Canadian Media

Canada has a diverse and very professional broadcasting industry. Throughout Canada, residents have access to some of the highest quality production programs.

Canada is a very large country, at least in terms of landmass. It extends over nine million square kilometres. The largest single administrative entity is Nunavut, an Arctic territory that constitutes 21 percent of the nation's landmass while having its smallest population, 28,200. In contrast, Canada's largest central provinces of Ontario and Québec have a combined population of 19,281,900. These two provinces are the nation's largest media market, and constitute 26.2 percent of the country's land-mass. Canada borders on three oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic. Its most immediate neighbour is the United States, which it touches on two borders, one to its south and the other to the north.

Nine out of 10 Canadians live within ninety miles of the United States. In terms of density, in the majority of the country, there is less than one person per 49 square kilometres of land space. Sharing, to a significant degree, a common heritage and a common language with the United States, issues focusing on national cultural survival dominate much of the political debate in Canada. Media issues and press policies are critical players in this debate.

All these forms of Canada media play an important role in informing, educating and entertaining Canadian audience.

In the broadcasting sector, Canada has a government-funded broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada, which operates radio and TV networks in English and French. As well, some provincial governments offer their own public educational TV broadcast services as well, such as Ontario's TVOntario and Quebec's Télé-Québec.

Regulation

The Canadian government regulates media ownership and the state of media through the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Section 3 of the Canadian Broadcasting Act, states that media organizations should reflect "equal rights, the linguistic duality and multicultural and multiracial nature society and the special place of aboriginal peoples within that society".

Broadcasting plays a critical role in helping build and support our Canadian identity. In recognition of this, Canada's Broadcasting Act sets out objectives to ensure that Canadian broadcasting content meets the needs and interests of Canadians. The CRTC then sets policies and rules to ensure that those objectives are put into practice in Canada's broadcasting system.

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