The media of Canada is highly autonomous, uncensored, diverse, and very regionalized. Canada has a well-developed media sector, but its cultural output—particularly in English films, television shows, and magazines—is often overshadowed by imports from the United States. As a result, the preservation of a distinctly Canadian culture is supported by federal government programs, laws, and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.
CHBX-TV is a television station in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on 6 Line East in Sault Ste. Marie.
CKCK-DT is a television station in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Eastgate Drive and Highway 1, just east of Regina proper.
Family Channel is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by WildBrain. The network primarily airs children's television series, teen dramas, as well as other programming targeting a family audience. Despite having its own headquarters in the Brookfield Place office in Financial District, the channel is transmitted from Corus Quay.
Aboriginal Voices Radio Network was a Canadian radio network, which primarily broadcast music programming and other content of interest to aboriginal people. As of June 2015, the network operated stations in Toronto, Ontario, Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta, and Vancouver, British Columbia. All of its stations were licensed as rebroadcasters of its flagship station, CKAV-FM in Toronto. The network's administrative office was located in Ohsweken, Ontario, on the Six Nations Indian reserve near Brantford. The stations' music programming consisted mainly of adult contemporary music, along with specialty programs focusing on aboriginal-oriented content.
The following media outlets are located in Canada's National Capital Region, serving the cities of Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. The two cities, which are adjacent and each receive virtually all television and radio stations operating in either city, are considered a single media market.
Television in Canada officially began with the sign-on of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, are strongly influenced by media in the United States, perhaps to an extent not seen in any other major industrialized nation. As a result, the government institutes quotas for "Canadian content". Nonetheless, new content is often aimed at a broader North American audience, although the similarities may be less pronounced in the predominantly French-language province of Quebec.
CBC North is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio and television service for the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon of Northern Canada as well as Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik in the Nord-du-Québec region of Quebec.
Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation, or MBC Radio, is a radio network in Canada, serving First Nations and Métis communities in the province of Saskatchewan. The network's flagship station is CJLR-FM in La Ronge. MBC Radio broadcasts to more than 70 communities in Saskatchewan, including the major urban centres, and broadcasts a streaming audio feed over the Internet. MBC's current CEO is Deborah Charles, the first female CEO of an Indigenous radio broadcast network in Canada.
Canada is served by various multichannel television services, including cable television systems, two direct-broadcast satellite providers, and various other wireline IPTV and wireless MMDS video providers.
Digital terrestrial television in Canada is transmitted using the ATSC standard. Because Canada and the U.S. use the same standard and frequencies for channels, people near the Canada–United States border can watch digital television programming from television stations in either country where available. The ATSC standards are also used in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Suriname, and South Korea.
The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) is a television production company based in Nunavut with programming targeted at the Inuit population of Nunavut. Almost all of its programs are broadcast in Inuktitut. Some are also in English. IBC shows centre on Inuit culture. The company has five production centers in Nunavut, all staffed by Inuit. Founded in the early 1980s, the IBC was the first indigenous-language television network in North America.
CFWE is a radio network based in Edmonton, Alberta. Owned by the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, it broadcasts programming targeting northern Alberta's First Nations communities, including mainstream country music, and specialty shows featuring Indigenous music or presented in native languages such as Cree and Dene.
Northern Native Broadcasting is a non-profit Indigenous communications company in British Columbia which owns and operates radio stations whose music and primary content is intended to be of interest to Indigenous peoples in Canada.
A discretionary service is a Canadian specialty channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, may be carried optionally by all subscription television providers. It replaces the previous category A, category B, category C, and premium classifications.
CFPT-FM is an Indigenous radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned by First Peoples Radio, a subsidiary of Dadan Sivunivut, it broadcasts music and talk programming targeting the First Nations community, with the former focusing upon both contemporary and indigenous musicians. The station launched on October 24, 2018 as a replacement for the city's Voices Radio station.
CFPO-FM is an indigenous peoples' radio station in Ottawa. Owned by First Peoples Radio, a subsidiary of Dadan Sivunivut, it broadcasts music and talk programming targeting the First Nations community. Music is both from mainstream and indigenous artists.
CJWE-FM is a radio station in Calgary, Alberta. Owned by the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, it broadcasts programming targeting southern Alberta's First Nations communities, including mainstream country music, and specialty shows featuring indigenous music or presented in native languages such as Stoney. It is similar in format to its sister radio network CFWE, which focuses primarily on northern Alberta's First Nations communities.
Dadan Sivunivut is an Indigenous multimedia content creation and distribution company based in Winnipeg, Canada. It was established in December 2019 by Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Inc as "an arms-length, independent company with the responsibility to manage and expand the group of companies that had been established in the previous 12 years under the APTN umbrella". The companies transferred from APTN to Dadan Sivunivut included First Peoples Radio, which operates ELMNT FM radio stations CFPT-FM in Toronto and CFPO-FM in Ottawa, the All Nations Network (ANN) which uses the Xfinity streaming service in the United States; Nagamo publishing, a music rights agency devoted to Indigenous artists; and Red Music Rising (RMR), a music talent agency also devoted exclusively to the Indigenous musical community; Animiki See Digital Production which produces Indigenous television and digital media content; and ASD which distributes Indigenous content internationally including scripted and unscripted programs, feature films, documentaries and series in factual entertainment, current affairs, kids, animation, lifestyle, comedy and drama.
