Ottawa to CRTC: “Knock it off when it comes to putting levies on streamers”
In 2024, the Canadian government put in place a levy on foreign streamers (Spotify, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, etc.) of 5% on Canadian revenue over $25 million. The streamers and even some Canadian music organizations have been fighting this ever since. So as the Trump administration, which looks at this as an illegal tariff.
Earlier this year, the CRTC dropped a ruling that would have raised levies to 15%. It’s a somewhat complicated formula, but any way streamers looked at it, their potential costs tripled. This complicated trade negotiations with the US even more.
Now comes word (via the Globe and Mail) that Ottawa is going to order the CRTC to back off some demands. The phrase used is “a more reasonable rate.”
Where is this headed? I guess we’ll see, huh?
