In April 2023, Canada’s Parliament passed a new Bill (Bill C-11) into law called the Online Streaming Act. This Act updates Canada’s broadcasting act for the first time since 1991, to include online platforms (streamers) operating in Canada such as Netflix. This means that online platforms will now be obliged to support Canada’s broadcasting sector similar to how broadcasting undertakings have been regulated by the CRTC, through contributions to funds and expenditure obligations for Canadian programs. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is responsible for coming up with the regulations for implementing the Act. To do so, it is undertaking a series of consultations.
DOC advocated for key wording to be including in the Online Streaming Act, including language that ensures a “diversity of genres” that points to an obligation to have protections for vulnerable genres such as documentaries. DOC also advocated for language that protects Indigenous Narrative Sovereignty and for the inclusion of specific references to under-represented creators across the sector.
Beginning in June 2023, the CRTC began a series of consultations, and began issuing regulatory policies, as part of its work to implement the Online Streaming Act. To date, DOC has submitted nine briefs as part of this process, all of which are available on this page.
January 20, 2025
Read DOC’s official intervention in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2024-288: The Path Forward – Defining “Canadian program” and supporting the creation and distribution of Canadian programming in the audio-visual sector.
Winter 2023 Hearings in Ottawa
DOC’s Executive Director Sarah Spring appeared before the CRTC on December 8, 2023 to present DOC’s vision for an accessible, equitable and sustainable sector on the final day of the CRTC’s historic hearing into how to build a new broadcasting system in Canada.
Click on the image below to watch DOC’s presentation

The hearing that began on November 20th 2023 and concluded on December 8th was part of the CRTC’s “Regulatory Plan to modernize Canada’s broadcasting system”, following the passing into Law of Bill C-11 in April 2023.
Read DOC’s official interventions from 2023 and 2024 as part of the CRTC’s Consultations on the regulation and implementation of the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11):