Canada Passes Legislation to Compel Foreign Streamers, Social Platforms to Finance Local Content

Canada’s House of Commons has passed Bill C-11 with an eye to raising around $800 million annually from U.S. streamers and social media platforms as they become obligated to subsidize local Canadian film, TV and music product.

The legislation behind the streaming video and audio tax now awaits passage through the Senate upper house in Ottawa, which remains under a question mark as Canada’s governing minority government may face an election later this year and have to kill Bill C-11. A snap federal election in August 2021 terminated an earlier version of the streaming and audio tax legislation, Bill C-10.

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Also known as the Broadcasting Modernization Act, Bill C-11 changes the federal Broadcasting Act to create a new “online company” category and, for the first time, regulate foreign media players active in the Canadian market.