A History of Canadian Cultural Nationalism
(Adapted from “Canada Today” and “Counterpoints”)
Cultural influences from the United States are not new. After the American Revolution ended
in 1783, many Loyalists left the United States to live in Canada under British rule. They brought
with them American values. In the nineteenth century other Americans came to live in Canada as
well. American music and novels about the “Wild West” were popular in Canada, as were the books
of American Mark Twain.
In the first decades of the 1900s, Canadians enthusiastically welcomed American films and
radio. In the 1920s, however, some Canadians became worried at the cultural impact that the US was
having on Canada. The government began to play a greater role in controlling the media (films, radio,
and print). The Canadian government’s first action was to create a study to investigate potential
solutions. The result was the creation of The Broadcasting Act of 1932, which eventually created
the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC). The first purpose of the CRBC was to
regulate the media to protect Canadian culture. The second purpose was to provide money to
promote Canadian culture. How would it do this? It would create rules that all radio stations had to
follow and it would create its own radio programs to use throughout the country.
In 1936, the Canadian government re-organized the CRBC into the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation (CBC), modeled after the British BBC. During its early years, the CBC acted as both a
radio broadcaster and as the main regulator of the radio industry. Today, the CBC’s main goals are:
1. To be distinctively Canadian, and to reflect Canada and its regions
2. To reflect and share Canada’s culture and identity
3. To be in English and French
4. To reflect the multicultural nature of Canada
In 1939, the Canadian government also created the National Film Board (NFB), which
would also attempt to protect and promote Canadian culture. The NFB was created to focus on film
with goals of: encouraging films that interest Canadians; encouraging new filming projects; and
creating programs that reflect Canada’s tradition and language differences. To this date, the NFB has
produced over 13,000 movies; 5,000 of which have won awards. The Canadian government helps to
pay for both the CBC and the NFB.
Throughout the 1940s, American influence continued to increase in Canada, and as a result,
the Prime Minister of Canada, Louis St. Laurent, established the Massey Commission in 1951. The
Massey Commission was a study of cultural life in Canada, and its results showed that more steps
had to be taken to reduce American influence in Canada, especially in the arts.
As well, the CBC, already in charge of radio, was soon placed in charge of developing the
newly popular television industry. The CBC opened its first TV stations in Montreal and Toronto in
1952. The CBC’s television audience grew rapidly, and by 1960, more than 90% of Canadian homes
had a television and had access to the CBC all across Canada. Of all the programs available on the
CBC, none was as popular as Hockey Night in Canada. Even today it remains the most popular
program on Canadian television. It began in the 1930s as radio broadcasts, but it became part of CBC
television in 1952. More than any other sport in Canada, hockey has been a force of unity – from
Vancouver to St. John’s, coast-to-coast, English or French, there are many supporters of the game.
Today, the CBC presents news on the Internet at www.cbc.ca
A few years after the Massey Commission, the Canadian Council for the Arts was created
in 1957, which awarded financial help to writers, artists, theatres and other art-related activities.
As concerns of American influence continued to affect Canadian media, the Canadian
government took further actions during the 1960s. In 1968, The Canadian government passed The
Broadcasting Act of 1968. This act said that the Canadian broadcasting system should be effectively
owned and controlled by Canadians. Broadcasting should add to the cultural, political, and social life
of Canada. Programming should be of a high quality and should use mostly Canadian talent. As a
result, the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) was
established in 1968 to set rules for all broadcasting, including radio, television and eventually
telephone (telecommunication) and Internet services.
In the early 1970s, the CRTC set rules for Canadian content on Canadian television stations.
“Canadian Content” was described as being material that was “at least partly written, produced,
presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from Canada”. There were also similar rules
created for radio broadcasts. At first, the CRTC proposed that 60% of all evening “prime-time”
programs be Canadian. The CTV network and other private stations were opposed to this proposed
rule. To help solve the problem, the CRTC expanded its definition of “prime time” to include the
hours from 6:00pm to midnight. The private stations were required to offer 50% Canadian
content during these hours.
Some critics said that the longer hours for prime time allowed private stations to get around
the purpose of the rules. The stations could show Canadian news and sports at the beginning and end
of the prime time period. They could then show American imports from 8:00pm to 11:00pm, the
hours when they had the largest audiences. Canadian content rules remained debated into the 1980s.
A study in the 1980s stated that the content rules were not working. Why? Private broadcasters were
not making enough Canadian shows, and that the Canadian shows made were not popular.
Because of a growing national debt, the 1990s and 2000s saw budget cuts to a number of
Canadian cultural organizations including the CBC. Many Canadians are deeply concerned about
the future of the CBC, one of the most important creators, reflectors, and preservers of their national
identity. Other organizations like the NFB and the Canadian Council for the Arts are also in danger.