Ottawa gives media a $600-million boost

The federal government is stepping in to help the struggling Canadian media industry with new tax credits and incentives valued at nearly $600 million over the next five years.

“To protect the vital role that independent news media play in our democracy and in our communities, we will be introducing measures to help support journalism in Canada,” Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in his speech to the House of Commons.

The full details of the program won’t be available until the next federal budget, after the government receives advice from an independent panel from the journalism community.

The goal is for the program to be funded by the government but have no role for politicians to decide what constitutes a media outlet or who would be eligible. That way, the government hopes to avoid the appearance of conflict between a free press and government influence.

The program will likely cost the federal treasury about $45 million in 2019-20, rising to $165 million in 2023-24.

It’s expected most of the expense will be for a new tax credit for media organizations to support the labour costs of producing original news content, but finance officials said specific amounts won’t be available until eligibility details have been decided.

Another temporary tax credit will be created for subscribers to digital news media sites.

Plus, the government will allow non-profit media organizations to apply for charitable status, enabling them to seek donations for which they could issue tax receipts. Non-profit media with such status would also be eligible to receive funding from other registered charities.