Some of the CRTC's policies in regard to multichannel television are intended to protect and encourage the production of Canadian content, and prevent foreign broadcasters from unduly harming domestic outlets.
U.S. and international channels can be authorized for distribution in Canada if they are deemed to not be unduly competitive to Canadian outlets (although their programming may be affected by differing broadcast rights).
The majority of Canada's multichannel television industry is dominated by vertically integrated companies and their respective services, including Bell Canada's Bell Satellite TV satellite and fibreoptic Fibe TV IPTV services, Rogers Communications' cable systems (primarily in Ontario and Atlantic Canada), Shaw Communications' cable systems (primarily in Western Canada; the Shaw family also owns Corus Entertainment, a major operator of Canadian specialty channels), Telus' Optik TV and Vidéotron (which operates mainly in its home province of Quebec, and is owned by local conglomerate Quebecor).
[1] In 1949, the Broadcast Relay Service began negotiations for the implementation of what was to be the first large scale cable television system in North America.
Cable television in Canada began in 1952 with community antenna connections in Vancouver and London; as to which city was first to launch such a service is not clear.
At the same time, the advent of fibre-optic technology enabled companies to extend their systems to nearby towns and villages that by themselves were not viable cable television markets.
In 1977-78, regional cable services such Telecable (now Shaw Communications) and Cable Regina (now Access Communications) in Saskatchewan began to emerge, offering access to American networks for the first time, though a third system, CPN, which offered specialty channels such as HBO, failed after two years.
Methods were developed and deployed as far back as the 1970s to transmit analog video using frequency division multiplexing via fibre-optic cabling.
Two-way capabilities were introduced, and larger systems were able to use "addressable" descramblers to offer pay television services and different tiers of channels.
London had two, with a very convoluted dividing line in the old south neighbourhood; Rogers eventually bought the companies that ran those two systems, merging them, a pattern repeated elsewhere.
A long series of consolidations and acquisitions rapidly brought most major cities' systems under the ownership of a small number of large companies.
Karl Péladeau, CEO of Québecor (which owns cable television provider Vidéotron) is on public record as demanding conditions be placed on the CRTC license issued to Bell Satellite TV, due to Bell TV’s reputation for vastly inferior security compared to its cable rivals and Shaw Cable-owned Shaw Direct.
Some would claim that this is probably due to a combination of increasingly aggressive police enforcement and an unfavourable exchange rate between the Canadian and U.S. currencies.
In some areas, an additional option is a form of over-the-air broadcasting, either via a multichannel multipoint distribution service, also known as "wireless cable", or via encrypted low-power transmissions in the NTSC format.
As part of "Let's Talk TV", an initiative to implement reforms of Canada's broadcasting industry, the CRTC announced in 2015 that it planned to phase out the genre protection rules, and "Category A" licensing (which carried must-offer status, and prohibited other specialty channels from directly competing with them) by 2017 for larger conglomerates, and 2018 for independent broadcasters.
[13] Examples of well-known U.S. channels not permitted in Canada include FX, Nickelodeon, ESPN, HBO, Showtime, USA Network and TNT (however, Canadian broadcasters have since launched licensed versions of FX, HBO and Nickelodeon, while TSN is minority-owned by ESPN); nonetheless some Canadians choose to subscribe to these channels via the grey market, as outlined above.
Even if a channel is approved, other issues such as programming rights may prevent their carriage, as in the cases of Comedy Central and, until late 2006, AMC and TCM.
[7][14] Under CRTC regulations as of March 2016, the lowest tier of service of a digital broadcast distribution undertaking must include:[15] The basic package described above must be sold at a maximum rate of $25 per-month.
Since December 1, 2016, all television providers are required to allow subscribers to purchase channels on an individual (a la carte) basis.