News of the potential layoffs comes just days after the federal government reached a $100 million-a-year deal for Google to pay Canadian news outlets after a standoff over the Online News Act.
News of the potential layoffs comes just days after the federal government reached a $100 million-a-year deal for Google to pay Canadian news outlets after a standoff over the Online News Act.
During a town hall meeting on Monday, CBC President Catherine Tait told CBC and Radio-Canada employees that the public broadcaster will cut up to 10 per cent of its workforce, including 600 workers, according to the public broadcaster.
The broadcaster is making the cuts to address a $125 million shortfall that the CBC is facing, with cuts to both its English and French services, according to multiple sources. $40 million of those cuts will be to programming, according to the CBC. The CBC confirmed on Monday that on top of the layoffs, which will affect both union and non-union workers, 200 vacant jobs will remain empty. There are also no plans to implement a retirement incentive package, sources at the meeting told the Star.
Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said her thoughts are with employees of CBC and Radio-Canada in a press conference earlier on Monday.
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St-Onge, speaking before the layoffs were confirmed, was cautious with her language, and did not say whether cuts would be coming for CBC and Radio-Canada workers.
News of the layoffs comes just days after the federal government reached a $100 million-a-year deal for Google to pay Canadian news outlets after a standoff over the Online News Act. The act requires tech giants like Google and Meta to compensate media outlets for content that appears on their sites.
"Like all of you, I heard about the meeting that will be happen today between CBC/Radio-Canada's employees and their administration," St-Onge said at a news conference on the hill.
"My heart goes out to the employees that are facing uncertainty," St-Onge said.
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The heritage minister said, like other media companies, CBC/Radio-Canada is "facing difficulties due to the media crisis and difficulties with their private revenues."
St-Onge emphasized the Liberal government's commitment to funding the public broadcaster, and committed to revising CBC/Radio-Canada's mandate to "make sure it fits the current situation."
"From my understanding, CBC/Radio-Canada is facing broader challenges than would be fixed under (Bill) C-18, the Online News Act," St-Onge said. However, the minister did clarify that she believed CBC/Radio-Canada would be eligible for money under the new Google deal.
Earlier in March, the government mandated other agencies and departments to cut three per cent off of their existing budgets to pare down government expenses. St-Onge clarified that the decision on budget cuts for CBC/Radio-Canada have not been made yet.
"The reason for their decision and announcement today, you should redirect your questions to the management over there," St-Onge said, in response to a question about whether the expected layoffs were prompted by the government's request for agencies to tighten their belts.
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