Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada won’t give any more extensions on the payment of spectrum fees, which are due Sept. 1, the department said. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, ISED deferred the payment of about $263 million in spectrum and radio licence fees from March 31 to Sept. 1. “No further deferral is planned,” ISED spokesperson Geneviève Sicard said in an email. In addition to delaying the due date for the payment of the fees, earlier this year the government introduced other measures to help telecoms deal with the ongoing pandemic. That includes...
The CRTC has again extended the broadcasting licence of CPAM Radio Union.Com Inc.’s CJWI Montreal French-language radio station for a shorter term of two years, after finding it had been non-compliant with its licencing terms for the fourth consecutive licencing period. In a Thursday decision, the CRTC found the station filed an incomplete annual return, an inaccurate self-assessment report, exceeded its limit on popular music content, and did not ensure enough of that content was in...
Canadian traditional media sources are in "crisis" as COVID-19 has exacerbated existing downward trends in advertising revenues, with shortfalls for local private broadcasters in the next two years...
Two Nunavut radio stations owned by Northern Lights Entertainment Inc. have had their broadcasting licences extended for just two years after the CRTC found they had failed to comply with a series of...
The election of Erin O'Toole as federal opposition leader late Sunday night makes "the threat of CBC...
Telus Corp., BCE Inc., and Rogers Communications Inc. have all endorsed the CRTC's proposed approach to monitoring the provision of community television programming, both linear and on-demand. ...
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters asked the CRTC not to enforce conditions of licence and regulations relating to broadcasters’ expenditures for this broadcast year, citing the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic.
It said that months into the COVID-19...
The French-language conventional TV network BCE Inc. acquired this year will be rebranded as “Noovo,” to coordinate with an existing digital platform.
“Viewers will...
eHealth technologies have been widely billed as bridging divides between...
The CRTC has denied two licence renewal applications from Quebec-based French language radio stations for consistently failing to meet their licence obligations. In two separate Friday decisions,...
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has cleared up uncertainty about...
A quarter of anglophone Canadian over-the-top (OTT) service subscribers...
Telus Corp. has gained CRTC approval to launch a national on-demand service, granting it a licence for the next two years. In a Tuesday decision, the regulator granted Telus its second broadcast licence for an on-demand...
Federal Court has said that both the CBC/Radio-Canada and the...
Telus Corp. has accused TLN Media Group (TMG) of undue preference, saying the company has stymied its efforts to carry an Italian-language program by insisting on “commercially unreasonable...
Quebecor Inc. has promoted Peggy Tabet, previously vice-president of broadcasting regulatory affairs, to the job of vice-president of regulatory and public affairs. In the new position, Tabet will oversee regulatory matters for both broadcasting and telecom, Quebecor said in a French-language press release Thursday. Tabet has been with the company for 22 years, the release said. ...
Rogers Communications Inc. posted a 17 per cent fall in revenue and a 53...
The production company creating a remake of 1940s noir film Nightmare Alley...
The CRTC is asking for feedback about how to best monitor linear and on-demand community programming. The regulator opened a public consultation on Thursday into the tools and processes it intends...
An Ontario-based ethnic broadcaster lobbying the government for funding to...
Rogers Communications Inc. did not confer an undue preference on itself when it distributed its channels across New Brunswick while broadcasting a community TV station only in St. Andrews, the CRTC said Monday. The regulator dismissed the complaint brought forward by St. Andrews Community Channel Inc., which argued that since its CHCO-TV is “the only locally-owned and operated television station in New Brunswick, the news, public affairs, and entertainment programming that it produces is...
The CRTC has allowed Corus Entertainment Inc. to reduce its mandated Canadian programming expenditures (CPE) in a single year, but declared any shortfall must be made up in the following year. In a...
Allarco Entertainment 2008.’s Super Channel violated the Pay TV Violence and Programming codes by airing violence, coarse language and sexuality and nudity on its channels before the “Watershed”...
Some 31 different civil society organizations have signed an open letter to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair calling for a ban on the use of facial recognition technologies by Canadian law...
The federal government has announced further details of how the $500-million fund it announced in May will be spent, and confirmed the second phase of the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural,...
The CRTC has said no to two applications for new radio stations -- one in...
COVID-19 has made privacy rights even more important, the federal privacy commissioner’s office told Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault in May. A presentation prepared by the Office of the...
The CRTC has renewed the broadcasting licence of Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc.’s Super Channel for four years, while simultaneously suspending it for a “very serious” failure to comply with...
Quebecor Inc. has informed the Federal Court of Appeal it won’t pursue its appeal of a CRTC decision allowing BCE Inc. to buy Groupe V Media Inc.’s conventional TV network V. Bell rival...
The financial impacts of COVID-19 induced lockdowns led to a “very tough quarter” for Corus Entertainment Inc. as advertising revenue dropped dramatically, CEO Doug Murphy told analysts on Friday, with total revenues dropping 24 per cent on the year before to $348.9...
The Scarborough radio market can’t support another commercial radio...
New Brunswick lawyer Ellen Desmond and former journalist Nirmala Naidoo are joining the CRTC for five-year commissioner terms, the federal government announced Thursday. Desmond, who will serve as the regional member for...
In a closely-watched appeal of Canada's first-ever site-blocking court...
The CRTC has renewed CBC/Radio-Canada’s license for a year until September 2021, and delayed the...
Rogers Communications Inc. has signed a five year agreement with the University of Calgary to further Internet of Things research, the company announced in a Thursday media release. Steven Liang, an associate professor in the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the university's Schulich School of Engineering, has been named to lead the newly established Rogers Internet of Things Chair, which intends to drive innovative business services. In a phone interview, Liang said the newly...
BCE Inc. Wednesday announced that Jean-Philippe Pineault will lead up the news division at Groupe V Media Inc., the Francophone broadcaster Bell was approved to purchase in April. The position -- general manager, news and information -- is a new one, and will be created June 27. "The...
Legislation modernizing Canada’s Broadcasting Act is “pretty much...
Innovation, Science, and Economic Development announced on Monday the launch of what it is calling the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), as well as a research centre to be based in Monteal in cooperation with...
The CRTC says its 2016 decision that U.S. shopping channel QVC could not be distributed in Canada was justified, but a clause in the soon to come into force Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement...
The CRTC is switching to an online format for a radio broadcast licence hearing originally scheduled to be held in Gatineau, Que. last month. The virtual hearing will now take place on June 16 and look at five radio stations that “appear to be in serious non-compliance with their regulatory requirements, certain conditions of licence or mandatory orders issued by the Commission,” the CRTC said in a press release....
The Copyright Board was wrong in extending the making available right to downloads in 2017, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled. The court said the board, in making that decision, “went to...
The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the constitutionality of Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, commonly known as CASL. In a decision released Friday, the court dismissed an appeal that sought to challenge the constitutionality of the anti-spam legislation. The appeal, brought by a company doing business as...
The federal government has appointed two individuals to the board of directors of CBC/Radio-Canada. Sandra Mason and Bill Tam will join the board for five-year terms, according to a Thursday press release from Canadian...
VMedia Inc. has launched a live and on-demand streaming platform, River TV, the company announced in a Thursday media release. River TV will feature over 30 bundled live tv channels, including Global TV, Adult Swim, History and Showcase, with more to be added in coming months, the Toronto-headquartered company said. A number of “a la carte” channels will also be able to be added to the $16.99 a month package, including Hollywood Suite and i24NEWS. Nick+ is coming soon and many others will be added in the near future. A VMedia internet connection is not required to use River TV...
Music Canada CEO Graham Henderson will step down from the role he’s held for more than 15 years, the organization announced in a Thursday press release. In the statement, Henderson said working at Music Canada had been a...
Canada should follow Britain’s lead and change the system it uses to classify productions as Canadian content, Richard Stursberg, former head of CBC/Radio-Canada’s English services, said at a...
Canada’s television advertising market has moved to a stage of “modest recovery” after chapters of...
The CRTC has issued the reasoning behind its April 3 decision to allow BCE Inc. to buy Groupe V Media Inc., saying the transaction will serve the public interest. “In fact, the Commission considers that the transaction would...
Quebecor Inc. is dialing back its capital expenditure projections for the upcoming year, owing to the financial uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In light of the potentially material impacts resulting from the COVID crisis on the overall economy, and our...
A Federal Court proceeding between Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron and Rovi Guides Inc. that was halted in early March as the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began, will resume via Zoom, over the objections of...
Quebecor Inc. has launched a music streaming service, QUB musique, focused on Quebec-based artists. ...
Quebecor Inc. has filed an application for judicial review in the Federal Court of Appeal, asking the court to overturn the CRTC's approval of BCE Inc.'s acquisition of Groupe V Media Inc.
In the...
Facebook Inc.'s request that Federal Court throw out a report from the...
The CRTC has launched a public consultation into whether the approach it uses to set wholesale rates should be changed, stating it’s seeking to establish a “more transparent and efficient process” while ensuring rates remain...
Rogers Communications Inc. recorded a five per cent drop in revenue in the...
A COVID-19 induced lockdown of the country will put $2.5 billion of film and television production work at risk of disruption or permanent loss if it lasts until the end of June, a new report prepared...
BCE Inc. announced Friday that it has acquired 1.5 million N95 and KN95...
The CRTC is under criticism for saying it may not award costs to groups who participate in a public consultation on regulations under the Accessibility Canada Act, with stakeholder groups arguing such a move would “contradict” the objectives of the new accessibility legislation. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications both sent letters to the regulator asking it to immediately provide clarity around funding, arguing the uncertainty...
Eric Baptiste, CEO of the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) has left the organization, effective immediately. “With the end of the current CEO contract approaching, Eric thought it was time to move on and a mutual decision was reached with the Board to end his...
The CRTC has put out a call for public comment about how new reporting requirements for broadcasters and telecommunications providers should look under the Accessible Canada Act. The Act came...
The CRTC has delayed the launch of new proceedings due to COVID-19, stating it’s aware the telecommunications industry’s primary focus is on delivering services to Canadians. In a statement...
Canadian radio and TV broadcasters won’t have to pay licence fees for 2020-21 in a bid to help them navigate declines in advertising revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault announced the...
Experts say Canada’s telecommunications networks are currently handling a spike in residential data consumption caused by the working from home surge, but a lack of certainty around how the COVID-19 pandemic will develop means it’s almost impossible to project whether...
The next period of time — no one knows just how long — will be "riddled with both demand and supply shocks," and the country's biggest media companies are in for a much bumpier financial ride...
The COVID-19 global pandemic represents "an unprecedented challenge for all involved in the screen-based industry across Canada," according to the Canadian Media Fund. As such, the CMF has joined...
CBC/Radio-Canada has temporarily suspended its English-language local TV newscasts in all locations bar the North, as it opts to consolidate programming into one national news program during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a...
Following the recommendation of Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, the governor-in-council has rejected a request for the cabinet to reexamine or send back the CRTC's decision to renew the Canadian licenses of Sirius XM Canada...
The CRTC has suspended all deadlines on proceedings open for public comment that were set to close before April 10, due to the impact of COVID-19. In a post to Twitter on Tuesday, the CRTC said the deadlines suspended included...
Telecommunication providers are closing retail stores, offering complimentary TV channels and continuing to waive overage fees on home internet plans as they respond to COVID-19. Xplornet...
BCE Inc., Quebecor Inc.'s Groupe TVA, and Rogers Communications Inc. — the trio of companies behind Canada's first ever website-blocking order — have submitted a draft order adding new domains to the Federal Court. In a...
Quebecor Inc. says COVID-19 is not expected to have a “material financial...
OTTAWA — Calls are only a part of the problem of nuisance and fraudulent communications in Canada, CRTC chairman Ian Scott told a Parliamentary committee Tuesday, while industry representatives said tackling the issue will require a multi-pronged approach.
During a...
BCE Inc. has joined forces with yet-to-launch mobile streaming service Quibi SA, signing a deal to be its exclusive Canadian news and sport provider. Quibi -- the name is an amalgam of "quick bites" -- will launch on April 6....
Telus Corp., Cogeco Inc. and the attorney general have filed arguments defending the CRTC’s application of its standstill rule in the fight over carriage of TVA Sports. The attorney general, who represents the CRTC...
Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc.’s Super Channel has dropped its Federal Court lawsuit against four major retailers, whose employees allegedly recommended pirating content from media boxes sold in the store, only to launch...
Court mandated website-blocking is an "extraordinary" remedy and should only be granted sparingly, according to a court filing from the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. The BCCLA has...
As part of their ongoing effort to fight content piracy, two of Canada’s largest media and telecom companies have, or are considering setting up, “piracy labs” to demonstrate to visitors including regulators and government officials what infringement looks like....
Former Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly’s much-touted 2017 deal with Netflix Inc. to spend $500 million...
OTTAWA — Any content levy on internet giants, as the telecom and...
Conservative Party leadership hopeful Erin O’Toole has called for CBC/Radio-Canada’s funding for its digital and english-language television department to be slashed, declaring the national broadcaster is “stuck in the...
In a phone interview with Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review panel chair Janet Yale,...
In the case that sparked a year of conflict between rivals BCE Inc. and...
OTTAWA — On Monday Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, with some help...
OTTAWA — The reintroduction of an agreement governing contracts involving...
OTTAWA — Whether or not CBC/Radio-Canada can move away from advertising revenue is a “political...
OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault says his government will introduce legislation to implement some of the recommendations from the expert panel reviewing Canada’s communications legislation in the coming months, and could order the CRTC to take action on new...
OTTAWA — A broadcasting and telecommunications legislative review report...
The blue-ribbon panel tasked with modernizing Canada’s communications...
The CRTC will review the policy framework surrounding commercial radio in Canada, including media consolidation rules, quotas of Canadian content and limits on the amount of top 40 songs...
Starting on Jan. 28, BCE Inc.’s Crave streaming service will launch some 6,000 hours of French-language...
Quebecor Inc. wants CBC/Radio-Canada to shut down its subscription streaming service ICI Tou.tv Extra, and has filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC. In a Friday morning press release, Quebecor -- which runs its own French-language subscription streaming service, Club Illico -- said that it is not challenging the free version of the service, but is taking issue with the charging of $6.99/month subscription fees and offering that subscription service for free to some TV subscribers. Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said in the press release that Tou.tv Extra is...
The Liberal government's minority mandate means it will have to move fast...
Fresh documents are shedding light on how Canada’s first piracy case...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has purchased a local cable company operating...
The CRTC has ruled on two applications in which rivals BCE Inc. and Quebecor Inc. accused each other of...
The nation’s highest court has quashed a 2016 decision by the CRTC to ban...
Several independent broadcasters have written to the CRTC to say the regulator shouldn’t grant a request by TV providers to change a rule forcing cable and IPTV services to hand over viewership...
Following the federal parties’ shared pursuit to further regulate foreign...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has delivered a greatly expanded set of telecom and internet-related...
As the new Parliament gets up and running following the election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to a minority government, there are also some changes to the ranks of parliamentary secretaries as well. The Prime Minister’s Office announced Thursday that MP Will Amos is now in as the parliamentary secretary for innovation and industry. Amos was his party’s point person on the rural broadband initiative known as M-208, and testified before the industry committee about the increasing importance of rural broadband back in June. For heritage, the new parliamentary secretaries are MPs...
