The CBC is the beating heart of our country. It gathers us as a national community, connecting us from place to place and providing a platform for voices who are uniquely Canadian, uniquely local, and uniquely ours. From Terry Fox’s awe-inspiring Marathon of Hope to Canada’s thrilling double hockey gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the CBC has provided us with countless “where were you when” moments . That’s why, almost 90 years after its founding, Canadians still believe in the essential role it plays in their daily lives. They want to see it safeguarded, not defunded.

• 79% of Canadians believe that the CBC is as important than ever, if not more. (Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, 2024)
• A significant majority (78%) of Canadians would like to see the CBC/ Radio-Canada continue if it addresses its major criticisms.
• When asked what they would do with the CBC/Radio-Canada’s budget, 57% of Canadians would either increase (24%) or maintain (33%) funding.

The CBC’s 1.4-billion-dollar budget may seem like a lot in the abstract, but it amounts to about $33 per capita per year. At that number, we rank 16th out of 19 Western countries in funding for our national public broadcaster, above only Portugal, New Zealand and the U.S. Thankfully, the CBC is resilient. Through it all, it has remained the most watched and most trusted news source among its international counterparts. But its chronic underfunding leaves it vulnerable to attack. It’s time we gave our national public broadcaster the funding it deserves.

• With a population of 39 million, CBC funding represents the equivalent of only 10 cents per day per person.
• Public funding for the CBC amounts to 0.12 per cent of total government expenditures.
• The average per capita spending on public broadcasters in comparable countries is $78.76, more than twice what the CBC receives.

As we face continued threats from south of the border, it’s important that we band together as Canadians and protect what’s ours. That includes not only our national sovereignty and our economic security but also our democratic stability as a society. And that starts with protecting the CBC. A prominent international study has found that countries with well-funded public media have healthier democracies.

• Public media produces news with more breadth (diversity) and depth (substance) than their private counterparts.
• Public media tends to produce programming that more broadly serves the socially and economically marginalized communities that for-profit media often neglect.
• Public media also has been shown to focus more on international news and public affairs, with less sensationalism than their commercial counterparts.
• A higher volume of substantial news fosters greater public knowledge, encourages higher levels of news consumption, and shrinks wealth-related knowledge gaps.
• Public media also correlates with less extremist views, thus helping to reduce political polarization.

Like any other private sector organization, Canadian private media companies must answer to shareholders first. But the CBC is owned and funded by us, the Canadian public. Profitability and shareholder value do not factor into the equation. The CBC’s mandate is to “inform, enlighten, and entertain” Canadians, in all their linguistic, cultural, and regional diversity. That means the CBC can focus entirely on delivering content that is important, useful, and relevant to all Canadians – not just lucrative, mainstream audiences.

• Around 7 in 10 anglophones, and 8 in 10 francophones agree that CBC/Radio-Canada reflects our country’s multi-cultural diversity.
• A strong majority of anglophones and francophones also agree that CBC/Radio-Canada reflects our regional diversity, helping them to understand what is going both in their communities, and in regions across the country.
• Overall, this translates to a high degree of trust in the CBC. In a recent survey, it was rated the most-trusted English-language news source in the country. (Gandalf, 2024)