Hollywood studios have slammed Canada’s TV watchdog for ordering American streamers to direct 15 percent of their Canadian revenues into local indie production as part of the country’s Online Streaming law.
“The Motion Picture Association strongly condemns the CRTC’s decision to impose unprecedented, unnecessary, and discriminatory investment obligations on American streaming services operating in Canada,” Motion Picture Association chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
That followed the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, which regulates the country’s TV and telecommunications sectors, ruling “online broadcasters,” which includes Netflix and other American streamers, will contribute 15 percent of revenues from operating in the Canadian market to underwrite homegrown media content. That includes indigenous content production and French-language content and news.
The CRTC ruling comes in the wake of Canada’s Online Streaming Act, legislation that forces U.S. digital giants to finance Canadian media content production, becoming law in 2023.
“Under the new rules, broadcasters with annual Canadian broadcasting revenues above $25 million will make meaningful contributions to the broadcasting system. No broadcasters below that threshold will be required to spend on Canadian content, which will reduce the overall regulatory burden in the system,” the CRTC said in a statement on Thursday as it effectively shifts more spending for local media content onto larger foreign streaming players and away from smaller local broadcasters.
The MPA argued “this burdensome framework unfairly targets global streamers with requirements that directly violate Canada’s obligations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA),” a trade arrangement currently being renegotiated between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico amid an ongoing tariff war. The MPA in March 2026 put its support behind the Republican-led Protecting American Streaming and Innovation Act, which could lead to new tariffs on Canadian exports.
Canada’s Online Streaming Act obligates U.S. and other foreign digital platforms like Netflix, Disney+ and Spotify to subsidize local film, TV and music production, and has been applauded by Canadian content creators set to benefit from increased subsidies.
The legislation attempts to balance Canada backing regional production hubs in Toronto and Vancouver for Hollywood producers embracing generous tax credits and currency savings to shoot their originals north of the U.S. border, while also pushing for more local content creation with aid from larger foreign players active in the Canadian market.
Implementation of the Online Streaming Act, which initially called for American streamers to contribute five percent of their local revenues to homegrown production, has been held up by a Federal Court of Appeals challenge.
“American studios and streaming services are already the top foreign investors in Canada’s film and TV ecosystem — delivering content to Canadian audiences and sharing Canadian stories with the world. This decision triples the cost of doing business in Canada and will spark even more inflation in the market, making further investment and innovation less attractive. For years, the MPA has consistently made clear that Canada’s Online Streaming Act is an unfair trade practice. We urge the Canadian government to reconsider this approach,” the MPA said on Thursday.
In June 2025, Canada dropped a digital service tax on American tech giants to allow trade talks with the U.S. to resume amid a continuing tariffs war. That followed U.S. President Donald Trump calling a halt to negotiations with Canada over a digital service tax that he branded a “direct and blatant attack on our Country.”
Those trade talks will now face the CRTC tripling the local content spending obligations on American streamers like Netflix and Prime Video as they continue to dominate Canadian TV viewing.