charge to customers who self-identify as people with disabilities. This will ensure that more vulnerable customers can easily access paper bills from their service providers.

The CRTC has been actively involved with the STIR/SHAKEN initiative, which enables telecommunications service providers to better authenticate and verify caller identification information for voice-over-IP voice calls. We also investigated one of the largest marketplaces that operated on the Dark Web, and especially targeted Canadians. Those are but two initiatives that were undertaken to better protect Canadians.

Finally, I wanted to note the work on the renewal of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada’s (CBC∕SRC) broadcasting licences. We have also been working on the review of the commercial radio policy. Both are focused on ensuring that broadcasters can meet the needs and interests of Canadians as the media environment continues to evolve.

We are also mindful of the ways in which a diversity of opinions can positively influence the public record in our proceedings. With this in mind, we are looking at new ways of consulting with Canadians to ensure we hear from as diverse a group of stakeholders as possible, including Indigenous Peoples and ethno-cultural communities.

I invite you to read the Commission’s 2021–22 Departmental Results Report, which demonstrates our hard work and dedication in the public interest. My sincere gratitude goes out to everyone at the CRTC for serving Canadians to the best of their ability, despite the ongoing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Their professionalism and dedication have been instrumental in enabling the CRTC to achieve its mandate in these challenging times.

Ian Scott

Results at a glance

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) achieved the following key results in 2021-22:

• In June 2021, the CRTC initiated a proceeding on the introduction of an abbreviated dialing three-digit number for Canadians to call when seeking assistance for mental health crisis and suicide prevention. This number will provide Canadians with a more efficient method to connect to existing mental health crisis and suicide prevention services.
• The CRTC approved Rogers’ acquisition of Shaw’s^{Endnote i} broadcasting services. If the transaction is completed, Rogers will be required to make various contributions to funds that support local news as well as the production of content by Indigenous producers and members of equity seeking groups.
• Canadians are now better protected against nuisance calls with the CRTC’s 2021-22 decisions related to STIR/SHAKEN^{Footnote 1}, call blocking mechanisms and a nuisance call traceback process.

The CRTC’s total actual spending in 2021–22 was $73,347,006 and its total number of actual full-time equivalents was 538.

For more information on the CRTC’s plans, priorities and results achieved, see the “Results: what we achieved” section of this report.

Results: what we achieved

Core responsibility

Regulate and Supervise the Communications System

Description

The CRTC is an administrative tribunal that is responsible for regulating and supervising Canada’s communications system in the public interest.

Established to develop, implement and enforce regulatory policies on the Canadian communications system, the CRTC performs a wide range of functions, including rule making and policy development. It has the quasi-judicial powers of a superior court with respect to the production and examination of evidence and the enforcement of its decisions. As an administrative tribunal it operates at arm’s length from the federal government.

The CRTC develops regulatory policies for Canada’s communication system; approves mergers, acquisitions and changes of ownership of broadcasting distribution undertakings; approves tariffs and agreements for certain telecommunication services; issues, renews and amends licences for broadcasting distribution and programming undertakings; and resolves competitive disputes. The CRTC intervenes specifically in situations where market forces alone cannot achieve the policy objectives set out within its legislative mandate.

Results

Departmental Results 1 and 4: “Canadian content is created” as a result of processes that are “efficient and fair”

The CRTC met the target for its role in the creation of Canadian content in 2021-22. The total investment in Canadian TV programming production for the year exceeded the minimum target of $4 billion at $4.01 billion.

To fulfill its commitments set out in the 2021-22 Departmental Plan, the CRTC:

• Approved Rogers’ acquisition of Shaw’s^{Endnote ii} broadcasting services and, if the transaction is completed, Rogers will be required to make various contributions to funds that support local news as well as the production of content by Indigenous producers and members of equity seeking groups.
• Examined potential options for the appropriate measures that would be required for online undertakings to contribute in an equitable manner to the creation and promotion of Canadian content in both official languages and in Indigenous languages, in light of anticipated changes^{Footnote 2} to the Broadcasting Act.
• Continued its review of the terms to be set out for the licence renewals of the radio and TV stations owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada (CBC/SRC). In its review, the CRTC focused on shifting to a modern approach to ensure that the CBC/SRC’s programming will meet the needs and interests of all Canadians, in both official languages, across all its traditional and digital services. (decision published 22 June 2022^{Footnote 3Endnote iii})
• Continued to co-develop a new regulatory framework for Indigenous broadcasting with Indigenous Peoples. The renewed framework aims to ensure that Canadian broadcasting properly reflects the cultures, languages and perspectives of Indigenous Peoples.
• Continued to review the commercial radio policy framework, which includes policies on Canadian content levels, local news, French vocal music requirements, Canadian content development and diversity of voices.
• Entered the final development stage of the MAPL digital database in preparation for testing (database expected to be made available to the public by fall 2022) and continued developing its digital monitoring system for tracking compliance, trends and various metrics in the radio market, for both conventional and digital stations (expected to enter its testing stage in late 2023).

Departmental Results 2 and 4: “Canadians are connected to world-class communications services” as a result of processes that are “efficient and fair”

In 2021-22, the CRTC continued working towards its targets for connecting Canadians to world-class communications services. The CRTC surpassed its December 2021 target of 90% of households having access to fixed broadband 50/10 Internet access services with the option of an unlimited data plan by December 2021, with a result of 91.2%. The percentage of households with access to the latest mobile wireless technology (LTE) in 2021 was 99.4%, well on its way to the target of 100% by December 2026.

Canada had a 4.8 percentage point lead on the OECD average of total high capacity fixed broadband subscriptions. Although the target of a 7.9 percentage point lead was not met, Canada remains above the OECD average again this year and has registered increases in subscriptions to high capacity broadband connections in 2021 (adding a total of 291,018 broadband subscribers over 2021). The decrease can therefore be explained by other OECD countries registering faster take-up for these connections, especially for fibre connections, where the OECD average has surpassed Canada. This could also partly be attributed to the continued, yet slowly decreasing, reliance on digital subscriber line (DSL) connections by Canadian households, given that DSL connections are not considered high capacity broadband connections.

In the 2021-22 Departmental Plan, the CRTC stated that it would continue to ensure that Canadians are connected to world-class communications services. To fulfill its commitment, the CRTC:

• Approved funding to selected applicants for 39 projects under the CRTC’s Broadband Fund^{Endnote iv} to build or upgrade broadband infrastructure in order to increase connectivity for approximately 30,405 households in 170 communities, including 84 Indigenous communities, in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Yukon.
• Initiated a proceeding on the introduction of an abbreviated dialing three-digit number for Canadians to call when seeking assistance for mental health crisis and suicide prevention. This number will provide Canadians with a more efficient method to connect to existing mental health crisis and suicide prevention services. (decision published 31 August 2022)
• Established measures to improve access to mobile wireless services and competitive conditions. Some of these measures include the following:
  • Requiring that Canada’s dominant providers provide a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) access service to other wireless providers as they build out their networks in order to offer Canadians more choice and affordable options;
  • Allowing regional providers to resell this wholesale MVNO access to other providers to further enable competition in the market; and
  • Requiring national wireless carriers to implement seamless roaming in order to provide consumers with fewer dropped calls and improve alternative competitive offerings.
• Continued to advance the Telecommunications in the Far North proceeding to support and respond to the unique needs of consumers and businesses in the Far North.
• Continued to advance consultations on the following:
  • Potential barriers to building new broadband facilities or interconnecting to existing broadband facilities in underserved areas; and
  • Potential regulatory measures to make access to poles owned by Canadian carriers more efficient.
• Continued to work towards creating regulatory certainty within the wholesale high speed access regime by finalizing the rates for aggregated wholesale access service and continuing to analyze the appropriate network configuration for disaggregated wholesale high speed access service.
• Continued to advance the review of the methodology and approach to rate setting of wholesale telecommunications services in order to establish a more transparent and efficient process.
• Announced the addition of virtual discussion sessions in American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) as part of the proceeding to review the regulatory framework for video relay service (VRS) in Canada. These sessions, which will be held in mid to late 2022, will provide an alternative way for users of VRS to provide feedback about their experiences using the service.

Departmental Results 3 and 4: “Canadians are protected within the communications system” as a result of processes that are “efficient and fair”

In 2021-22, the CRTC met all four of its targets related to protecting Canadians by and within their communications system. All (100%) organizations remained compliant^{Footnote 4} for 12 months after enforcement action was taken on unsolicited commercial communications, surpassing the 80% target; 96.4% of broadcasting undertakings participated in the public alerting system while 99.98% of Canadian subscribers had access to public alerting through wireless service providers, both exceeding their targets of 90%. All (100%) facilities-based telecommunications service providers (TSPs) were in compliance with 9-1-1 requirements^{Footnote 5}.

The 2021-22 Departmental Plan stated that the CRTC would help protect Canadians within the communications system. To do so, the CRTC:

• Directed TSPs to provide paper bills, upon request and at no charge, to customers who identify as persons with a disability; customers without home Internet access or mobile data services; and seniors aged 65 or older. This will ensure that more vulnerable customers can easily access bills from their TSPs.
• Modified the CRTC Secret Shopper Project to capture customers’ experience in shopping for low-cost and occasional use plans, and adjusted the questionnaire to ensure the experience of seniors is accurately captured. The results of the 2021-22 edition of the project will be available on the CRTC website in September 2022.
• Continued to protect Canadians against nuisance calls and spam by:
  • Requiring that, effective 30 November 2021, as a condition of offering and providing telecommunications services, TSPs must implement STIR/SHAKEN to authenticate and validate Internet Protocol-based (IP-based) voice calls;
  • Approving a request from Bell Canada and its affiliates to transition its call-blocking mechanism from a trial to a permanent offering. The mechanism uses artificial intelligence technology to allow a TSP to block certain fraudulent and scam voice calls. During the trial, over 1.1 billion calls were successfully blocked before ever reaching Canadians;
  • Approving the rollout of a traceback process towards full deployment whereby TSPs can trace nuisance calls back to their points of origin;
  • Promoting compliance with the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules (UTRs), Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) and the Voter Contact Registry through various outreach and engagement activities, including the following:
    • stakeholder interactions, video meetings, video partner briefings, video conference presentations, webinars and a fireside chat by the CRTC’s Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer with the Retail Council of Canada
    • three new educational videos that provide tips on how to comply with Canada’s marketing rules posted on its YouTube playlist, Spam and Telemarketing – A recipe for success
    • news releases to encourage businesses to comply and to highlight the penalties associated with non-compliance
  • Raising awareness of CASL among Canadians through activities such as the publication of online information resources on the CRTC website (e.g., biannual snapshots of CASL enforcement activities, an easy-to-follow infographic on how to spot an online scam), and sending social media alerts associated with investment scams, including paying in cryptocurrencies.
• Issued a total amount payable of $873,997 for alleged violations under either the UTRs ($546,497) or CASL ($327,500).
• Continued to actively participate in and contribute to the Council of Federal Accessibility Agencies, composed of the organizations responsible for enforcing the Accessible Canada Act. The Council works collaboratively to refer federal accessibility complaints to the right organization and to foster complementary policies and practices – colloquially referred to as the “No Wrong Door” approach.
• Collaborated with public and private partners to improve the National Public Alerting System (NPAS), including exploring new options for long-term viability and funding for NPAS, addressing accountability and verification concerns, strengthening official languages considerations and analyzing potential new mediums on which to extend alerting.
• Continued to build and review the public record of the proceeding regarding accessible wireless service packages.
• Continued to work towards the implementation of handset-based location technology to improve the accuracy of location information provided with wireless 9-1-1 calls. The Commission also increased the minimum and target thresholds used to measure the location accuracy performance of wireless service providers across Canada.

Gender-based analysis plus

All CRTC regulatory policies and decisions are made via public proceedings that are open to all Canadians. To increase input from Canadians of all walks of life in its public proceedings, the CRTC organized a series of virtual consultations in February 2022 with 47 organizations representing Canadian equity seeking communities and public interest groups, as well as consumer organizations. These consultations had two main objectives:

• to identify key barriers to participation in CRTC consultation processes and proceedings, and to understand the impacts of these barriers on various groups and organizations; and
• for those participating in the series to leave more likely to participate in future CRTC processes.

In 2021-22, the CRTC also began developing a CRTC Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) lens aimed at helping all staff to better consider issues of diversity and inclusion in their work and ensure inclusive outcomes for Canadians. It is anticipated that the new lens will be launched to all employees by the end of fiscal year 2022-23.

United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals

The CRTC continues to work with Employment and Social Development Canada and Statistics Canada to contribute to the development and measurement of two indicators related to the national availability of both fixed broadband Internet and the latest generally deployed mobile wireless technology. These indicators contribute to the measurement of Sustainable Development Goal 9 of the Canadian Indicator Framework, “Industry, innovation and infrastructure: build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.”

Experimentation

The CRTC continued to experiment with new approaches and instill a culture of measurement, evaluation and innovation in program and policy design. However, no specific experimentation activities and no additional financial or human resources were planned for activities in 2021-22.

Financial, human resources and performance information for CRTC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase^{Endnote v}.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

The following table shows, for Regulate and Supervise the Communications System, budgetary spending for 2021–22, as well as actual spending for that year.

Financial, human resources and performance information for CRTC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase^{Endnote vi}.

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

The following table shows, in full-time equivalents, the human resources the department needed to fulfill this core responsibility for 2021–22.

In 2021–22, actual spending is slightly higher than planned spending. The net increase is mainly attributable to an increase in salaries resulting from preparatory work undertaken by the CRTC for the implementation of amendments to the Broadcasting Act and the ratification of a collective agreement.

Financial, human resources and performance information for CRTC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase^{Endnote vii}.

Internal Services

Description

Internal services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support program delivery in the organization, regardless of the internal services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:

• acquisition management services
• communication services
• financial management services
• human resources management services
• information management services
• information technology services
• legal services
• material management services
• management and oversight services
• real property management services

Results

In 2021-22, the CRTC worked towards improving accessibility by offering a series of mandatory courses on disability awareness to key employees who work with persons with disabilities and to Commissioners. This included one specialized module on Deaf culture, and preventing audism and ableism.

The CRTC also created a more inclusive, barrier-free and safe workplace for all CRTC employees through several activities:

• The 2021-2023 CRTC Employment Equity (EE), Diversity and Inclusion Plan was launched on 4 May 2021. Its implementation began with the addition of a suite of training related to inclusion and diversity targeted at employees, managers and selection board members.
• Recruitment moved forward to help meet the CRTC’s stretch targets for diversity, particularly for its executive cadre. To that end, the CRTC hired an external consultant, a member of a visible minority group, to address unconscious bias and assist as a member of a board for a recent external advertised EX-01 selection process.
• A CO-01 process open to employment equity candidates only was conducted at the entry level (COs are the CRTC’s largest employee group), which allowed for recruitment from under-represented groups. Candidates will have access to subsequent development through the existing CO Development Program that brings them from the CO-01 to the CO-02 level.
• The CRTC received a consultant’s final report on the CRTC Anti-Racism and Antidiscrimination Framework and Strategy. The report was reviewed and its recommendations were incorporated into the existing EE, Diversity and Inclusion Plan. The CRTC also provided a second response to the Clerk’s “Call to Action,” including a progress report on its Action Plan to Address Systemic Racism and Advance Diversity & Inclusion.
• With all of the requirements of the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations in place by March 2021, existing employees completed training throughout 2021-22. Training requirements were also added to the CRTC’s onboarding package to ensure that new employees are aware of their responsibilities. Prevention of harassment and violence, through the promotion of civility and mental health initiatives, remain a CRTC priority.
• A number of promotional activities throughout the year in support of diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation were initiated by the HR team, the Inclusion and Diversity Committee and the Reconciliation Circle.

The CRTC streamlined its internal financial and materiel management services. Following the discontinuation of the Government of Canada Financial and Materiel Management (GCFM) Solution project at the beginning of the 2021-22 fiscal year, the CRTC entered into an agreement with the Treasury Board Secretariat’s IRIS financial cluster group to migrate to a SAP solution with an April 2022 go-live date. Data preparation, process review, change management and training activities took place in 2021-22 to ensure an efficient migration and the maintenance of an accurate database. The migration to the integrated SAP solution will continue in 2022-23 with the implementation of the Salary Forecasting Tool. The strong governance model and alignment with the approved future direction of the Financial Management Transformation Strategy will ensure the achievement of open and transparent government and better services for Canadians by streamlining and automating the CRTC’s internal services.

The CRTC also improved employee efficiency and effectiveness in 2021-22 by continuing its work to upgrade, consolidate and modernize its information technology network infrastructure to improve connectivity and mobility, and deliver modern, accessible, digital tools and applications. These changes have allowed the CRTC to foster a digital workplace culture that leverages virtual collaboration while strengthening its security posture. For example, the CRTC invested in data analysis/visualization platforms and Cloud technologies, and leveraged robust technology to implement complex case management business solutions. These changes have reduced processing time and accelerated decision making by allowing staff to process data and generate reports more quickly. The CRTC also undertook a Commission-wide Information Management clean-up exercise that resulted in the digitization of hundreds of thousands of paper records, which has further increased employees’ ability to work from anywhere at any time.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

The following table shows, for internal services, budgetary spending for 2021–22, as well as spending for that year.

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

The following table shows, in full-time equivalents, the human resources the department needed to carry out its internal services for 2021–22.

In 2021–22, actual spending is slightly lower than planned spending due to a decrease in operation and maintenance expenditures.

Spending and human resources

Spending

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory spending) over time.

Table version

Fiscal year	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	2024–25
Statutory	7,302,933	7,945,025	7,836,167	8,356,191	7,994,639	7,994,639
Voted and Vote-netted revenue	62,246,188	64,432,294	65,510,839	68,901,513	64,376,733	65,210,093
Total	69,549,121	72,377,319	73,347,006	77,257,704	72,371,372	73,204,732

Total spending pertains to expenditures incurred by the CRTC in relation to all funding authorities approved during the fiscal year. Funding authorities include all parliamentary appropriations and revenue sources: Main Estimates, Supplementary Estimates, Treasury Board Vote transfers (including the operating budget carry forward and compensations for the ratification of collective agreements), and revenues from broadcasting licence fees, telecommunications fees and unsolicited telecommunications fees.

For fiscal years 2019–20 to 2021–22, actual spending represents the actual expenditures as reported in the Public Accounts of Canada. The increase in actual spending between 2020–21 and 2021–22 is mainly attributable to an increase in salaries resulting from preparatory work undertaken by the CRTC for the implementation of amendments to the Broadcasting Act.

For the period from 2022–23 to 2024–25, the planned spending reflects approved funding by Treasury Board to support CRTC’s programs, including the implementation of amendments to the Broadcasting Act in 2022–23. Nevertheless, the planned spending excludes the funding for Bill C-18 (Online News Act) Treasury Board submission approved in June 2022 for 2022–23 and 2023–24.

For fiscal years 2019–20 to 2021–22, actual spending represents actual expenditures as reported in the Public Accounts of Canada. The increase in gross actual spending between 2020–21 and 2021–22 is mainly attributable to an increase in salaries resulting from preparatory work undertaken by the CRTC for the implementation of amendments to the Broadcasting Act.

The significant decrease in actual spending, in terms of net expenditures, between 2020–21 and 2021-22 is the result of a return to normal in the use of respendable revenues to offset the CRTC’s regulatory-related activities expenses. In response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the CRTC remitted the Part I broadcasting licence fees in respect of fiscal year 2020-21 to provide financial relief to broadcasters. These respendable revenues are usually used to offset expenses incurred for the CRTC’s broadcasting-related regulatory activities. Appropriated funds were granted to the CRTC to support its operations, which significantly increased net expenditures in 2020-21.

The planned spending for the fiscal years 2022-23 to 2023-24 corresponds to the planned spending level approved in the Main Estimates. Other items such as salary adjustments for the ratification of collective agreements and carry-forward adjustments are unknown at this time. Therefore, none of these adjustments is reflected, nor is the Bill C-18 (Online News Act)Treasury Board submission approved in June 2022. The planned spending for 2022–23 is higher than 2021–22 due to additional spending authorities for the implementation of amendments to the Broadcasting Act and reprofiled funding.

2021–22 Budgetary actual gross spending summary (dollars)

The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net spending for 2021–22.

The CRTC’s revenues come from fees recovered pursuant to fee regulations established under the authority of the Broadcasting Act^{Endnote viii} and the Telecommunications Act. ^{Endnote ix} These fees and the associated regulations are as follows:

• Part I broadcasting licence fees (Broadcasting Licence Fee Regulations, 1997); ^{Endnote x}
• Annual telecommunications fees (Telecommunications Fees Regulations, 2010); ^{Endnote xi} and
• Unsolicited telecommunications fees for compliance and enforcement activities related to the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) (Unsolicited Telecommunications Fees Regulations). ^{Endnote xii}

Human resources

The “Human resources summary for core responsibilities and internal services” table presents the full-time equivalents (FTEs) allocated to each of the CRTC’s core responsibilities and to internal services.

The increase in full-time equivalents between fiscal years 2020–21 and 2021–22 is attributable to hiring across the CRTC to fill vacant and new positions, namely to staff an additional telecommunications policy group and to perform preparatory work for the implementation of amendments to the Broadcasting Act.

Expenditures by vote

For information on the CRTC’s organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2021^{Endnote xiii}.

Government of Canada spending and activities

Information on the alignment of the CRTC’s spending with Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase^{Endnote xiv}.

Financial statements and financial statements highlights

Financial statements

The CRTC’s financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2022, are available on the departmental website.^{Endnote xv}

Financial statement highlights

Condensed Statement of Operations (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2022 (dollars)

Revenues

Revenues collected in 2021-22 totalled $196.0 million ($136.6 million + $59.4 million), a net increase of $73.1 million when compared to the total revenues collected in 2020-21. The increase is mainly attributable to a remission during 2020-21 of the Part I broadcasting licence fees for all broadcasters and financial relief to eligible local television and radio stations of the Part II broadcasting licence fees in respect to fiscal year 2020-21.

Expenses

Expenses in 2021-22 totalled $79.8 million, a decrease of $1.3 million when compared to 2020-21 total expenses. The decrease is mainly attributable to a decrease in non-salary related items such as machinery and equipment (-$0.7 million) and amortization (-$0.6 million).

Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited) as of March 31, 2022 (dollars)

Assets

Assets in 2021-22 totalled $10.2 million, which is a slight increase of $0.1 million when compared to 2020-21 total assets.

Liabilities

Liabilities in 2021-22 totalled $11.4 million, which is a decrease of $1.2 million when compared to 2020-21 total liabilities. The decrease is mainly attributable to a decrease in accounts payable and vacation pay.

Corporate Information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister[s]: The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage, P.C., M.P.

Institutional head: Ian Scott, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer

Ministerial portfolio: Canadian Heritage

Enabling instrument[s]:

• Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act^{Endnote xvii}
• Bell Canada Act^{Endnote xviii}
• Broadcasting Act^{Endnote xix}
• Telecommunications Act^{Endnote xx}
• Canada Elections Act^{Endnote xxi}
• An Act to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities, and to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and the Telecommunications Act^{Endnote xxii}, referred to as “Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation” or “CASL” in this document.

Year of incorporation / commencement: 1968

Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on CRTC’s website^{Endnote xxiii}.

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on CRTC’s website^{Endnote xxiv}.

Reporting framework

CRTC’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2020–21 are shown below.

Supporting information on the program inventory

Financial, human resources and performance information for the CRTC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase^{Endnote xxv}.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the CRTC’s website:

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy/Reporting on Green Procurement^{Endnote xxvi}
• Gender-based analysis plus^{Endnote xxvii}
• United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals^{Endnote xxviii}

Federal tax expenditures

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures^{Endnote xxix}. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs as well as evaluations and GBA Plus of tax expenditures.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address:

CRTC Central Office

Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
Central Building
1 Promenade du Portage
Gatineau, Quebec J8X 4B1

or

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2

Telephone:

In Canada:
Toll-free: 1-877-249-CRTC (2782)
Toll-free TTY line: 1-877-909-CRTC (2782)

Outside Canada:
819-997-0313
TTY line: 819-994-0423

Fax: 819-994-0218

Website: https://www.crtc.gc.ca

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3-year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental priority (priorité)

A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that connects the department’s core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

experimentation (expérimentation)

The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works, for whom and in what circumstances. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.

full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the full-time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person’s collective agreement.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])

An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives; and understand how factors such as sex, race, national and ethnic origin, Indigenous origin or identity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic conditions, geography, culture and disability, impact experiences and outcomes, and can affect access to and experience of government programs.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2021–22 Departmental Results Report, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2020 Speech from the Throne, namely: Protecting Canadians from COVID-19; Helping Canadians through the pandemic; Building back better – a resiliency agenda for the middle class; The Canada we’re fighting for.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative where two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)

The process of communicating evidence-based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

Identifies all the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.

result (résultat)

A consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.