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A show can be filmed in Toronto and still not be Canadian content. A production can feature international stars and still qualify as Canadian. So, what actually makes something “Canadian”? 

If you’ve ever heard the term CanCon and wondered exactly what it means, you’re not alone. 

“Canadian content” sounds simple enough. Canadian stories, made by Canadians, right? 

In reality, determining what officially counts as Canadian content has long involved a set of rules about who creates a production, who controls it, who works in key creative roles and where the money is spent. 

And those rules matter. 

As viewing habits change, questions about how Canadian content is created, supported and discovered have taken on new urgency. Recent policy changes are reshaping how Canada supports Canadian creators and ensure Canadian stories have a place in an increasingly global media environment. 

Here’s what you need to know. 

First: Canadian content isn’t just about where something is filmed. 

Canada, particularly cities like Toronto and Vancouver, is a major production destination for international film and television. 

But shooting a movie or series in Canada doesn’t automatically make it Canadian content. 

That’s because Canadian content rules are designed to measure Canadian creative participation, control and economic benefit, not simply Canadian scenery. 

For decades, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has used a certification system to determine whether television programs and films qualify as Canadian for broadcasting purposes. 

Historically, that meant looking at factors such as whether the producer was Canadian, whether Canadians held key creative roles, and how much of the production spending went to Canadians and Canadian companies. 

Think of it this way: 

Canada, as the backdrop, is not the same as Canadians helping to create and control what appears on the screen. At the heart of Canadian content policy is a simple idea: only Canadians can tell Canada’s story. 

So how has Canada traditionally decided? 

One of the best-known parts of the system is the Canadian content points system. 

Under the longstanding framework, productions generally needed at least 6 out of 10 points to qualify. Points were awarded when Canadians occupied important creative positions. 

For a live-action production, those roles included: 

• Director: 2 points 

• Screenwriter: 2 points 

• First lead performer: 1 point 

• Second lead performer: 1 point 

• Production designer or art director: 1 point 

• Director of photography: 1 point 

• Music composer: 1 point 

• Picture editor: 1 point 

There were additional requirements as well. For example, at least one of the directors or screenwriters had to be Canadian, as did at least one of the two lead performers. 

The producer also had to be Canadian and exercise responsibility over the production, while minimum Canadian spending requirements applied. 

In other words, the question wasn’t simply: 

“Does this look Canadian?” 

It was closer to: 

“Were Canadians meaningfully involved in making it?” 

But what about the story itself? 

This is where Canadian content gets interesting. 

A program does not necessarily have to be about Canada to qualify as Canadian. 

There doesn’t need to be a maple leaf in every scene. The characters don’t have to mention hockey. The story doesn’t have to take place in Toronto, Montreal or Yellowknife. 

That may seem surprising, but the system has historically focused heavily on the people and resources behind a production, rather than requiring every Canadian production to tell an explicitly Canadian story. 

That distinction has been at the centre of a much bigger policy conversation: 

Should Canadian content be defined primarily by who makes it, or also by the stories, perspectives and intellectual property Canadians control? 

Why are the rules changing? 

Because the way Canadians watch television has changed dramatically. 

The Canadian broadcasting system was largely designed for an era when television and radio stations decided what appeared in Canadian homes. 

Today, Canadians can switch from a Canadian broadcaster to Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, or another online service without giving much thought to whether the platform operates from Toronto, Los Angeles, or somewhere else entirely. 

The Online Streaming Act, which amended Canada’s Broadcasting Act in 2023, brought online streaming services into Canada’s modernized broadcasting framework. 

That created a fundamental policy question: 

If global streaming services are now part of Canada’s broadcasting system, what should count as Canadian content in that system? 

The CRTC launched a major consultation on that question in 2024 and heard from creators, producers, broadcasters, streaming services, cultural organizations, Indigenous peoples, official language minority communities and members of the public. 

Following that process, the CRTC issued a modernized definition of Canadian content for television and online streaming in November 2025. 

What changed? 

The new approach puts greater emphasis on Canadian creative participation and ownership. 

It also modernized the key creative roles recognized by the certification system to better reflect how productions are made today. 

The framework introduced Canadian copyright ownership into the definition for the first time, clarifying how ownership impacts control, licensing, and benefits for creators and producers. 

That is significant. 

Copyright isn’t simply a name on a document. Ownership can determine who controls a work, who can license it, who benefits when it succeeds internationally and who continues to earn from it over time. 

So the Canadian content conversation is no longer only about who gets hired to make a production. 

It is increasingly also about who gets to own and benefit from what Canadians create. 

So how does Canadian content actually get made? 

Before a Canadian show, film or documentary reaches our screens, a lot has to happen behind the scenes. 

It often begins with an idea developed by a writer, creator or production company. From there, producers assemble the creative team, secure financing, develop the project and eventually move into production and distribution. 

Funding can come from several places. Depending on the project, that might include broadcasters or streaming services, private investment, tax credits and public funding programs such as the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada. 

Canadian broadcasters have also historically played an important role by commissioning and acquiring Canadian programming and investing in its production. 

Once financing is in place, productions employ the people who actually bring a project to life, including writers, directors, performers, editors, cinematographers, designers, composers and many others. 

And getting something made is only part of the journey. 

It still needs to reach an audience through a broadcaster, streaming service, cinema or another distribution channel. 

That’s why Canadian content policy isn’t simply about deciding whether something earns a “Canadian” label. 

It’s part of a much larger ecosystem that connects Canadian creators, producers, funders, broadcasters, streaming services, and, ultimately, audiences. 

But who gets the opportunity to make it? 

Having funding programs and production opportunities does not necessarily mean every Canadian creator has the same pathway into the industry. 

Emerging creators, independent producers and storytellers from communities that have historically been underrepresented in Canada’s screen sector can still face barriers to financing, commissioning and distribution. 

That is why conversations about Canadian content increasingly involve not only how much Canadian programming is made, but also who gets the opportunity to make it, whose stories are supported, and who gets to build a sustainable career telling them. 

And what about Netflix and other streaming services? 

This is where CanCon moves beyond a definition and becomes a question about the future of Canada’s cultural system. 

Under the modernized Broadcasting Act, major online streaming services are being brought into a regulatory framework that requires them to make meaningful contributions to Canadian and Indigenous content. 

In May 2026, the CRTC announced a modernized Canadian Programming Expenditure framework that covers both large traditional broadcasters and online streaming services. 

Broadcasters and streaming services with annual Canadian broadcasting revenues of $25 million or more will fall within the new expenditure framework. At the same time, those below the threshold will not be required to make Canadian programming expenditures. 

The framework also includes specific measures supporting areas such as French-language programming, official language minority communities, Canadian news, and production partnerships involving Canadian copyright ownership. 

The exact obligations individual services face will be established through further CRTC proceedings. 

Making Canadian content is only half the challenge 

There is another question: 

Can Canadians actually find it? 

In the era of traditional television, programming schedules played an enormous role in determining what audiences saw. 

Streaming works differently. 

Recommendations, home screens, search results and algorithms increasingly determine which shows, films and other content audiences encounter. 

That means supporting Canadian content isn’t only about getting Canadian productions made. 

It’s also about making sure Canadians can find them. 

In May 2026, the CRTC established a new discoverability framework for Canadian and Indigenous content and services. 

The regulator describes content as discoverable when it is available and visible to audiences, including when audiences aren’t actively searching for it. 

That distinction matters. 

A Canadian production technically existing somewhere inside a catalogue of thousands of titles doesn’t necessarily mean Canadians will ever encounter it. 

In a media environment shaped increasingly by recommendation systems and global platforms, getting Canadian content made is one challenge. Getting it noticed is another. 

Why have Canadian content rules at all? 

Canada shares a language and a massive media market with the United States. 

Canadian creators therefore compete for attention not only with each other, but with some of the largest entertainment companies and productions in the world. 

Canadian content policy grew from a basic idea. If Canada wants Canadian stories, voices and creative industries to have space in our media system, market forces alone may not always provide that space. 

That doesn’t mean shutting out international content. 

Canadians watch, and will continue to watch, stories from around the world. 

The question is whether Canadian creators have a meaningful opportunity to create, own and share their work alongside them. 

Canadian content rules have therefore never simply been about filling airtime. 

At their best, they are about creating the conditions in which Canadian creativity can exist, compete and reach audiences. 

Is Canada protecting Canadian stories in the right way? 

That is the bigger question behind many of these changes. 

Canada’s Canadian content framework was built for a broadcasting system very different from the one audiences use today. 

Updating definitions, funding expectations and discoverability rules is an attempt to adapt that system to a world of streaming platforms, global catalogues and algorithm-driven recommendations. 

But modernization also raises difficult questions. 

What should Canada preserve from the old system? What needs to change? And how do we support Canadian creators without simply recreating rules designed for another era? 

There may not be one simple answer. 

But these are increasingly important questions as Canada decides what cultural policy should look like in a global, digital media environment. 

Why does this matter now? 

Because Canada’s broadcasting system is being rebuilt for the streaming era. 

The decisions being made today will help determine: 

• whether Canadian creators continue to have meaningful opportunities; 

• whether investment in Canadian production stays in Canada; 

• whether Canadians retain ownership and economic benefits from the work they create; 

• whether French language, Indigenous, regional and other Canadian voices can reach audiences; 

• and whether Canadian programming remains visible when the world’s biggest streaming services compete for our attention. 

There is also a larger question at stake: 

In a media world where content crosses borders instantly, what does it mean to maintain a distinct Canadian cultural space? 

Canadian content policy is one way Canada has tried to answer that question. 

The rules may be technical. The reason they exist isn’t. 

They are ultimately about ensuring that Canadians aren’t simply consumers in a global media marketplace. We should also have the opportunity to be its creators, storytellers and owners. 

The policy landscape is still evolving. The federal government has announced plans to develop new policy directions for the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, including a review of the current approach to supporting Canadian content. Friends of Canadian Media will be watching closely as those plans take shape and what they could mean for Canadian creators, audiences and the future of Canadian storytelling. 

As Canada’s media landscape continues to evolve, Friends of Canadian Media will continue to advocate for policies that ensure Canadian creators have the opportunity to create, own and share their work, and that Canadian stories can be found and enjoyed by audiences across the country. 

Stay informed as Canada’s broadcasting system evolves.