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ARCHIVED - Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission - Supplementary Tables


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User Fees


User Fees
Name of Fee Fee Setting Authority Reason for Amendment to Fee Effective date of planned change to take effect Planned Consultation & Review Process Planned
Telecommunications Fees Telecommunications Act (Section 68)
Telecommunications Fees Regulations, 2010
N/A N/A N/A
Broadcasting Licence Fees

Part I licence fee Broadcasting Act (Section 11) Broadcasting Licence Fee Regulations, 1997

N/A N/A N/A
Part II licence fee Broadcasting Act (Section 11) Broad-casting Licence Fee Regulations, 1997 N/A N/A N/A

N/A – Not Applicable
See section “ Explanation of Revenue” for details on changes to the fees regulations that were approved in 2010

Explanation of Revenue

The CRTC collects fees under the authority of regulations in the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act. For the fiscal year 2011-2012:

  • CRTC Part I broadcasting-licence fees are estimated to be $31.9 million ($22.8 million respendable and $9.1 million in non-respendable revenue). The broadcasting non-respendable revenue also includes a "true-up" adjustment of $2.1 million.

  • CRTC telecommunications fees are estimated to be $28 million ($19.8 million respendable and $8.2 million in non-respendable revenue). The telecommunications non-respendable revenue also includes an estimated "true-up" adjustment of $1.6 million The actual amount of the true-up will be calculated at the completion of the 2010-2011 fiscal year and reflected in the telecommunications billing for the fiscal year 2011-2012.

Broadcasting licence fees

Section 11 of the Broadcasting Act gives the Commission the authority to make regulations respecting licence fees. These regulations apply to most licensees, who are required to pay their Part I and Part II licence fees to the Commission annually. The last amendment to the Broadcasting Licence Fee Regulations was done in 2010 Details on the amendment can be found in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-476 on the CRTC website at http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-476.htm. The Broadcasting Licence Fee Regulations can be found on the Department of Justice web site at: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/.

Part I licence fees

For 2010–2011, the CRTC assessed $35.8 million in Part I fees, including "true-up" and adjustments.
Part I licence fees are based on the broadcasting regulatory costs incurred each year by the Commission and other federal departments or agencies, and are equal to the aggregate of:

  • the costs of the Commission’s broadcasting activities;
  • the share of the costs of the Commission’s administrative activities that is attributable to its broadcasting activities; and
  • other costs included in the net cost of the Commission’s program attributable to its broadcasting activities, excluding the costs of regulating the broadcasting spectrum.

The CRTC’s estimated broadcasting regulatory costs are set out in its Expenditure Plan published in Part III of the Estimates of the Government of Canada (Part III Report on Plans and Priorities).

There is an annual adjustment (‘true-up’) amount to the Part I fee to adjust estimated costs to actual expenditures. Any excess fees or shortfalls are credited or charged to the licensee in a following year’s invoice.

Part II licence fees

The Broadcasting Licence Fee Regulations, 1997 were amended in 2010 (Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-476). A cap of $100 million was introduced for the calculation of Part II licence fees and this cap will be adjusted annually on a compound basis in accordance with the percentage increase or decrease to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the calendar year prior to the year of the adjustments. The CPI is the annual average all-items CPI for Canada that is published by Statistics Canada.

These fees recover part of the Government of Canada’s substantial annual investment in the Canadian broadcasting system.

Telecommunications fees

Section 68 of the Telecommunications Act grants the CRTC authority to create the Telecommunications Fees Regulations.

The Telecommunications Fees Regulations amended in March 2010 (Telecom Decision CRTC 2010-183 dated 25 March 2010) require all telecommunications service providers (TSPs), or groups of related TSPs, with at least $10 million dollars in Canadian telecommunications service revenues (CTSR) to pay telecommunications fees, whether or not they file a tariff for approval with the Commission. The Telecommunications Fees Regulations can be found on the Department of Justice web site at: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/.


For 2010–2011, the CRTC assessed $27.3 million in telecommunications fees, including "true-up" and adjustments.
The CRTC’s annual telecommunications fees are equal to the aggregate of:

  • the cost of the Commission’s telecommunications activities;
  • the share of the costs of the administrative activities that are attributable to the Commission’s telecommunications activities; and
  • other costs attributable to the Commission’s telecommunications activities.

The CRTC’s estimated telecommunications regulatory costs are set out in its Expenditure Plan, published in Part III of the Estimates of the Government of Canada (Part III - Report on Plans and Priorities).

There is an annual adjustment (‘true-up’) amount to the telecommunications fees to adjust estimated costs to actual expenditures. Any excess fees or shortfalls are credited or charged to the carriers in the following year’s invoice.