Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio Canada (CBC)

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, branded as CBC/Radio‑Canada, is Canada’s public service broadcaster. Operating as a Crown corporation, it delivers programming in both of Canada’s official languages: English under the “CBC” banner and French via “Radio‑Canada.” Its origins stretch back to 1936, marking it as the country’s longest‑running broadcasting network.

In its current iteration, CBC runs four terrestrial radio networks—CBC Radio One and CBC Music in English, and Ici Radio‑Canada Première and Ici Musique in French—plus the digital-only international radio arm, Radio Canada International (RCI), whose audio content has been distributed online since 2012. It also operates two main TV networks—CBC Television (English) and Ici Radio‑Canada Télé (French)—as well as multiple satellite and cable services including CBC News Network, Ici RDI, Ici Explora, and other specialty channels like Documentary and ARTV. In the Arctic, CBC North and Radio‑Canada Nord deliver tailored regional content. Beyond the official languages, CBC/Radio‑Canada serves Indigenous audiences, offering radio programming in eight Indigenous languages domestically and in five languages via RCI’s online platform.


Media assets

English-Television: CBC Television; Radio: CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Radio 3; French-Television: Ici Radio-Canada Télé; Radio: Ici Radio-Canada Première, Ici Musique; InternationalRadio Canada International (RCI); Satellite-cable: CBC News Network, Ici RDI, Ici Explora, Documentary Channel, Ici ARTV


State Media Matrix Typology

Independent State-Funded (ISF)


Ownership and governance

CBC was constituted as a Crown corporation, a form of direct public ownership vested in the Sovereign of Canada (currently King Charles III of the United Kingdom), designed to insulate the organization from undue political interference. It was formally established under the provisions of the Broadcasting Act of 1991. The corporation’s supreme governing body is its Board of Directors, composed of 12 members, including the Chairperson and the President & Chief Executive Officer. All board appointments are made by the Governor General of Canada in Council, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister. In June 2023, Catherine Tait, the incumbent President and CEO, was reappointed for a further 18-month term.

While CBC remains accountable to Parliament, and the Prime Minister may put forward recommendations for board appointments, the mechanism whereby the Governor General, Canada’s federal viceregal representative of the Monarch, makes the formal appointments was purposefully designed to safeguard the broadcaster’s editorial autonomy, ensuring that government of the day cannot exert direct pressure on its news and programming output.

The government has strengthened CBC’s digital mission through two landmark acts: the Online Streaming Act (effective April 2023) and the Online News Act (effective June 2023). The former reaffirms CBC’s obligation to contribute Canadian, particularly Indigenous, content across digital platforms, while the latter ensures legacy broadcasters like CBC benefit fairly when digital platforms share journalistic material.

Moreover, in May 2024, an independent advisory committee was convened to offer strategic recommendations on modernizing CBC/Radio‑Canada’s governance, mandate, and financing, calling for reforms like fixed per‑capita funding, public consultation in planning, enhanced emergency broadcasting roles, and regional representation in leadership appointments.

In February 2025, the Minister of Canadian Heritage put forward a package of governance reforms aimed at strengthening CBC/Radio-Canada’s independence and accountability. Central to the proposal was a restructuring of leadership appointments: the authority to name the President and CEO would shift from the federal Cabinet to the Board of Directors, with the role carrying a fixed five-year mandate and a maximum tenure of ten years. To further shield these appointments from political interference, all candidates for both the CEO post and board seats would be drawn from an Independent Advisory Board, with the process enshrined in the Broadcasting Act.

The plan also called for changes to the board’s composition and internal safeguards. Its size would increase from 12 to 14 members—13 voting directors plus the CEO as a non-voting ex officio member—and its makeup would need to reflect the geographic and demographic diversity of Canada, including representation from every province and territory. At least two members would be required to hold professional financial designations. A new Vice-Chair position would be created to ensure that the CEO could not temporarily assume the Chair’s duties, reinforcing the board’s internal checks and balances.


Source of funding and budget

CBC’s funding model combines parliamentary appropriations with revenue from advertising (primarily on television and digital services) and subscriber fees from specialty channels. Its primary radio services remain ad‑free.

In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, CBC/Radio‑Canada received roughly CAD 1.437 billion in government support, equating to approximately 10 cents per Canadian per day. In April 2024, the federal budget allocated an additional CAD 42 million for the 2024–25 period—a welcome short‑term infusion.

In the 2021/2022 financial year, CBC operated with an annual budget of CA$ 1.9 billion (US$ 1.46 billion). The lion’s share of that sum, approximately CA$ 1.2 billion (US$ 928 million), or 65% of the total, came from a parliamentary appropriation. The remainder was self-generated income, derived primarily from advertising sales, according to a corporation annual report. Notably, the government subsidy that year represented a decline of more than 10% compared to the previous fiscal period.

In 2022/2023, the government allocation rose slightly to CA$ 1.27 billion (US$ 961 million), accounting for over 70% of CBC’s total budget. While this represented a 2.6% increase in public funding, commercial revenue from advertising fell sharply—down nearly 21% year-on-year.

For two consecutive years, CBC’s expenditures have outpaced its revenues, producing deficits of CA$ 120 million (US$ 93.3 million) in 2022 and CA$ 119 million (US$ 90 million) in 2023.

In its vision for the future, the government underscored the need for more predictable, sustained funding to ensure CBC/Radio‑Canada can fulfill its public-service mission in an evolving media environment. While digital disruption, especially the drain on advertising revenue, poses a growing challenge, the document advocates for funding models that move beyond year-to-year allocations. The goal is to foster long-term stability, enabling the broadcaster to plan effectively, invest strategically, and adapt its mandate without being hamstrung by financial uncertainty.

In a 2025 policy document, the government proposes shifting to a fixed per-capita funding model for the broadcaster. Under this approach, CBC/Radio-Canada’s annual parliamentary appropriation would be calculated as a set amount per Canadian resident, with the figure indexed to inflation. This model is intended to provide predictable, multi-year funding insulated from short-term political or economic pressures, allowing for long-term planning and reducing the risk of politically motivated budget fluctuations. It also suggests multi-year appropriations (rather than yearly budget cycles) to further enhance stability and strategic flexibility.


Editorial independence

The government has not imposed any editorial rules on CBC. On the contrary, the Canadian government is known for having taken, in recent years, a leading role in supporting media freedom worldwide.

The Broadcasting Act guarantees CBC’s editorial independence. Moreover, the broadcaster has in place dozens of policies and rulebooks on a variety of topics that not only ensure the station’s editorial autonomy but also its accountability as journalists need to follow a set of reporting rules that ensure an objective, diverse, impartial and fair editorial coverage.

CBC has an Ombudsman office whose mission is to monitor and oversee the editorial performance of the broadcaster. The Ombudsman of the Corporation reports directly, through the CEO, to the CBC’s Board. People appointed to the Ombudsman position are independent of the CBC’s program staff and management.

The Ombudsman prepares a mid-year update report and an annual report for the Board, among other things. These documents summarize the complaints received by the company and the manner in which they were handled.

CBC also has a Human Resources and Governance Committee whose main task is to assess the annual performance and effectiveness of the Board and the Chairperson, the Board committees, and individual directors. The goal is to monitor the performance of the Board and to make recommendations for improvement.

August 2025