The Federal Government announced today that it has reached an agreement with Google for the implementation of the Online News Act, or Bill C-18.
Google will contribute $100 million annually, indexed to inflation, for a wide range of news businesses across the country, including independent news businesses and those from Indigenous and official-language minority communities.
The tech giant will also have the option to work with a single collective to distribute its contribution to all interested eligible news businesses based on the number of full-time equivalent journalists.
Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage said that the agreement was reached “following weeks of productive discussions.”
"This will benefit the news sector and allow Google to continue to play an important role in giving Canadians access to reliable news content,” said St-Onge. “A sustainable news ecosystem is good for everyone. News and journalism serve to inform communities, drive civic engagement and counter the rise of disinformation. Access to news helps Canadians fully benefit and participate in democratic society. With newsrooms cutting positions or closing entirely, the health of the Canadian news industry has never been more at risk.”
“Our government has remained confident all along that this Act was a viable, equitable framework for news organizations and digital platforms,” he added.
Google released a short statement regarding the news, thanking St-Onge for “acknowledging our concerns and deeply engaging in a series of productive meetings.”
“Following extensive discussions, we are pleased that the Government of Canada has committed to addressing our core issues with Bill C-18, which included the need for a streamlined path to an exemption at a clear commitment threshold,” the statement reads.
“While we work with the government through the exemption process based on the regulations that will be published shortly, we will continue sending valuable traffic to Canadian publishers.”
The Online News Act is set to take effect before the end of this year, and although an agreement has been reached with Google, there have been no updates on the situation with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.
Canadian Heritage has said it will share more details about the final regulations following approval by the Treasury Board of Canada and prior to the Act coming into effect on December 19, 2023.
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