To qualify as Canadian content a musical selection must generally fulfil at least two of the following conditions (one if recorded prior to January 1972): For the purposes of MAPL, a "Canadian" refers to a citizen, permanent resident, someone whose "ordinary place of residence" has been in Canada prior to their contribution to the musical selection, or someone who is a CRTC licensee.
This was a major hurdle for Canadian musicians, since they could not gain attention in their home country without having a hit single in the United States or Europe first.
"[12] This practice is now reduced by CRTC regulations stipulating that CanCon percentages must be met between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., rather than allowing a station to save all their Canadian content for off-peak hours.
[13] The 1991 half credit for music and lyrics provision was added after Canadian Bryan Adams' album Waking Up the Neighbours did not qualify as Canadian as Adams co-wrote both the music and the lyrics with South African producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and he did not primarily record the album in Canada, and therefore only fulfilled one of the criteria fully.
[14][15] In December 2022, the CRTC announced a proposal to update the MAPL system to account for changes in the music industry and reduce regulatory burden.
As in the United States in the 1980s, the trend for AM stations in Canada in the 1990s was to apply for an FM broadcasting license or move away from music in favour of talk radio formats.
This became particularly controversial in 1998 when stations in Toronto and Montreal started airing The Howard Stern Show from New York City during prime daytime hours.
American shows that combine talk and music, such as Blair Garner, Elvis Duran, Delilah and John Tesh, usually have special playlists for airing in Canada to assist in meeting Canadian content requirements.
The French-language industry, centered in Quebec, similarly places a larger emphasis on original productions, as they have historically been more profitable than dubs of imported English-language programming, and to prioritize the province's insular "star system" of local talent.
This was replaced in 2010 with the current licensing framework, which places a larger focus on overall investments into Canadian content and the similar concept of "programs of national interest", as opposed to scheduling and quantity.
The CRTC's requirements for a television program to be considered Canadian content include that:[26] Early Canadian programming was often produced merely to fill content requirements, and featured exceedingly low budgets, rushed production schedules, poor writing and little in the way of production values, and as a result did not attract much of an audience.
SCTV notably lampooned the Cancon rules, as well a request by the CBC for a filler segment featuring distinctively Canadian content, by developing the characters of Bob and Doug McKenzie—a caricature of stereotypical Canadians played by cast members Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, and their recurring sketch "The Great White North".
In the latter part of the 1990s and the early 2000s, Global's Traders and the CBC dramas Da Vinci's Inquest and Republic of Doyle completed long runs, buoyed by critical approval if not overwhelming viewer success (though they have since became mainstays of both Canadian and American syndication).
As for CTV, after short-lived runs of planned "flagship" drama series such as The City, The Associates and The Eleventh Hour, the network later found ratings success with series such as Corner Gas (a sitcom set at an eponymous gas station in rural Saskatchewan, filmed in the town of Rouleau), Flashpoint, and Motive.
Specialty channels also naturally produce Canadian content, some of which, most notably Showcase's mockumentary series Trailer Park Boys, have been able to generate a strong mass appeal.
Canadian networks have sometimes fulfilled Cancon requirements by commissioning series filmed in Canada, but intended to be sold to broadcasters in larger foreign markets such as the United States and United Kingdom, such as CTV's Saving Hope, Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, Mysterious Ways, andTwice in a Lifetime, and Global's Wild Card and Rookie Blue.
A few Canadian drama series, including Due South, The Listener, Motive, Flashpoint, and Saving Hope, have also been picked up by American networks and aired in prime time, although the majority of Canadian TV series which have aired in the United States have done so either in syndication, on cable channels, or on minor networks such as The CW and Ion Television.
That show's cast often did pledge drive specials and received strong viewer support on PBS stations in the northern part of the United States, such as Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire and New York.
[34] The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television in the United States provided a major exception, with NBC importing the CTV medical drama Transplant (which premiered at midseason in Canada) for its fall primetime lineup, filling the timeslot normally filled by its own medical drama New Amsterdam (whose premiere was deferred to 2021).
[35][36][37] NBC subsequently picked up another Canadian medical drama from Global, Nurses,[38] and ordered the second season of Transplant for a mid-season premiere in 2022.
The company was in turn acquired by Halifax-based DHX Media (now WildBrain) in 2012,[47][48] which made it the largest independent owner of children's television content in the world.
[3][4] In order to enter into the TPP agreement, Canada had to accept the terms agreed upon by the nine original signatory countries: Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Peru, United States, and Vietnam.
According to MP Don Davies, Canada had no veto power over these terms and accepted the "existing unbracketed text, sight unseen and without input.
"[51] In September 2012, the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a U.S. private sector coalition representing over 3,200 U.S. producers and distributors of copyright protected materials,[52] sent a submission to the U.S. Trade Representative's office requesting that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement[53] "be comprehensive in scope, strictly avoiding any sectoral carveouts that preclude the application of free trade disciplines.
He also pointed out that Gotta Love Trump—a Canadian-produced documentary on former U.S. president Donald Trump—was able to receive the CAVCO certification despite only featuring one Canadian citizen as an interview subject.