There's word a parliamentary committee studying Canada's slumping media industry will call for a five-per-cent tax on broadband Internet services, such as Netflix, to boost a sector struggling to adapt to technological changes and evolving consumer habits.
Citing Liberal and opposition sources, The Globe and Mail reports the new levy is at the core of a majority report of the Canadian Heritage Committee to be released today.
Sources said the proposal would add hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues to the Canadian Media Fund, which already receives a levy on cable bills to finance the production of Canadian content.
The media industry has been steadily losing advertising revenue and market shares to online giants Facebook, Netflix and Google.