CBC/Radio-Canada is welcoming an additional investment of $300 million over two years for the public broadcaster, included in Thursday’s federal budget release.
CBC said in a statement that the investment — $150 million in each of the 2026–27 and 2027–28 fiscal years — will allow it to continue to strengthen “local, national and international news coverage, increasing the discoverability of Canadian content on digital platforms, and bringing Canadians together in moments of national significance.”
President & CEO Marie-Philippe Bouchard said the renewed investment will help the public broadcaster deliver on those objectives.
“It is also a vote of confidence in Canadian creators, including the journalists, actors, producers, podcasters, and radio, TV and film crews, whose work is supported by Canada’s public broadcaster,” said Bouchard.
The Budget 2026 investment follows an additional $150 million the public broadcaster received in last year’s federal budget. CBC/Radio-Canada typically receives about 70% of its budget from the government, with the remaining 30% generated by advertising. It received a total of $1.46B from Ottawa for 2025-26.
CBC said that among other initiatives, the additional $150M allowed CBC News and Radio-Canada Info to open and invest in new and existing bureaus both within Canada – announcing a plan in January to set up 11 new bureaus and hire 33 journalists – and establishing and/or reopening several of its bureaus abroad, including Berlin, Beijing, Jerusalem, Mexico City, and Los Angeles.
The broadcaster said the extra funds also helped propel the commissioning of more original Canadian productions from independent producers, including content reaching viewers on digital platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Spotify. It says the funding will sustain its investment in that programming and “improve the user experience of Canadians on its digital platforms.”
While last season marked the end of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC after 74 years, the broadcaster also highlighted its increased investment in coverage of high-performance Canadian athletes, professional women’s sport, and other major sporting events, in addition to its recent membership in the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which will allow Canada to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time, and bring more international news coverage to Canadians via the Eurovision News Exchange.
Raj Shoan, Executive Director of media policy watchdog, Friends of Canadian Media, said the new $300 million federal commitment provides the public broadcaster with some stability “as the government works to pass promised stable statutory funding and addresses the need to preserve Canadians’ access to trusted local journalism in their communities.”
