The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has released a review of their Independent Local News Fund (ILNF) demanding media recipients create content reflects "equity-deserving communities."The Online Streaming Act, or Bill C-11, requires what it terms broadcasters, like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Spotify, with annual "Canadian gross broadcasting revenue over $25 million" to allocate 1.5% of their total 5% base contribution to the ILNF. This is under Broadcasting Order 2024-194.It was introduced in 2023. The CRTC explains it wishes to give money to local news since "news is expensive to produce and a difficult business to sustain by market forces alone, in particular for independent television broadcasters facing declining revenues and increased costs.".The money will be given when certain requirements are met.Requirements include "an incentive for original audiovisual online content expenditures reflecting equity-deserving communities, indigenous communities, and official language minority communities." To collect the ILNF money news organizations must meet diversity requirements. The current amount of money spent on the ILNF is $18 million. .The CRTC estimates the "additional contributions by audiovisual online undertakings," making over $25 million may "result in the growth of the ILNF from $18 million to approximately $58 million."To be eligible for the ILNF the CRTC says eligibility is limited to "private independent television stations that provide locally reflective news and information. "The National Post reports when the ILNF was established back in 2016, there were no diversity incentives.
