Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge is proposing an overhaul of CBC/Radio Canada’s mandate, which entails nearly doubling its $1.4 billion in federal funding and implementing a more “stable” funding process for the public broadcaster.
The average funding for public broadcasters in G7 countries like England and Germany is $62 per person, St-Onge said during a Feb. 20 press conference in Ottawa, saying Canada ranks “next to last” with an annual investment of $33 per capita.
St-Onge proposed that Canada increase the per capita funding for CBC to $62 per person. The CBC received $1.4 billion in federal funding in 2024 and, under the new formula, the Crown corporation would receive approximately $2.6 billion. She said the funding amounts would ultimately be decided by “the next leader and by the next finance minister.”
The heritage minister also said CBC’s funding should be taken “out of the election cycle and the budgetary cycle,” by cementing its funding through legislation instead of through yearly budgets.
“CBC/Radio Canada doesn’t belong to the Liberals, it doesn’t belong to the Conservatives, or to any other political party,” she said. “It belongs to the Canadian people.”
St-Onge said stable and predictable funding would make CBC’s platforms free and accessible to all Canadians. Increased funding should also mean there would no longer be “any advertisements on anything related to news or public affairs on any of the platforms of the CBC, whether it’s television, radio, or online platforms,” she said.
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The news organization’s role in “fighting misinformation” should also be “enshrined in legislation,” St-Onge said, citing the threat of foreign interference and propaganda. She said CBC/Radio Canada’s mandate also needed to include its role as a source of reliable information during emergencies, such as the wildfires in Jasper in 2024.
St-Onge also recommended CBC’s future CEO be chosen by its board of directors, and not by the federal cabinet.
CBC’s Funding
St-Onge announced last May that she had appointed an advisory committee to give policy advice on how to strengthen and renew CBC/Radio Canada. The seven members of the panel regularly met with St-Onge to provide policy advice and recommendations, which she shared on Feb. 20.
St-Onge said these recommendations come at a time when Canadians are choosing between “defunding” the CBC and “having a CBC that most Canadians want to see improve.” She said the current media landscape is dominated by “tech oligarchs, billionaires, the most powerful men on the planet,” who are able to control the flow of information.
“Canadians deserve to know that they have their own Canadian source of information, of culture, of language, and of existence,” she said.
When asked by a reporter why the CBC’s funding should be doubled when its viewership has been declining, St-Onge said television statistics do not “reflect the habits of the Canadian population” who are more often consuming their news online.
“We need to consider the fact that more people than ever are listening to CBC Radio across the country and also on different platforms of the CBC,” she said.
Former CBC President Catherine Tait said in 2024 the organization expected to see a $20 million budget shortfall for the 2024-25 fiscal year, despite laying off 141 employees and eliminating 205 vacant positions since December 2023. The organization also gave out $18.4 million in bonuses in 2024 to 1,194 employees.
The Conservatives have frequently said the CBC should be “defunded” and have criticized government funding for the organization. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters on Feb. 20 that “wasteful spending” should be cut across the government, saying that included billions in funding for the CBC.
