Canada: Passed Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11) including local content and Commission supervision requirement

On 21 June 2022, the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11) was passed by the Canadian House of Commons. Bill C-11 brings amendments to the Broadcasting Act and specifies that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) must oversee and regulate the broadcasting industry and introduces “online undertakings” as a new category of broadcasting. Bill C-11 specifies that an “online undertaking” represents an “undertaking for the transmission or retransmission of programs over the Internet" employing “broadcasting receiving apparatus”. The CRTC must ensure the diversity of Canadian programs by facilitating their offering of French, English and Indigenous language programs. Furthermore, the Bill empowers the CRTC to issue orders establishing investment quotas in local content and the proportion of Canadian programs that have to be broadcasted.