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THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 97 FEBRUA RY 12, 2020
CANADA: ADOBE STOCK.
UMBRELLA
: CHRISTOS KALOHORIDIS/NETFLIX. GUILBEAULT: BLAIR GABLE/REUTERS/NEWSCOM.
Canada Is a Little Mad at Streamers Amid pressure
from regional governments, Amazon and Hulu are likely to
follow Netflix and support local content By Etan Vlessing
But it’s likely GST funds will not
go directly toward subsidizing
Canadian content, which means
that streaming services won’t be
going far enough to change their
business models to satisfy tradi-
tional TV distributors.
“We have long been concerned
by the undue regulatory burden
faced by Canadian broadcast-
ers versus foreign internet
broadcasters, and we hope the
government will move forward
with creating a more equi-
table competitive environment,”
says Doug Murphy, president
and CEO of local broadcaster
Corus Entertainment.
Canada has so far not shown any
inclination in following France,direct lev y on the revenues of
Netflix, Google and Amazon,
upcoming legislation to revamp
broadcast and telecom rules is
expected to leave such U.S. big-
tech players mostly unregulated
and untaxed.
An exception
to the above is an
expected legislative
mandate that tech
giants must collect a
goods and services sales tax (GST)
from their customers, which
Canadians routinely pay on all
goods and services.
“I think that’s about fairness,”
Guilbeault says. “Everybody is
paying the GST in Canada — I
don’t see why some of the richest
companies in the world shouldn’t
pay GST in Canada.”A
re the streaming giants
enjoying a free ride in
Canada? That’s been an
increasingly vocal complaint
from content creators and
regional governments north of
the border as Netflix and Amazon
continue to take full advantage
of generous Canadian shooting
incentives and state-of-the-art
facilities in an environment that
is largely free of regulation. Now,
as the streaming wars intensify
with the arrival of Disney+, Apple
TV+, Peacock and HBO Max,
pressure is mounting for the
streamers to start giving back.
“They are already spending
money in Canada. All we’re ask-
ing is for them to do it in a more
organized way [toward] Canadian
cultural content available forCanadians, and for audiences
around the world,” Steven
Guilbeault, the Canadian heritage
minister responsible for broad-
casting, told THR while attending
the Prime Time conference in
Ottawa in January.
Unlike local broadcasters and
cable players that put a share of
their revenue toward subsidiz-
ing local TV producers, Netflix
and other U.S. tech giants remain
unregulated in Canada. Such local
subsidies result in significant
funding for Canadian TV shows
like Schitt’s Creek, Anne With
an E and Orphan Black that sell
widely into the U.S. and other
world markets.
Defying long-standing calls
from regional indie producers
and broadcasters to impose aCanadaGuilbeaultUmbrella Academy is one of a number of pricey
Netflix series to shoot in Canada.