Broadcasting Licence Fee Regulations, 1997

SOR/97-144BROADCASTING ACT
Registration 1997-03-17
Broadcasting Licence Fee Regulations, 1997Whereas, pursuant to subsections 10(3) and 11(5) of the Broadcasting ActFootnote a, a copy of the proposed Broadcasting Licence Fee Regulations, 1997, substantially in the form annexed hereto, was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on November 30, 1996, and a reasonable opportunity was thereby given to licensees and other interested persons to make representations to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission with respect thereto;
Therefore, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, pursuant to subsections 10(1) and 11(1) of the Broadcasting ActFootnote a, with the approval of Treasury Board, hereby makes the annexed Broadcasting Licence Fee Regulations, 1997.
Hull, Quebec, March 14, 1997
Return to footnote aS.C. 1991, c. 11Interpretation

1 The definitions in this section apply in these Regulations.

associated corporation
associated corporation has the meaning assigned to that expression in section 256 of the Income Tax Act. (société associée)
exemption level

exemption level means

(a) for a distribution undertaking, $175,000;
(b) for a television undertaking, $1.5 million; and

(c) for a radio undertaking,

(i) subject to subparagraph (ii),

(A) where the fee revenue of the undertaking is $2 million or less, $2 million, and
(B) where the fee revenue of the undertaking is greater than $2 million, $500,000, and

(ii) in the case of a joint radio undertaking,

(A) where the combined fee revenue of the radio undertakings is $4 million or less, $4 million, and
(B) where the combined fee revenue of the radio undertakings is greater than $4 million, $500,000. (franchise)

fee revenue

fee revenue, in respect of a licensee of a broadcasting undertaking, means the gross revenue derived during a return year from the licensed activity of the licensee, whether received by the licensee or by an associated corporation, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes

(a) any revenue received in respect of all transmitters forming part of the undertaking, where the broadcasting undertaking consists of more than one transmitter;
(b) the estimated annual revenue, based on the trends of the market in which the undertaking is licensed to operate, the previous financial performance of the undertaking, and, where applicable, the licensee’s business plan for the first 12 months of operations, where the licensee has not filed a licence fee return covering 12 months of the most recently completed return year; and
(c) revenue that is derived from the sale of air time of the broadcasting undertaking by the Corporation and paid by the Corporation to the licensee.

This definition does not include any amount received by the licensee from another licensee, other than the amounts received from the Corporation for the sale of air time. (recettes désignées)

fiscal year
fiscal year means the one-year period beginning April 1 in any year. (exercice)
joint radio undertaking
joint radio undertaking means an AM radio undertaking and an FM radio undertaking operated by the same licensee, or by a licensee and an associated corporation, where any part of the FM 3 mV/m contour overlaps any part of the AM daytime 15 mV/m contour. (entreprise de radio conjointe)
licensee
licensee means a person licensed to carry on a broadcasting undertaking. (titulaire)
Part I licence fee
Part I licence fee means the licence fee set out in Part I. (droits de licence de la partie I)
Part II licence fee
Part II licence fee means the licence fee set out in Part II. (droits de licence de la partie II)
radio undertaking
radio undertaking includes a broadcasting undertaking licensed by the Commission as a (Radio) Programming Undertaking, a (Pay-Audio) Programming Undertaking or a (Radio) Network. (entreprise de radio)
return year
return year means the one-year period beginning September 1 in any year. (année de rapport)
television undertaking
television undertaking includes a broadcasting undertaking licensed by the Commission as a (Television) Programming Undertaking, a (Pay-TV) Programming Undertaking, a (Satellite-to-Cable) Programming Undertaking, a (Specialty) Programming Undertaking, a (Direct-to-home pay-per-view) Programming Undertaking, a (Video-on-demand) Programming Undertaking or a (Television) Network. (entreprise de télévision)

Application

2 These Regulations apply to all licensees other than

(a) a radio undertaking or a television undertaking licensed by the Commission as a student broadcasting undertaking, a native broadcasting undertaking, a community broadcasting undertaking or a campus/community broadcasting undertaking;
(b) broadcasting undertakings carried on by the Corporation; and
(c) an independent corporation, as defined in the Direction to the CRTC (Ineligibility to Hold Broadcasting Licences), which derives none of its revenues from the sale of air time.

Fees

3 Every licensee shall pay annually to the Commission

(a) a Part I licence fee, payable 30 days after the date of the invoice from the Commission; and
(b) a Part II licence fee, payable on or before December 1 in each year.

SOR/2010-157, s. 1.
Previous Version

4 Where a fee referred to in section 3 has become due but remains unpaid, the licensee shall pay interest and administrative charges in accordance with the Interest and Administrative Charges Regulations.

Licence Fee Returns

5 On or before November 30 in each year, every licensee whose fee revenue for the most recently completed return year exceeds the exemption level shall file with the Commission a licence fee return, on the form provided by the Commission, with respect to each broadcasting undertaking that is carried on by the licensee.

6 A licence fee return filed pursuant to section 5 shall contain the information required in the form referred to in that section for the one-year period beginning September 1 of the year preceding the calendar year in which the return is required to be filed.

PART I Part I Licence Fee

7 The components of a Part I licence fee shall consist of

(a) an initial amount calculated in accordance with subsection 8(1); and
(b) an annual adjustment amount calculated in accordance with subsection 8(2).

8 (1) The initial amount shall be calculated by the Commission using the formula

(A / B) × C
 where

A 
is the licensee’s fee revenues for the most recently completed return year, less that licensee’s exemption level for that return year;

B 
is the aggregate fee revenues for the most recently completed return year of all licensees whose fee revenues exceed the applicable exemption levels, less the aggregate exemption level for all those licensees for that return year; and

C 
is the estimated total regulatory costs of the Commission for the current fiscal year as calculated in accordance with section 9.

(2) The annual adjustment amount shall be calculated by the Commission using the following formula

(A / B) × D
 where

A 
is the licensee’s fee revenues for the most recently completed return year, less that licensee’s exemption level for that return year;

B 
is the aggregate fee revenues for the most recently completed return year of all licensees whose fee revenues exceed the applicable exemption levels, less the aggregate exemption level for all those licensees for that year; and

D 
is the difference between the estimated total regulatory costs and the actual total regulatory costs of the Commission for the fiscal year as calculated in accordance with section 9.

(3) The annual adjustment amount referred to in subsection (2) shall be charged or credited to the licensee in the following year’s invoice and shall not, in any case, result in a disbursement of monies on the part of the Commission.

9 (1) The estimated total regulatory costs of the Commission for the current fiscal year is the sum of the following amounts as set out in the Commission’s Expenditure Plan published in Part III of The Estimates of the Government of Canada:

(a) the costs of the Commission’s Broadcasting Activity; and

(b) the share that is attributable to the Commission’s Broadcasting Activity of

(i) the costs of the Commission’s administrative activities, and
(ii) the other costs that are taken into account to arrive at the net cost of the Commission’s program, excluding the costs of regulating the broadcasting spectrum.

(2) The actual total regulatory costs of the Commission shall be calculated in accordance with subsection (1) using actual amounts.

10 The Commission shall publish, each year, the estimated total regulatory costs referred to in subsection 9(1) in a public notice in the Canada Gazette, Part I.

PART II Part II Licence Fee

11 (1) A Part II licence fee is equal to the amount determined by the formula

X/Y x Z
where

X 
is the licensee’s fee revenues for the return year terminating during the previous calendar year, less that licensee’s exemption level for that return year;

Y 
is the aggregate fee revenues for the return year terminating during the previous calendar year of all licensees whose fee revenues exceed the applicable exemption levels, less the aggregate exemption level for all those licensees for that return year; and

Z 
is the lesser of
(a) $100,000,000, and
(b) 1.365% multiplied by the amount determined for Y.

(2) Commencing in 2011, the amount set out in paragraph (a) of the description of Z in subsection (1) shall be adjusted annually on a compound basis in accordance with the percentage increase or decrease, as the case may be, to the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year prior to the year of the adjustment. The Consumer Price Index is the annual average all-items Consumer Price Index for Canada (not seasonally adjusted) that is published by Statistics Canada.
(3) The Commission shall publish the amount determined for Z each year in a public notice in the Canada Gazette, Part I.
(4) The Commission shall invoice a licensee for the Part II licence fee no later than November 1 of the year in which the fee is due.
(5) For the purposes of this section, the reference to “most recently completed return year” in paragraph (b) of the definition fee revenue in section 1 shall be read as a reference to the “return year terminating during the previous calendar year”.

SOR/2010-157, s. 2.
Previous Version

Repeal

12 [Repeal]

Coming into Force

13 These Regulations come into force on April 1, 1997.