The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has updated its definition of what constitutes “Canadian content,” also known as “CanCon.” This comes after more than 2,000 Canadians submitted feedback in regards to the definition of CanCon.
As part of the change, the CRTC will now use a points system in which productions must earn at least 60 per cent of awardable points. This system recognizes productions for having “key creative roles filled by Canadians, and requires production and post-production spending in Canada” — for instance, something like Canadian filmmaker Matt Johnson’s acclaimed BlackBerry film.
Now, consideration will be given to a “broader range of creative roles” on Canadian productions, including positions like showrunners, heads of departments responsible for costume design, make-up artists and hair artists, and visual effects directors and special effects directors. This is in addition to the existing recognition for roles like directors, scriptwriters and lead performers.
The agency adds that a Canadian partner must hold at least 20 per cent ownership in productions between foreign streamers and Canadian companies and “a higher proportion of key creative positions” are filled by Canadians. The CRTC says it’s streamlined reporting requirements for certified productions to “reduce regulatory burden on the industry.”
And throughout all of this, the CRTC explicitly states that “key” creative positions like director and screenwriter must be held by actual humans, not AI, to qualify. However, the specific mention of the “key” roles would seemingly allow for smaller positions on productions to be filled by AI. (Given how much AI slop is out there and the amount of talent we have across Canada in the entertainment space, let’s hope actual humans are used across the board on productions.)
For years, there’s been debate about what constitutes “CanCon.” While many movies and TV series are filmed in Canada, a lot of them come from foreign entities. On top of that, some foreign titles prominently feature Canadians and/or Canadian subject matter, such as Turning Red from Disney, which companies have often touted as supporting “CanCon” instead of actually producing such content. Therefore, the CRTC’s new definition aims to provide a more specific outline of what constitutes CanCon.
However, the CRTC’s updated CanCon definition has also drawn some criticism. Digital rights group OpenMedia has issued a statement saying the latest ruling “fails to reflect Canada” by introducing a bonus point for stories that feature Canadian subject matter. However, this will only be awarded to content that is set in Canada and features a fully Canadian or Indigenous cast. OpenMedia argues this is a rigid definition of what consitutes a “Canadian story” because “every Canadian’s life is deeply intertwined” with people from other countries.
“Canadians told the CRTC through this consultation that we want stories that represent our lives as they actually are to be recognized as Canadian. Today’s decision does just the opposite; by restricting story-based recognition on such narrow terms, it encourages the telling of narrow, nostalgic, and fundamentally unrealistic stories about what Canada is and the lives we live within it,” says OpenMedia.
It’s unclear whether the CRTC will gather additional feedback such as this to make any future updates. For now, the organization notes that this is the first of two decisions resulting from its consultation on Canadian audio-visual content. The second decision will focus on Canadian programs like news and will be published “in the near future.”
Image credit: Elevation Pictures
Source: CRTC
