Their goal was to facilitate the production and broadcast of high-quality Canadian television programs in under-represented categories during peak viewing periods.

In 1996, the Department of Canadian Heritage invites the CPF to join it in a redefined public-private partnership in conjunction with Telefilm Canada's Broadcast Development Production Fund.

By fostering the growth of television production in Canada through financial investment and industry research, the CTF supports the development of Canadian talent, programs and audiences.

On December 20, 2006, Jim Shaw, CEO of Shaw Communications Inc. informed the Canadian Television Fund that he would be pulling approximately $56 million per year out of the fund.1 The move was later followed by Vidéotron (a subsidiary of Quebecor Inc.) who announced their plans to withdraw their contributions on January 23, 2007.2 On July 20, 2007, Keith Mahar, a former manager at broadcaster CHUM Limited, submitted a report to the CRTC, entitled Profiteering in the Name of Culture, respecting the Canadian Television Fund [1].

The submission recommends a judicial review of alleged CRTC corruption related to the Fund which he contends has unjustly enriched cable companies.

As per Mr. Mahar, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulations, cable and satellite television distributors in Canada are required to contribute 5% of their revenue to the fund, which the companies can pass on to their customers in the form of inflated rates service.

On February 7, 2008, Mahar issued a press release covered by Reuters [2] Archived 2008-07-25 at the Wayback Machine which was critical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his alleged failure to act on information respecting related activities by the CRTC and corporations in the affair.