The Trudeau government’s controversial Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11) isn’t just a bureaucratic boondoggle — it’s a censorship machine in the making, and Canadians are paying the bill.

According to a new order paper response, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has already spent $15.2 million to set up its framework for the law. That includes $11.9 million in fattened salaries and $3.3 million in operational costs, with $9 million torched in the 2024-25 fiscal year alone.

And it doesn’t stop there. The regulator admits it will need $9.7 million every year going forward to maintain the systems and staff required. In fact, the CRTC has already hired 59 new full-time employees just to enforce this law.

To pay for the ballooning bureaucracy, the CRTC has invoiced streaming services $19.9 million for 2024-25 and $22.9 million for 2025-26. But don’t expect any of that to support Canadian artists. Under the CRTC’s “cost-recovery model,” all of it is swallowed by the regulator itself.

The Liberals “accidentally” deleted the privacy clause from the Online Streaming Act—leaving Canadians’ data vulnerable to big corporations.

If this really was a mistake, then Minister Guilbeault must table corrective legislation on the very first day the House resumes.… pic.twitter.com/ZuN7T2Hs4m

— Rachael Thomas (@RachaelThomasAB) August 29, 2025

Internet law expert Michael Geist warns that the Online Streaming Act hands the CRTC unprecedented powers:

• Brings global streaming services under the Broadcasting Act, treating Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube like old-school TV networks.

• Lets bureaucrats dictate “discoverability,” forcing platforms to push so-called Canadian content, regardless of what viewers actually want.

• Potentially ropes in user-generated content, leaving the door open for the CRTC to meddle with podcasts, independent creators, and even social media uploads.

• Creates compliance costs so heavy that streaming platforms may hike prices, slash Canadian investment, or bail on the market altogether.

Geist has called the law a “misdiagnosis” of Canada’s broadcasting woes — one that risks undermining free expression, raising costs for consumers, and burying genuine Canadian voices under a pile of government-approved propaganda.

Please donate to help Rebel News fight back against the Liberal government's draconian censorship regime!

The Liberals still say they’re committed to bringing in censorship. Bill C-63 would create unprecedented censorship agencies, investigate your online posts, and even impose hate speech restraining orders before words are spoken. Rebel News has fought censorship in courts across Canada, spending over $500,000 on free speech lawyers this year alone. To protect freedom of speech, we’re ready to challenge this law the moment it passes. If you believe in standing up to this censorship, please chip in to our legal defence fund and join the 75,000+ Canadians who have signed our petition. We have to fight this — if we don’t, the law will be used to silence us, and to silence you, too.

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