Bill C-11, also called the Online Streaming Act, is crucial legislation that updates the Broadcasting Act for the 21st Century, providing the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) with important tools to regulate major streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and other online services, so as to require them to contribute to the creation and presentation of Canadian programming.
The WGC supports this vital bill. Our industry cannot thrive—or perhaps even survive—without it.
WGC in the Media on Bill C-11
Read WGC President Alex Levine's op-ed published in the Toronto Star on April 11, 2022: "The telling of Canadian stories is at risk without passage of Online Streaming Act"
Read the WGC's acting co-executive director and director of policy's op-ed published on TVO.org on June 20, 2022: "No, the Online Streaming Act doesn’t ask us to ‘just trust the CRTC’"
Read the WGC's Acting Co-Executive Director & Director of Policy Neal McDougall's three-part op-ed on CARTT.ca, published in September 2022. In part one, Neal writes about why Bill C-11 must reflect the fact that “Canadian art is made by Canadian artists,” and why the screenwriter is at the creative foundation of film and TV. In part two, he unpacks the often self-contradictory (and sometimes ridiculous) arguments that misunderstand both how Canadian content is made and how it should be defined. And in part three, he offers up recommendations that will help ensure Bill C-11 puts Canadian creators – and Canadian screenwriters – at its very core.
In an interview with CBC News on March 3, 2023, WGC President Alex Levine says that without Bill C-11, market forces mean Canadians "will see a world reflected back to them that is determined by studio executives in Los Angeles and not by Canadian artists."
WGC's Neal McDougall is quoted in the March 31, 2023 Toronto Star piece titled Online-streaming bill closer to passing after House OKs most Senate amendments
WGC Written Brief for Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage
On June 1, 2022, the WGC submitted a written brief to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on Bill C-11. The brief outlines our support for the bill, and maintains that screenwriters must be a central component of the Broadcasting Act (which C-11 is amending). It also includes our proposal for an amendment to Section 3(1)(f) on Canadian creative resources, among other recommendations. Read the brief here.
WGC FAQ on Bill C-11
Have questions about C-11? Read our in-depth FAQ. (Please view in Chrome.)
WGC Requests Two Legal Opinions on C-11
In October 2022, the WGC requested and received two legal opinions on Bill C-11:
Bill C-11 and the Status of the Artist Act Legal Opinion - Federal Powers
Bill C-11 and the Status of the Artist Act Legal Opinion - Charter of Rights and Freedoms
WGC Brief to the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications
On October 27, 2022, the WGC submitted a brief to the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications on Bill C‐11. The submission states that we must ensure that Canadian creative resources—and a Canadian authorial voice—are and remain central to the meaning of Canadian content/programming, and it outlines our proposed amendments to Bill C-11 that would help us achieve this. Read the submission here.
WGC Speaks About Bill C-11 Before Senate Committee
On November 1, 2022, WGC President Alex Levine and WGC Acting Co-Executive Director & Director of Policy Neal McDougall spoke in support of Bill C-11 before the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications (TRCM). Read more about it here.
