Canadian Content

Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (including cable and satellite specialty channels) must produce and/or broadcast a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from Canada. CanCon also refers to that content itself, and, more generally, to cultural and creative content that is Canadian in nature.

Current Canadian content percentages are as follows: radio airplay is 40% (with partial exceptions for some specialty formats such as classical), and broadcast television is 55% yearly or 50% daily (CBC has a 60% CanCon quota; some specialty or multicultural formats have lower percentages).

The loss of the protective Canadian content quota requirements is one of the concerns of those opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Canada entered into the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral free trade agreement, in October 2012.

Origins

In enforcing the '' Broadcasting Act'', the CRTC is obligated to ensure that "each element of the Canadian broadcasting system shall contribute in an appropriate manner to the creation and presentation of Canadian programming", and that every broadcast undertaking " akesmaximum use, and in no case less than predominant use, of Canadian creative and other resources in the creation and presentation of programming".

Radio

For music, the requirements are referred to as the "MAPL system". Following an extensive public hearing process organized by the CRTC, the MAPL system, created by Stan Klees (co-creator of the Juno Award), was adopted in 1971 to define and identify Canadian content in pieces of music for the purposes of increasing exposure of Canadian music on Canadian radio through content regulations governing a percentage (25%) of airplay to be devoted to Canadian music. The percentage was increased to 30% in the 1980s, and to 35% effective January 3, 1999. However, most new commercial radio stations licensed since 1999 have been licensed at 40%.

Before the MAPL system was established in 1971, Canadian music was regarded with indifference by Canadian radio, and during the 1960s, Canadian radio was dominated by British or American acts. This was a major hurdle for Canadian musicians, since they could not gain attention in their home country without having a hit single in the United States or Europe first."CanCon music survivors from Streetheart to Maestro Fresh Wes savouring the new mood in Canada"
''Toronto Star'', April 19, 2019. Even after MAPL was implemented in the early 1970s, some radio stations were criticized for ghettoizing their Canadian content to dedicated program blocks, in off-peak listening hours such as early mornings or after midnight, during which the music played would be almost entirely Canadian — thus having the effect of significantly reducing how many Canadian songs would actually have to be played during peak listening times. These program blocks became mockingly known as "beaver hours," featuring Canadian songs selected from the "beaver bin." This practice is now reduced by CRTC regulations stipulating that CanCon percentages must be met between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., rather than allowing a station to save all their Canadian content for off-peak hours.

Artists who were active in the early CanCon era in the 1970s and 1980s have noted that their music was often dismissed by Canadian audiences as inferior product, propped up by quotas rather than quality, if they were unable to replicate their Canadian success internationally. Yet, at the same time, artists who did break through internationally also ran the risk of becoming dismissed by Canadian audiences as no longer truly Canadian.

Some stations – especially those playing formats where there may be a limited number of Canadian recordings suitable for airplay, such as classical, jazz or oldies, may be allowed by the CRTC to meet Canadian content targets as low as 20 per cent. Stations in Windsor, Ontario, are also permitted to meet lower Canadian content targets, due to Windsor's proximity to the Metro Detroit media market in the United States. Community radio and campus-based community radio stations often choose to meet higher Canadian content levels than commercial broadcasters, because of their mandate to support independent and underground and provide content not readily available on commercial radio or the CBC; however, this is a voluntary commitment made by these stations rather than a core CRTC requirement, and CanCon requirements may be lower for campus and community stations as they often air large quantities of category 3 music.

On satellite radio services, Canadian content regulation is applied in aggregate over the whole subscription package. Sirius XM Canada produces channels focused on Canadian music and content and offers the CBC's national radio networks, as well as its digital-exclusive networks such as CBC Radio 3, which are incorporated into the overall lineup of U.S.-produced channels shared with its U.S. counterpart.

How the MAPL system works

To qualify as Canadian content a musical selection must generally fulfil at least two of the following conditions (one if recorded prior to January 1972):

*M (music) — the music is composed entirely by a Canadian
*A (artist) — the music is, or the lyrics are, performed principally by a Canadian
*P (performance) — the musical selection consists of a performance that is:
**Recorded wholly in Canada, or
**Performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada.
*L (lyrics) — the lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian
For the purposes of MAPL, a "Canadian" refers to a citizen, permanent resident, someone whose "ordinary place of residence" has been in Canada prior to their contribution to the musical selection, or someone who is a licensee.

A musical selection may also qualify as Canadian content if it is:

* An instrumental performance of a composition by a Canadian.
* A "performance of a musical composition that a Canadian has composed for instruments only."
* Performed live or recorded after September 1, meets the criteria for either artist or performance, and a Canadian receives at least half of the credit for music and lyrics.

This last criterion was added in 1991, to accommodate Bryan Adams' album ''Waking Up the Neighbours'', which, unusually, did not meet the Cancon standard despite every track being co-written and performed by a Canadian artist. Adams had recorded the album mainly in England, and although some recording work was done in Canada, no track on the album qualified for the P in MAPL. Adams had also collaborated on the writing of the album with South African record producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange in London, England, with Adams and Lange both being credited as co-writers of both words and music on every cut on the album. As a result, no song on the album featured either music or lyrics ''entirely'' written by a Canadian, and therefore none of the album's songs qualified for the M or L in MAPL. All this meant that no track on the album qualified as Canadian content under the existing rules—although if Adams and Lange had simply agreed to credit one party with 100% of the music and the other with 100% of the lyrics, ''all'' the Adams/Lange collaborations would have counted as CanCon (as they were recorded by a Canadian artist). After extensive controversy in the summer of that year, the CRTC changed the rules to allow for such collaborations, wherein a Canadian can work with a non-Canadian on both music and lyrics, provided the Canadian receives at least half of the credit for both music and lyrics. This gives the recorded track 1 point out of a possible 2 for the M and L sections of the MAPL criteria; to qualify as Cancon, the finished recording must also meet the criterion for either artist (A) or performance (P).

Other Canadian artists with long-time international careers, like Anne Murray, Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne, and Shania Twain, have used recording studios in Canada specifically to maintain Cancon status.

In December 2022, the CRTC announced a proposal to update the MAPL system to account for changes in the music industry and reduce regulatory burden, which would remove the existing "Performance" criteria, and change Music and Lyrics to only require either to be principally (at least 50%) composed or written by a Canadian.

Talk radio and American syndicated programming

Unlike music radio, the rules on talk radio are more ambiguous. The vast majority of Canadian talk radio stations operate with local talk for most of the daylight hours, with the exception of two nationally syndicated Canadian talk show hosts: news/talk personality Charles Adler and sports talk host Bob McCown. The lone restriction is that the station must have a working studio within the region it broadcasts, which prohibits the use of entirely satellite-operated stations (which are commonplace in the United States).

Syndicated programming from the United States invariably airs after 7:00 pm local time in virtually all markets, and usually features non-political programs such as ''The Jim Rome Show'' and ''Coast to Coast AM''. More political American shows such as ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' are rarely picked up by Canadian radio stations, although the now defunct CFBN aired Dennis Miller and the ''Glenn Beck Program'' on tape delay in the evenings for a few months, from April through November 2007, when CFBN stopped broadcasting over the air, and ''The Phil Hendrie Show'' aired for many years on CKTB, even during the period when it focused on political content. Miller also aired on CHAM for two years from 2008 to 2010. No rule prevents programs such as Limbaugh or Beck from being aired on Canadian radio stations; such programs are simply not carried because their focus on American politics limits their relevance to Canadian radio audiences, especially given the high rights fees Limbaugh charged his affiliates.

As in the United States in the 1980s, the trend for AM stations in Canada in the 1990s was to apply for an FM broadcasting license or move away from music in favour of talk radio formats. (Since the late 2000s, AM radio in North America has been declining as stations have shut down and moved to FM.) The total amount of Canadian-produced content declined as broadcasters could license syndicated radio programs produced in the U.S., while the Cancon regulations were conceived to apply to music only, and not to spoken-word programming. This became particularly controversial in 1998 when stations in Toronto and Montreal started airing ''The Howard Stern Show'' from New York City during prime daytime hours. Stern was forced off the air not because of Canadian content, but because the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council reprimanded the stations broadcasting Stern numerous times for Stern's comments, which prompted the two stations to drop him in short order. Stern would later move exclusively to satellite radio.

American shows that combine talk and music, such as Blair Garner, Elvis Duran, Delilah and John Tesh, usually have special playlists for airing in Canada to assist in meeting Canadian content requirements. Because of the different requirements, American syndicated oldies programs are widely popular in Canada, such as '' American Gold'', Wolfman Jack, and '' M. G. Kelly's American Hit List''. These shows usually do not substitute Canadian songs, due in part to a fairly large library of Canadian musicians already in rotation in the format (such as The Guess Who, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Anka, Terry Jacks or R. Dean Taylor). In other formats, an American syndicated program sometimes is supplemented with an all-Canadian program; for instance, CKMX will broadcast ''Country Countdown USA'' and ''America's Grand Ole Opry Weekend'' along with the Canadian syndicated programs ''Canadian Country Spotlight'' and Hugh McLennan's ''Spirit of the West'', the last of which is also carried by several U.S. stations. American syndicated series are usually played in "off peak" and weekend hours.

A notable exception to the majority-Canadian spoken word programming came in 2012 when Astral Media introduced CKSL and CHAM, two stations in southern Ontario, as full-time affiliates of 24/7 Comedy Radio, a service of the U.S.-based Cumulus Media Networks. CHAM meets its studio requirement by maintaining a locally based interstitial host.

Film and television

To an even greater extent than on radio, Canadian television programming has been a perennially difficult proposition for the broadcast industry, particularly dramatic programming in prime-time. It is much more economical for Canadian stations to buy the Canadian rights to an American prime-time series than to finance a new homemade production. Perhaps more importantly, given the reach of the major U.S. broadcast networks in Canada, it is virtually impossible to delay or modify a U.S. program's broadcast schedule, as regularly occurs in other foreign markets, to weed out failures or to otherwise accommodate homegrown programming.

In English Canada, presently only the public network, CBC Television, devotes the vast majority of its prime time schedule to Canadian content, having dropped U.S. network series in the mid-1990s. The French-language industry, centered in Quebec, similarly places a larger emphasis on original productions, due to viewer preferences over dubs of imported English-language programming, and to prioritize its "star system" of local talent. The English commercial networks ( CTV, Global and Citytv), conversely, rely on news and information programs for the bulk of their Canadian content while running mostly American network series, but have still occasionally commissioned domestic productions for prime time broadcasts.

Some have suggested that Canadian content minimums be enacted for movie theatres, in order to improve the visibility and commercial viability of Canadian film, although none have ever been put in place. Most film festivals in Canada devote at least a portion of their schedules to Canadian films, although this is by choice rather than government regulation; a few film festivals are devoted exclusively to Canadian films, although most screen a mix of Canadian and international films. However, as movie-based premium television services such as Crave, Super Channel, Hollywood Suite and Super Écran operate on television and thus must follow Canadian content regulations, they do acquire and program Canadian films; this often still represents a Canadian film's best opportunity to attract an audience beyond the film festival circuit.

Criteria

What is considered Canadian content is determined by either the CRTC, or the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) for film and television productions that are seeking its tax credit. The CRTC's requirements for a television program to be certified as a Canadian content include that:

* The producer of the program must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and hold "full responsibility" in overseeing development, creative and financial control, and financing. The producer must also receive a renumeration that exceeds the aggregated renumeration of all foreign producer-related positions.
* The production must employ a minimum number of Canadian citizens or permanent residents in key creative positions, as determined by a points system.
** The director or screenwriter for live-action productions, or the scriptwriter or storyboard supervisor for animated productions, and at least one of the two highest-paid lead performers, must be Canadian.
** For animated works, the key animation must be performed in Canada.
** Non-Canadians may not be credited as a producer, co-producer, line producer, or production manager
* At least 75% of all costs incurred for production services, as well as 75% of all costs incurred in post-production, must be for services provided in Canada.
* The program must fall within a CRTC-defined program category.

Examples

Early Canadian programming was often produced merely to fill content requirements, and featured exceedingly low budgets, rushed production schedules, poor writing and little in the way of production values and as a result did not attract much of an audience. One Canadian series, ''The Trouble with Tracy'', is sometimes claimed as one of the worst television shows ever produced. However, even given these limitations, some productions managed to rise above the mediocre – both '' SCTV'' (originally on Global) and '' Smith & Smith'' ( CHCH) grew from local low-budget productions with a limited audience to large production companies with a North American audience. ''SCTV'' also lampooned the Cancon rules, as well a request by the CBC for a filler segment featuring distinctively Canadian content, by developing the characters of Bob and Doug McKenzie—a caricature of stereotypical Canadians played by cast members Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. Bob and Doug became the program's most popular characters, and spawned spin-offs such as comedy albums, commercials, the feature film ''Strange Brew'', and the animated series '' Bob & Doug''.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, distinctly Canadian drama series such as CBC's '' Street Legal'' or CTV's '' E.N.G.'' consistently drew hundreds of thousands of viewers each week. In the latter part of the 1990s and the early 2000s, Global's '' Traders'' and the CBC dramas ''Da Vinci's Inquest'' and ''Republic of Doyle'' completed long runs, buoyed by critical approval if not overwhelming viewer success. As for CTV, after short-lived runs of planned "flagship" drama series such as '' The City'', '' The Associates'' and '' The Eleventh Hour'', the network later found ratings success with series such as ''Corner Gas'' (a sitcom set at an eponymous gas station in rural Saskatchewan, filmed in the town of Rouleau), '' Flashpoint'', and ''Motive''. The CBC dramedy '' This is Wonderland'' was a moderate success with a loyal fan base, but was nonetheless cancelled in 2006 after three seasons. Specialty channels also naturally produce Canadian content, some of which, most notably Showcase's mockumentary series ''Trailer Park Boys'', have been able to generate a strong mass appeal.

To complement their airings of American or British versions, Canadian networks have also produced local versions of unscripted television formats, including reality television series such as '' The Amazing Race Canada'', '' Canadian Idol'', and '' MasterChef Canada'' (CTV), ''The Great Canadian Baking Show'' (CBC), '' Big Brother Canada'' (Global), '' The Bachelor Canada'' and ''Canada's Got Talent'' (Citytv), and ''Canada's Drag Race'' ( Crave and OutTV).

Canadian networks have sometimes fulfilled Cancon requirements by commissioning series filmed in Canada, but intended to be sold to broadcasters in larger foreign markets such as the United States and United Kingdom, such as CTV's ''Saving Hope'', '' Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye'', '' Mysterious Ways'' and '' Twice in a Lifetime'', and Global's '' Wild Card'' and ''Rookie Blue.'' International co-productions such as ''Orphan Black'' (Space and BBC America), ''Copper'' (Showcase and BBC America), ''Killjoys'' (Space and Syfy), ''The Tudors'' (CBC, Showtime, BBC
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