Fall Forecast: What To Watch In Canada’s Communications Sector

With Parliament back in session, several legislative and regulatory initiatives with significant implications for Canada’s broadcasting, telecommunications and satellite industries are expected to advance. Below are key developments to watch this fall.

1. Broadcasting: The Future of the Online Streaming Act

Since the federal government adopted the Online Streaming Act in 2023, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has worked towards establishing a modernized broadcasting regulatory framework that would extend to newly regulated online undertakings (including streaming services and social media platforms). To date, the CRTC has imposed a host of new requirements on online undertakings, including obligations to register with the CRTC, to comply with certain conditions of service and to make financial contributions in support of Canada’s broadcasting policy objectives.

The Online Streaming Act and the CRTC’s new requirements have since come under increasing pressure amid ongoing trade tensions between Canada and the United States. On June 3, 2026, the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture announced C$600-million annually for Canada’s audio and audiovisual sectors and directed the CRTC to review a recent decision requiring certain broadcasters (including foreign streaming services) to spend a portion of their Canadian revenues on acquiring or producing Canadian programming. The federal government has said it intends to issue policy directions to the CRTC to adjust its implementation of the Online Streaming Actin the wake of these tensions, but draft directions have not yet been published.

While it remains unclear whether and how the CRTC’s decisions and upcoming consultations will be affected by these recent statements, further clarity from the federal government is expected this fall.

2. Telecommunications: What Bill C-22 Could Mean for Lawful Access

Bill C-22 (An Act respecting lawful access), which would modernize Canada’s lawful access framework, is expected to advance through the Senate in the coming months. It seeks to strengthen the tools available to law enforcement and national security agencies to investigate crime, which increasingly takes place over communications networks and platforms.

While its privacy implications have drawn considerable attention to date, Bill C-22 may have operational impacts on many telecommunications service providers and other types of technology providers operating in Canada. As drafted, it would give law enforcement and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service new and broader ways to obtain data from service providers, including by requiring telecommunications service providers to confirm whether they provide or have provided telecommunications services to any subscriber or identifier. Additionally, a category of “core” electronic service providers would be subject to future regulations governing the development, implementation and maintenance of operational and technical intercept capabilities, as well as the retention of metadata for up to six months. The types of electronic service providers considered “core” would be determined by those regulations.

The House of Commons passed Bill C-22 quickly in June 2026, although the timeline for its consideration by the Senate remains unclear.

3. Satellite: The Next Phase for Canadian Space Launches

Developments are also expected this fall in respect of Bill C-28 (Canadian Space Launch Act).

Bill C-28 would establish a framework for space launch and re-entry activities in Canada, which remains the only G7 country without its own launch capabilities. It seeks to reduce Canada’s reliance on foreign launch providers and create a regulatory framework that will encourage investment, development and growth in its space sector. Among other things, Bill C-28 would empower the Minister of Transport and the federal Cabinet to make regulations regarding permits, notices and certificates relating to launches and launch sites and to develop a financial responsibility regime for liability to third parties for loss or damage caused by a launch or re-entry.

Bill C-28 remains at a relatively early stage of the legislative process: it is at second reading in the House of Commons and has not yet been referred to committee or reached the Senate.

These developments follow a busy start to 2026, which has seen:

• Bill C-8 receive Royal Assent, introducing cybersecurity-related obligations for designated operators of telecommunications services, subject to future regulations, and new federal Cabinet and the Minister of Industry powers directed at mobile wireless infrastructure.
• The CRTC introduce a revised framework for network-level blocking of certain traffic.
• The establishment of final rates for aggregated wholesale high-speed access services over fibre-to-the-premises facilities.
• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) consult on mobile satellite service developments, launch a consultation on amendments to the tower siting process and update its mandatory roaming and tower sharing requirements.