Media ownership in Canada is governed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), with respect to audiovisual media and telecom networks, and other agencies with more specific jurisdiction, in the case of non-broadcast media—like the Competition Bureau, with respect to competition matters, and Department of Canadian Heritage regarding foreign investment in the cultural sector. The CRTC implements the policies of the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act within Canada but, because its jurisdiction is limited to these, does not regulate the ownership of newspapers or of non-audiovisual Internet activity. However, it has taken press and non-audiovisual Internet activity taken into consideration in deciding on broadcasting matters. Thus far, the CRTC has undertaken very little regulation of Internet-based audiovisual programming.
Media Concentration in Canada
The Canadian media industry is not governed exclusively by free-market economics but rather through a combination of public and private enterprise. Apart from a limited number of community broadcasters, media in Canada are primarily owned by a small number of companies: Bell, Corus, Rogers, Quebecor and the government-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Each of these companies holds a diverse mix of over-the-air television, cable television, radio, newspaper, magazine, and/or internet operations. A few smaller media companies exist within the Canadian media landscape as well. In 2007, CTVglobemedia, Astral Media, Quebecor, Canwest Global, and Rogers all expanded significantly, through the acquisitions of CHUM Limited, Standard Broadcasting, Osprey Media, Alliance Atlantis, and Citytv, respectively. In 2010, Canwest was sold off and split between Shaw (now Corus) and Postmedia Network due to financial troubles.
Between 1990 and 2005 there were a number of media corporate mergers and takeovers in Canada. While 17.3% of daily newspapers were independently owned in 1990, by 2017 only 6% of daily newspapers were independently owned. These changes, among others, caused the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications to launch a study of Canadian news media in March 2003. (This topic had been examined twice in the past, by the Davey Commission (1970) and the Kent Commission (1981), both of which produced recommendations that were never implemented in any meaningful way.)
The Senate Committee’s final report, released in June 2006, expressed concern about the effects of the current levels of news media ownership in Canada. Specifically, the Committee discussed their concerns regarding the following trends: the potential of media ownership concentration to limit news diversity and reduce news quality; the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and Competition Bureau’s ineffectiveness at stopping media ownership concentration; the lack of federal funding for the CBC and the broadcaster’s uncertain mandate and role; diminishing employment standards for journalists (including decreased job security, less journalistic freedom, and new contractual threats to intellectual property); a lack of Canadian training and research institutes; and difficulties with the federal government’s support for print media and the absence of funding for the internet-based news media.
The Senate report expressed particular concern about the concentration of ownership in the province of New Brunswick, where the Irving business empire owns all the English-language daily newspapers and most of the weeklies. Senator Joan Fraser, author of the report, stated, "We didn't find anywhere else in the developed world a situation like the situation in New Brunswick."
The report provided 40 recommendations and 10 suggestions (for areas outside of federal government jurisdiction), including legislation amendments that would trigger automatic reviews of a proposed media merger if certain thresholds are reached, and CRTC regulation revisions to ensure that access to the broadcasting system is encouraged and that a diversity of news and information programming is available through these services.