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CEO Spotlight: 'Our Regulators Have Lost the Plot' -- Why Canadian Entrepreneurs Are Sounding the Alarm Over Digital Regulation
MONTREAL, May 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As Canada advances a dense web of digital regulations, including the CRTC's proposal requiring online streaming platforms to contribute 15% of their annual revenues toward Canadian content, alongside cumulative impacts of Bills C-11, C-18, and C-22, concerns are escalating within the technology and startup ecosystem.
We sat down with entrepreneur and investment strategist Yanik Guillemette to discuss the broader implications of this regulatory red tape on innovation, cross-border competitiveness, and the future of Canada's digital economy.
Q: What was your initial reaction to the recent CRTC proposals and the broader regulatory trajectory in Canada?
Yanik Guillemette: Honestly? It feels like our regulators have completely lost the plot -- literally, figuratively, and metaphorically. Every time Canada encounters a successful digital business model, the immediate instinct from Ottawa seems to be: regulate it, tax it, force compliance on it, and then wonder why innovation leaves the country shortly afterward. We are stacking administrative burdens on top of an already fragile tech ecosystem.
Q: Supporters argue these financial contributions are necessary to protect Canadian culture and sovereignty. What is your response to that rationale?
Yanik Guillemette: The issue is not whether we should support Canadian culture. The fundamental issue is the economic illusion that these regulatory costs magically disappear into a corporate vacuum. They don't. They get passed directly down the chain to consumers and businesses. We already experienced this exact scenario with the Digital Services Tax (DST). Major players like Google simply adjusted their advertising costs, and Canadian businesses were forced to absorb the increase. Thousands of SMEs, including those deploying critical SaaS and automated systems, pay that invisible tax. This new wave of compliance will be no different.
Q: Do you believe these policies are actively hurting Canada's global competitiveness and our ability to close the productivity gap?
Yanik Guillemette: Absolutely. Canada broadcasts that it wants to become a global hub for artificial intelligence, automated infrastructure, and tech innovation. Yet, in practice, we are engineering an environment deeply centered around taxation, bureaucracy, and regulatory uncertainty. When we evaluate expanding operations or launching new frameworks -- like AI resilience tools -- companies are forced to ask very practical questions: Why host data infrastructure in Canada? Why establish a headquarters here? Why scale a SaaS operation in a market that penalizes growth? Increasingly, founders are looking at the U.S. market and simply choosing to build there instead.
