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The federal government will “eliminate” the financial contribution requirement for streamers set by the CRTC and replace it with government funding, it said in a court document.
“We are instructed to inform the court that the government’s intention is to eliminate the base contribution requirement on streaming services and to provide government funding to replace those contributions,” the attorney general’s office said in a document dated July 17.
But the Canadian Association of Broadcasters says it has heard a different message.
“The language in the letter does not align with what we have heard from the government, and we believe it would be premature to reach any definitive conclusions from this administrative communication between the court and one of the respondents,” Kevin Desjardins, the association’s president, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The office of Culture Minister Marc Miller did not immediately respond when asked to clarify the government’s stance or state whether it plans to eliminate the contribution requirement permanently or temporarily.
In early June, the government said it would issue a new policy directive to the CRTC after the broadcast regulator increased contributions for large streaming services from five per cent to 15 per cent of Canadian revenue.
The government also said at the time it would instead provide the industry with $600 million in annual funding.
The contributions, which became known as the “Netflix tax,” followed the passage of the Liberal government’s Online Streaming Act in 2023.
The July 17 court document said the government would publish the new policy directive to the CRTC in the coming weeks. It was submitted in a Federal Court of Appeal challenge of the CRTC’s rules by streamers.
While Ottawa changed course after the U.S. identified the Online Streaming Act as a trade irritant, the United States Trade Representative said recently Canada wouldn’t “really get credit” for the move.
The government has said the move was about affordability for Canadians, rather than trade negotiations.
Some Canadian creators have defended the law, saying the tax is an important source of funding.