Ottawa rejected last-minute U.S. demand to drop Cancon requirements for streamers
The Canadian government rejected a last-minute U.S. demand to remove requirements for streaming platforms to promote Canadian content. Ottawa viewed the demand as a threat to cultural sovereignty, contributing to the breakdown of recent trade negotiations.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between digital trade liberalization and the protection of national cultural policies in the streaming era.
The Online Streaming Act, once it is fully implemented by Canada’s broadcasting regulator, will require foreign streaming companies, such as Netflix, to promote a certain proportion of Canadian content – including French-language and Indigenous content – on their platforms. Daniel Cole/Reuters
Ottawa’s negotiators rejected an 11th-hour demand from the Trump administration to ditch requirements that U.S. streaming platforms, including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, promote Canadian film, TV and music to their users in Canada.
On Friday evening, the U.S. negotiating team introduced an unexpected demand that Canada provide exemptions to its laws requiring big U.S. streamers to boost the discoverability of Canadian content, including French-language content, in this country, according to a senior government source.
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