Editing Canadian content (section)

===Regulations===

The CRTC presently requires that at least 55% of all programming aired annually by broadcast television stations, and at least 50% of programming aired daily from 6:00&nbsp;pm to midnight, must be Canadian content.<ref name="amendment">{{Cite web |date=May 3, 2011 |title=Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2011-288 |url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-288.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221183814/http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-288.htm |archive-date=December 21, 2013 |access-date=2015-10-30 |publisher=Crtc.gc.ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 11, 1999 |title=ARCHIVED - Public Notice CRTC 1999-97 |url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1999/PB99-97.HTM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405050433/http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1999/pb99-97.htm |archive-date=April 5, 2010 |access-date=2015-10-30 |publisher=Crtc.gc.ca}}</ref> In May 2011, the annual CanCon requirement for private television broadcasters was lowered from 60% to 55% yearly. The CBC remains subject to the 60% quota.<ref name="amendment" /> 

As part of its current "group-based" approach to the licensing of broadcast and [[discretionary service|discretionary specialty channel]]s owned by the largest private broadcasting groups (such as [[Bell Media]], [[Corus Entertainment|Corus]], and [[Rogers Media|Rogers]]), the CRTC requires that at least 30% of a group's revenue (which is aggregated across all of a group's television services, based on their individual revenue and historical expenditure mandates) must be spent on Canadian programming expenditures (CPEs). CPEs can be reallocated between a group's individual services, and up to 25% of CPEs for local stations can be allocated from a discretionary service.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2017-05-15 |title=Renewal of licences for the television services of large English-language ownership groups – Introductory decision |url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2017/2017-148.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002191523/https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2017/2017-148.htm |archive-date=October 2, 2019 |access-date=2019-10-02 |publisher=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2010-03-22 |title=A group-based approach to the licensing of private television services |url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-167.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124103007/https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-167.htm |archive-date=November 24, 2019 |access-date=2019-10-02 |publisher=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission}}</ref> All services must also invest 5% of their revenue towards the production of "programs of national interest" (PNI), which include comedy, drama, long-form documentaries, children's programming, and qualifying awards presentations honouring Canadian creative talent. In 2017, the CRTC instituted a further requirement that 75% of the PNI expenditure must fund productions by independent companies. The CRTC also added credits on CPE for the involvement of producers from [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|Indigenous]] (50%) and [[Languages of Canada#Official language minority communities|official language minority communities]] (25%; French outside of Quebec, and English within Quebec).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Emily |date=2018-08-30 |title=CRTC demands Bell, Corus spend more money on Canadian content after feds intervene |url=https://business.financialpost.com/telecom/media/crtc-demands-bell-corus-spend-more-money-on-canadian-content-after-feds-intervene |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002191522/https://business.financialpost.com/telecom/media/crtc-demands-bell-corus-spend-more-money-on-canadian-content-after-feds-intervene |archive-date=October 2, 2019 |access-date=2019-10-02 |work=[[Financial Post]] |language=en-CA}}</ref>

Historically, much of these requirements have been fulfilled by lower-cost non-scripted programming, including networked [[talk show]]s and [[Entertainment journalism|entertainment news]] programs, local newscasts and public affairs programming, and reruns of Canadian-produced library programs. Further complicating matters for Canadian content is the existence of [[simultaneous substitution]], a regulation that allows over-the-air broadcasters to require the substitution of feeds from American broadcast channels on local multichannel television providers if they are airing the same programming in simulcast, thus protecting their exclusive rights to earn revenue off such programming whenever it is broadcast in Canada. Therefore, Canadian networks have made significant effort to import popular American series to take advantage of the rule, which in turn crowds out Canadian programming to less-desirable time slots.

Over the years the CRTC has tried a number of strategies intended to increase the success of Canadian programming, including expenditure requirements and time credits for productions with specific requirements. In 1999, the CRTC mandated that stations owned by the largest private groups air at least eight hours of Canadian "priority programming" per-week between the hours of 7 and 11 &nbsp;p.m.; priority programming included scripted programs, documentaries, entertainment news, and variety programs. This was replaced in 2010 with the current licensing framework, which places a larger focus on overall investments into Canadian content and the similar concept of "programs of national interest", as opposed to scheduling and quantity.<ref name=":1" />