Television Retransmission Tariff 2014–2018

Summary#

The Canada Gazette item publishes the Television Retransmission Tariff, 2014-2018. It sets the money that retransmitters must pay for carrying “distant” television signals, the way that money is split among rights organizations, and the reporting and audit rules that go with it. The notice appeared in the Gazette on June 21, 2025.

What it does#

• Sets a flat annual royalty of $100 for a small retransmission system (systems that serve up to 2,000 premises) and for unscrambled LPTV or MDS signals.
• Sets monthly, per-premises royalties for other retransmitters. Rates vary by year and by size band; the lowest monthly rate runs from $0.49 (2014) to $0.81 (2018) per premises, and the highest band runs from $1.06 (2014) to $1.38 (2018) per premises.
• Gives discounts and special rules, including:
  • 50% reduction for cable systems in a Francophone market for scrambled signals (with specific geographic tests).
  • 95% reduction where a system carries only a TVA distant signal and certain conditions apply.
  • “Duplicate network” discounts of 75% for a single duplicate signal and 50% for two or more (with alternate smaller reductions where TVA is also involved).
  • Reduced rates for certain non‑residential premises: rooms in hospitals and schools 75% off, hotel rooms 40% off.
• Specifies detailed reporting and record-keeping requirements for retransmitters, including annual reporting as of December 31 with reports due by January 31, and audit rights for collective societies (records to be kept until December 31, 2024 under this tariff).
• Allocates the royalties among the collective societies listed in Appendix A. For example, for 2016–2018 the Copyright Collective of Canada (CCC) receives 54.13%, the Canadian Retransmission Collective (CRC) 16.10%, the Canadian Retransmission Right Association (CRRA) 10.65%, and the Canadian Broadcasters Rights Agency (CBRA) 10.72% (other societies get smaller shares).
• Includes transitional and interest rules for “additional royalties,” with a referenced settlement date of September 30, 2019, and interest tables for earlier years.

Who's affected#

• Retransmitters such as cable companies, master antenna systems, direct-to-home (DTH) satellite operators, MDS operators, and LPTV stations.
• The collective societies listed in Appendix A (for example CCC, CRC, CRRA, CBRA, SOCAN, and others) — they receive the collected royalties according to the allocation table.
• Smaller local operators that qualify as “small retransmission systems” will be affected by the flat $100 fee rather than monthly per-premises charges.
• Subscribers might feel effects only if retransmitters pass costs on to customers; the notice itself sets the payments but does not say how consumer bills are adjusted.
• If any of this is unclear for a specific operator or community (for example whether a market counts as “Francophone”), the tariff sets tests but real-world application may require checking the tariff text or getting advice.

Why it matters#

• It determines how much retransmitters must pay for carrying distant TV channels. That money funds the rights-holders and creative industries represented by the collective societies.
• The flat fee for small systems simplifies costs for small or remote operators. Larger systems pay per-premises rates that increase with the size of the system and across the 2014–2018 period.
• The tariff creates reporting and audit obligations. Operators need to keep records and supply detailed information to collective societies, which is an administrative burden.
• The discounts (Francophone market, TVA, duplicate signals, and institutional discounts) change who pays what and help protect certain communities or avoid double payment for largely redundant signals.