The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has issued a significant new directive requiring major online streaming platforms operating in Canada to collect comprehensive diversity data about their key creative personnel. This mandate affects streaming giants including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, marking a substantial expansion of the regulator's diversity tracking initiatives.
New Diversity Reporting Requirements
Buried within the CRTC's new policy on Canadian content released in November 2025 is a requirement for broadcasters to maintain detailed statistics tracking whether their key creative staff belong to specific equity-deserving groups. The mandated categories include racialized people, people with disabilities, individuals who identify as 2SLGBTQI+, and women.
This expansion builds upon existing diversity tracking measures that some television and radio broadcasters already follow. Previously, certain broadcasters were required to track statistics on women in key production roles and monitor spending on content created by Indigenous and official language minority producers.
Legal Foundation and Implementation
The CRTC is implementing these new requirements under the authority of Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, which became law in 2023. The updated Broadcasting Act now emphasizes that Canada's broadcasting system must serve the needs of all Canadians, specifically mentioning Black and racialized communities, diverse ethnocultural backgrounds, various socio-economic statuses, abilities and disabilities, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and ages.
The legislation explicitly states that the broadcasting system should support programming created by and for non-white communities. While the law doesn't directly mandate quotas or demographic tracking, the CRTC's interpretation is moving firmly in that direction.
Concerns About Future Quotas
Industry observers express concern that where diversity data collection requirements lead, content quotas often follow. The CRTC has acknowledged that the current lack of comprehensive data results in an incomplete picture of production spending and representation of equity-deserving groups in Canada's production sector.
According to the regulator, collecting this information is essential to monitor compliance, track trends, and ensure that policy goals regarding representation are met. The commission considers previous data collection initiatives successful and believes the reporting framework lends itself well to expansion across all equity-deserving groups.
Major online streamers operating in Canada will now need to submit these diversity statistics as part of their regulatory compliance. This represents a significant shift in how streaming services will need to document and report their hiring and creative team composition practices to maintain their operating privileges in the Canadian market.
