Active CRTC Consultations

The CRTC maintains four separate consumer codes: the Wireless Code for cellphone service, the Internet Code, the Deposit and Disconnection Code for home phone, and the Television Service Provider Code. They were written at different times and in different contexts, so the protections they give are inconsistent — even though most Canadians buy these services bundled together on one bill.

This proceeding would combine all four into a single Consumer Protection Code. The Commission has published a Working Document setting out a possible model for the merged code, along with a full list of questions for parties to answer.

The part that matters most for television subscribers is the extension question. Some protections currently apply to only one service. The Commission has said it will examine whether service-specific protections should be extended across a broader set of retail services — which is where a TV customer could gain rights that today exist only for internet and wireless customers.

One intervention on the record, filed by an individual subscriber, argues that a customer should not be charged for a discretionary television service they were never told about and never selected: it should be disclosed before purchase, itemized on the bill, and removable on request. A separate procedural request asked the Commission to put questions to the largest television ownership groups, since nobody outside the industry can currently say which services are included by default or what happens when a customer asks to remove one.

The deadline to file an intervention was extended to 14 August 2026 by BTNoC 2026-134-1 and has now passed. The proceeding continues: interventions are posted to the public record, a reply phase follows, and a public hearing begins 30 November 2026 at 9:00 a.m. in Gatineau. The hearing can be attended in person or followed online.

Since 1 December 2017 the Wireless Code has required that a phone a provider supplies for wireless service be provided unlocked, and that a locked phone be unlocked on request, at no charge.

On 22 April 2025, Bell and its Virgin Plus brand told Commission staff they would start selling phones locked for 60 days after purchase, citing fraud and robberies at their stores, and began the next day. On 28 November 2025 the Commission found the practice non-compliant and directed Bell to stop immediately, to unlock free of charge any phone still locked because of it, and to notify the customers affected. Bell asked the Commission to withdraw or reconsider that letter and to put it on hold. The Commission says the practice appears to have continued without interruption since 23 April 2025.

On 14 August 2026 the Commission ordered Bell to show cause why it should not be found in violation of the unlocking rules from 23 April 2025 to 14 August 2026, and, if it is, why penalties of up to $10 million for the company and up to $25,000 for its directors or officers should not follow. It also confirmed that its November letter is binding.

At the same time it paused the rule that phones be sold unlocked, for every provider, on three conditions: phones must unlock automatically within two business days of purchase, providers must unlock phones on request, and providers must make reasonable efforts to tell customers how long the lock lasts, what it means for them, and that they can ask for an unlock. The pause lasts until the consumer-code proceeding (BTNoC 2026-134) is decided, and providers using it must file their locking and unlocking figures on that proceeding's record by 30 October 2026. Whether phones should be sold locked in future will be considered there.

On 11 September 2026 the Commission extended the deadlines (TNoC 2026-210-1) after an individual pointed out that correspondence the notice described as being on the public record had not been posted; it was added on 26 August. Interventions closed on 24 September 2026. Bell's reply is due 5 October 2026, and a decision follows.

When the internet, phone, or TV goes down, Canadians often get little information from their provider and rarely receive a credit on their bill. This proceeding examines whether new consumer protection rules should require providers to give customers meaningful and timely updates during outages, and whether refunds or bill credits should be standard after a disruption.

The proceeding follows several large-scale outages affecting Canadian consumers and is part of the CRTC's broader Consumer Protections Action Plan. The comment period closed in late 2025 and a decision was expected in summer 2026; as of September 2026 the Commission has not yet ruled.

This proceeding examines the regulatory framework that supports the creation, presentation, and discoverability of Canadian and Indigenous music. It is the audio counterpart to a parallel review of Canadian programming definitions in the audio-visual sector.

The Commission is asking how the existing rules — built for traditional radio and satellite services — should be updated for online audio services that now reach most Canadians. This includes how Canadian musical selections are defined, how financial contributions to Canadian content funds should be allocated, and how discoverability obligations should apply to streaming platforms.

The hearing ran for five days in September 2025. The record closed on December 11, 2025 with final written submissions. A decision is expected in the second quarter of 2026.

This proceeding examines five major issue areas in Canadian broadcasting: the effectiveness of existing regulatory tools including the Wholesale Code, market dynamics between programming and distribution, distribution and packaging requirements, the undue preference framework, and dispute resolution.

The hearing ran from June 18 to July 4, 2025 and received 480 interventions, with 78 parties appearing. The Commission is examining whether existing rules adequately protect consumer interests, independent programming services, and competitive markets in the face of online streaming and shifting market power.

A decision is expected in 2026 and could reshape how cable, satellite, and IPTV providers package and distribute Canadian programming services.

In November 2025, the CRTC published Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2025-299, setting out a modernized framework for certifying Canadian audio-visual programs. This proceeding consults on the actual regulatory wording that will give effect to that framework, including amendments to the Television Broadcasting Regulations, the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, and the Discretionary Services Regulations.

The new regulations are proposed to come into force on September 1, 2026, to align with the start of the broadcast year. Programs certified under the existing framework will continue to qualify, and applicants can request certification under the new framework once it takes effect.

The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) is the independent body that handles complaints from Canadian telecom and TV customers. The CCTS is funded by per-complaint fees charged to participating service providers.

This proceeding examines two preliminary CRTC views: that the CCTS's funding model may disproportionately burden small telecom providers, regional players, and new market entrants compared to large incumbents, and that providers may not have a meaningful mechanism to dispute the fees they are charged. The proceeding was triggered by a complaint from small provider InnSys, which was expelled from the CCTS in 2023.

The outcome could affect how the CCTS is funded, how easily small providers can participate, and indirectly how robust complaint protections are for Canadian telecom customers.

Participating in a CRTC proceeding can be costly. Public interest groups may need to commission expert research, conduct consumer surveys, or retain legal counsel. Until now, the rules governing how these costs are reimbursed have not been reviewed in over a decade.

This proceeding examines whether the existing framework — which relies on the Broadcasting Participation Fund for broadcasting matters and on a separate telecom costs award regime for telecom matters — adequately supports meaningful participation by Canadians in CRTC decisions. The Broadcasting Participation Fund stopped accepting new claims in October 2025 pending the outcome of this proceeding.

The decision will shape who can afford to participate in CRTC consultations going forward.

This proceeding focuses on the equipment and software used to access TV programming, rather than the programming itself. It examines whether set-top boxes, mobile apps, and streaming interfaces present unnecessary barriers for Canadians with disabilities — including issues like menu navigation, search functionality, and the discoverability of accessible programming.

This is a sister proceeding to existing CRTC work on closed captioning, described video, and audio description, which focus on the accessibility of the content itself.

Telecom Regulatory Policy 2026-43 and section 27.04 of the Telecommunications Act prohibit fees charged for activating or modifying a service plan, along with any fee whose main purpose is to discourage customers from changing or cancelling their service. That prohibition took effect on 12 June 2026.

Within weeks, Commission staff learned that three national carriers had introduced new charges. Bell added a $40 device-handling charge for customers buying a phone with their wireless service. TELUS introduced a $15 fee for SIM and eSIM cards. Rogers introduced a $40 device setup charge in assisted channels, a $25 shipping charge for devices ordered online, and a SIM fee. The carriers argued the fees fall outside the ban because they relate to optional purchases rather than to the service plan itself. Bell confirmed to Commission staff that it would keep charging.

The Commission is requiring the three companies to show cause why these fees do not violate the Act and the policy. If it finds a violation, the companies must also show cause why administrative monetary penalties of up to $10 million each — and up to $25,000 for individual officers and directors — should not be imposed, and why a mandatory compliance order should not issue.

The proceeding was reopened. On 14 August 2026 the Commission issued TNoC 2026-155-2 ruling on procedural requests and setting new deadlines: interventions were due 31 August 2026 and replies 10 September 2026. The Forum for Research and Policy in Communications and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre had asked for a two-day oral hearing; Bell and TELUS opposed, and the Commission kept the process written, finding that oral evidence was not required for what it described as a single question about the interpretation of one statutory provision. The Commission also confirmed that the final reply stays with the three companies alone, on the basis that a greater degree of procedural fairness is owed to them given the nature of a show cause proceeding.

The comment period closed on 31 August 2026. Bell, TELUS and Rogers filed their final replies on 10 September 2026. The record is closed and a decision follows.

Amendments to the Broadcasting Act allow the CRTC to issue licences that do not expire. In the Modernization of Radio Processes Policy (BRP 2025-265), the Commission decided radio licences would no longer be granted for fixed terms. This proceeding implements that decision for licences that already exist, proposing to renew almost all of them indefinitely regardless of their current expiry date. Radio services operated by the CBC in English and French are excluded, as are developmental stations, which keep an initial five-year term.

For conventional AM and FM stations this is sensible housekeeping. Those stations answer to their markets daily: a listener who is not served tunes away, and advertising follows the audience. Removing renewal paperwork does not remove that accountability.

The appendix, however, lists 1,010 services, and not all of them are that kind of station. On review, 1,008 are over-the-air. The remaining two are national subscription-funded services: a satellite subscription service, and the only licensed pay audio service in Canada — the audio channels delivered inside cable and satellite television packages, whose licence expires 31 August 2027.

An individual subscriber intervened on that single entry, taking no position on the over-the-air conversions. The argument is that the pay audio service is different in kind. It has no over-the-air audience that can tune away, and unlike the satellite service its subscribers do not contract with it directly — it reaches them through the packages their television provider assembles. Neither accountability mechanism applies, which makes the scheduled renewal review the principal one that exists. The framework governing pay audio is also still undecided: the audio policy proceeding (BNoC 2025-52) closed its record in December 2025 and no decision has issued.

The relief sought is narrow: defer the term decision for this one service until the audio policy proceeding is decided; failing that, keep a fixed term; failing that, state expressly that conversion is without prejudice to later review of the service’s conditions of service. Excepting a small number of services is not novel — the Commission did exactly that for the CBC and developmental stations.

The record closed on 21 July 2026.

DECIDED. Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2026-216, issued 24 August 2026, renewed the listed licences for indefinite terms — the pay audio service included, effective 1 September 2027. The requested deferral and fixed term were not granted. The intervention was addressed in a dedicated section of the decision, and the third request was granted in substance: the Commission stated that the renewals "have no impact on the licensees’ conditions of service" and do not interfere with the pending audio policy review or any future proceeding — meaning every obligation attached to the service survives and can be challenged, changed, or enforced at any time, by application. Compliance concerns raised in interventions carry forward to a promised compliance process where "[i]nterested persons will have an opportunity to comment." The scheduled 2027 review is gone; accountability now depends on proceedings someone starts.

Corus Entertainment operates Global News, 15 conventional television stations, 25 discretionary services, and 36 radio stations. It has applied for approval of a debt-for-equity recapitalization: lenders would forgive roughly $500 million in debt in exchange for 99% ownership of a new parent company that would own Corus and all its services. The transaction has already been approved by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Corus says the restructuring is necessary to address its debt load and keep its services operating. It is not requesting new licences or changes to its conditions of service.

It is, however, requesting an exception to the Commission’s tangible benefits policy, which normally requires a purchaser in a change-of-control transaction to direct a percentage of the transaction value into Canadian programming and community initiatives. Corus cites its financial position as grounds for the exception.

The comment period closed on 25 June 2026. A decision is pending.