Question Period Note: Reinforcing CBC/Radio-Canada

Budget 2025 announced an additional $150 million in 2025-26 for CBC/Radio-Canada to strengthen its mandate to serve the public and to better reflect the needs of Canadians in both official languages. The government is also exploring options to modernize CBC/Radio-Canada's mandate, with a focus on independence, accountability, local news, emergency communications, Indigenous perspectives, and combating misinformation.
This delivers on the Government’s commitment to increase public funding for CBC/Radio-Canada by $150 million and work with the Corporation to explore ways to modernize their mandate with emphasis on culture, innovation, and service to communities.

• CBC/Radio-Canada is a pillar of our cultural identity and a cornerstone of our sovereignty. For nearly a century, it has brought us together, shared our stories, and strengthened our national dialogue.

• That is why in 2025-26 the Government provided an additional $150 million to CBC/Radio-Canada, to protect our national broadcaster by ensuring it has the resources it needs to better deliver vital programming for Canadian in both French and English.
• These commitments will ensure that CBC/Radio-Canada is to modernize and strengthen its mandate to serve the public and to better reflect the needs of Canadians. This will enable the Corporation to strengthen local news, combat disinformation, and create entertainment that reflects Canadians, their communities and their country.

• Budget 2025 announced an additional $150 million in 2025-26 to strengthen CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate to serve the public and to better reflect the needs of Canadians in both official languages.
• In May 2025, the new government identified two priorities that directly relate to CBC/Radio-Canada: protect Canadian sovereignty and keep Canadians safe and protect the institutions that bring Canada’s cultures and identity to the world, like CBC/Radio-Canada (Speech from the Throne). In July, the Government also announced a comprehensive expenditure review of all spending. This includes Crown corporations such as CBC/Radio-Canada.
• During the 2025 federal election, the Liberal Party proposed to strengthen CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate by developing a governance plan to improve accountability; equipping CBC/Radio-Canada to further promote and support Canadian and Quebec culture; strengthening local news with more local bureaus and reporters; adding to its mandate the clear and consistent transmission of life-saving information during emergencies; fully equipping CBC/Radio-Canada to combat disinformation; and bolstering innovation and investing in new digital tools so that CBC/Radio-Canada can deliver the news when and how Canadians want it.
• The Liberal Party also proposed to enhance CBC/Radio-Canada’s available resources and secure stable, long-term funding by providing an initial $150 million funding increase, making funding statutory in legislation; and move towards a long-term funding level in line with the average funding of other national public broadcasters.
• On February 20, 2025, former Minister of Canadian Heritage released her vision for the future of CBC/Radio-Canada. Changes proposed in the document, The Future of CBC/Radio-Canada, would mean trustworthy, local and impartial news, reliable information during emergencies, an end to subscription fees for CBC/Radio-Canada’s streaming platforms and advertising during TV news; strengthened independence from the Government; an emphasis on innovation and collaboration; an Indigenous strategy; and increased and stabilized funding written into law.
• Budget 2024 announced an additional $42 million in 2024-25 for CBC/Radio-Canada news and entertainment programming, to ensure that Canadians across the country, including rural, remote, Indigenous, and minority language communities, have access to high-quality, independent journalism and entertainment.
CBC/Radio-Canada’s financial pressures
• In recent years, CBC/Radio-Canada has been grappling with a range of financial pressures that are challenging its ability to maintain programming and service levels. The primary drivers include the cumulative impact of inflation; escalating production and rights costs driven by intensifying competition with large global streaming platforms; and the ongoing structural deterioration of advertising and subscription revenues from traditional television.
• On December 4, 2023, CBC/Radio-Canada announced reductions to manage projected financial pressures of approximately $125 million. This included $40 million in programming cuts and the elimination of 800 positions (approximately 10% of its workforce). CBC and Radio-Canada would each cut an estimated 250 jobs each, suppress an additional 200 vacant positions, cut 100 positions from the technology and infrastructure division and eliminate other corporate services.
• In April 2024, CBC/Radio-Canada announced that due to improvements in its financial position and the additional funding provided in Budget 2024, the Corporation will be able to “address its remaining forecast shortfall and balance its budget without significant additional reductions this year.” In 2023-24, CBC/ Radio-Canada reduced its workforce by 141 employees and cut 205 vacant positions.
Current funding model and contributions to the media landscape
• CBC/Radio-Canada relies on a combination of public funding and earned revenues to deliver its mandate. In 2024-25, it received a parliamentary appropriation of $1.4 billion and reported $588.7 million in earned revenues, including $343.9 million in advertising and $125.4 million in subscriber fees.
• CBC/Radio-Canada is a pillar of Canada’s media landscape, news ecosystem, and creative economy. In 2024, it accounted for 41% ($585.6 million) of all expenditures on Canadian programming produced for conventional (over-the-air) television, including 24% ($146 million) of all expenditures on news and information; 61% ($176.1 million) of all expenditures on drama and comedy made by and for Canadians; and 54% ($331.8 million) of all expenditures by Canadian broadcasters on independent productions, making it the single most important domestic partner to Canada’s independent production sector.
Other relevant developments
• CBC/Radio-Canada is eligible to receive up to $7 million of the $100 million annual compensation that will be provided by Google to Canadian news outlets under the Online News Act (Bill C-18). On January 15, 2025, CBC/Radio-Canada announced that they will use these funds to hire 22 journalists in underserved communities across Canada.

None