President’s Message
Government of Canada creates taxpayer-funded investment for Canada’s broadcasting and cultural sector
June 4, 2026
Dear ACTRA Toronto members,
Yesterday, the Department of Canadian Heritage released a statement in stark contrast to that of the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) – an independent arm of the government tasked with regulating Canadian broadcasting and telecommunications – which just two weeks ago introduced policy frameworks and financial requirements for streamers. Today, the Government of Canada has rejected its own advice and is instead asking taxpayers to front the cost of funding Canadian film and television production.
On May 22, ACTRA Toronto issued this statement in response to the CRTC’s framework decision. We put a stake in the ground. Cultural policy must also include an employment strategy, and the path forward must bolster sustainable Canadian productions and be tethered to union labour – ACTRA performers, writers, filmmakers and crews.
Today, we released another statement outlining how disappointed we are to see that instead of following through on the impassioned speeches made by government officials at Prime Time in January, we see what appears to be backpedalling, and placation to these streaming giants and the U.S. Administration in advance of CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) negotiations. Instead of mandating that billionaire-owned, multinational streaming corporations pay their fair share back into Canadian production, that responsibility will now be borne by Canadian taxpayers. ACTRA National released this statement in response to yesterday’s announcement.
With this potential policy shift, Canada is breaking from a tangential coalition between Australia, the U.K. and France, who are all actively seeking direct monetary investments from the streaming platforms that have not only reaped massive profits from Canadians, but have revolutionized television and film production and decimated domestic broadcasters.
Let’s be clear. Streaming platforms have consistently increased their rates even prior to the CRTC’s new framework being announced (Netflix, alone, has increased its price or changed its pricing tier in Canada four times since 2020). They continue to make billions of dollars off Canadian consumers and there is nothing the Canadian government or the CRTC can do to stop them from doing this again – regardless of whether they are or are not required to contribute to Canadian content production.
Simply put, we were hoping we would see a government willing to jersey these companies, instead they have put their heads down. Canadians know, this is not the way to play the game.
In solidarity,
Kate Ziegler
ACTRA Toronto President