Can AI be Cancon? CRTC launches review of Canadian content definition

By Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press on November 15, 2024.

A person navigates to the social media pages of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, May 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA – The CRTC is looking at how to redefine Canadian content, launching a new consultation on the question with plans to hold a public hearing in the spring.

Scott Shortliffe, the CRTC’s executive director of broadcasting, said Friday the regulator hopes to get robust public participation on the new definition.

The consultation is part of the CRTC’s implementation of the Online Streaming Act, which updated broadcasting laws to capture online platforms. Part of that effort involves looking to ensure Canadian content is visible and easily discoverable on streaming services.

The CRTC has issued a preliminary position suggesting it keep the points system that has long been used to determine whether content is considered Canadian. It is considering expanding that to allow more creative positions to count toward the points total.

“Canadian producers and entities are used to a points system “¦ switching to a different system would be a great dislocation,” Shortliffe said.

The regulator also wants input on questions including whether artificial intelligence-created video can be considered Cancon.

While the Online Streaming Act was passed just last year, Shortliffe noted “it did not mention artificial intelligence because very honestly, that was an emerging issue.”

“In the time since it’s passed, the commission has become convinced that this is an issue that we must take into account,” he said.

Shortliffe said that includes questions about whether AI can be considered Canadian content, and if so, under what circumstances.

The regulator already held consultations with hundreds of stakeholders to discuss redefining Canadian content. Shortliffe said Canadian producers, writers and directors were “of course, extremely well represented.”

“We are very pleased that foreign streamers did take part. I would suspect that the foreign streamers possibly felt outnumbered at some of the sessions, but they had an important voice too.”

The consultation launched Friday applies to video content like television, not radio and streaming audio.

The CRTC is already facing a court challenge over its efforts to bring online platforms under regulation.

Global streaming services such as Netflix and Disney Plus are fighting an earlier directive the CRTC made under the Online Streaming Act requiring them to contribute money to Canada’s broadcast sector.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.