Most Canadians oppose ISP tax for CanCon: survey

According to a new survey commissioned by Internet advocacy group OpenMedia, while half of Canadians support creating a new revenue source for Canadian content, there is strong opposition to taxing Internet service and more support for extending government taxes on foreign digital operators. The survey, which was completed by the Innovative Research Group on behalf of OpenMedia and released Monday, found that 53 per cent of those surveyed either strongly (23 per cent) or somewhat (30 per cent) support creating a new source of revenue for CanCon, while 20 per cent either strongly (11 per cent) or somewhat oppose such a move (nine per cent). But they are not all that supportive of a tax of up to five per cent “on monthly Internet and mobile phone bills” to fund that content. About 51 per cent strongly oppose such a tax, with only about four per cent strongly supporting, 19 per cent somewhat opposed and a combined 20 per cent either somewhat supportive (10 per cent) or neither opposed or supportive (10 per cent). Those surveyed were more supportive of extending government taxes, such as the GST or HST, to foreign online companies that operate in Canada, such as Netflix Inc. A combined 47 per cent were either strongly (22 per cent) or somewhat supportive (25 per cent) of that, with a combined 29 per cent either strongly (19 per cent) or somewhat (10 per cent) opposed. About 14 per cent were neither supportive nor opposed and 10 per cent didn’t know. Support for the extension of government taxes was highest among British Columbia residents, at 57 per cent, second-highest in the Prairies (50 per cent) and third in Ontario (49 per cent). Support for an Internet tax was also highest in B.C. at 19 per cent. The survey was completed using an online panel of Canadians that reflected age, region and language characteristics of the country. Each panelist completed a particular survey once. The survey reflects a sample size of 2,304 Canadians, and was conducted between Jan. 27, 2016 to Feb. 1, 2017. No margin of error could be provided because it was not a random probability based sample, according to the report. It follows a report by the Privy Council Office that found Canadians were in favour of increasing contributions to CanCon, but they don’t want to absorb the costs. Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly has previously said that imposing a tax on ISPs was also a possible outcome of the government’s CanCon review. The Wire Report recently reported on the minister’s push for presence of domestic content on foreign digital platforms.

Most Canadians oppose ISP tax for CanCon: survey

Brief | February 7, 2017

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Most Canadians oppose ISP tax for CanCon: survey

Brief | February 7, 2017

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