Broadcasting - Staff Letter addressed to Monica Auer (Forum for Research and Policy in Communications) and Nathalie Blais (Canadian Union of Public Employees)
Gatineau, 17 March 2026
Reference: 2026-0033-7
BY EMAIL
Monica Auer
Executive Director
Forum for Research and Policy in Communications
2658 Flannery Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1V 8M2
execdir@frpc.net
Nathalie Blais
Research Advisor
Canadian Union of Public Employees
565 Crémazie Street East, Suite 700
Montréal, Quebec H2M 2V9
nblais@scfp.ca
Subject: Procedural request by the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications and the Canadian Union of Public Employees regarding the application by Groupe TVA inc. – 2026-0033-7
Dear Monica Auer and Nathalie Blais,
Thank you for your letters dated 27 February (Forum for Research and Policy in Communications [FRPC]) and 2 March 2026 (Canadian Union of Public Employees [CUPE]), regarding the application submitted by Groupe TVA inc. (TVA) for its station CFCM-DT Québec.
In your respective requests, you ask, among other things, that the confidentiality designation be removed from the information redacted in paragraphs 20 and 21 of TVA’s application published on 13 February (application 2026-0033-7).
You submit that the redacted information forms the basis of TVA’s argument and that its disclosure is necessary in order to enable the public and interested parties to understand, assess and meaningfully comment on the impact of the application on local programming, the financial viability and the staff of CFCM-DT Québec.
TVA’s response
TVA responded to these requests by filing a document on 5 March 2026. In its response, TVA submitted that the information requested is not necessary to properly understand the subject matter of the proceeding. TVA indicated that the disclosure of financial data specific to station CFCM-DT would reveal precise strategic information regarding its cost structure, advertising performance and operational choices, therefore causing it harm.
Furthermore, TVA submitted that the financial data of local stations are never made public either by competitors or by the CRTC. TVA also drew a distinction between aggregated data and financial data specific to a particular station.
Confidentiality process
In determining whether the disclosure of information designated as confidential is in the public interest, the Commission would consider whether such disclosure would be likely to result in specific direct harm and whether that harm would outweigh the public interest in disclosure.
In conducting this assessment, a number of factors are considered, including, the degree of competition and the importance of the disclosure for the purpose of establishing a more complete record.
For further information, please refer to subsections 25(3) 1 and 25(3) 4 of the Broadcasting Act, as well as to Procedure for filing and requesting disclosure of confidential information in Commission proceedings, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961.
Staff analysis regarding the request for disclosure
Staff recognizes the public interest in having access to relevant information for the assessment of the application.
However, after considering the reasons put forward, staff is of the view that disclosure of the information requested could reasonably result in harm to TVA, and that this harm outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
In the present case, staff considers that the information requested by FRPC and CUPE relates to financial data specific to station CFCM-DT Québec. According to Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-961, this type of data corresponds to the type of information for which the Commission generally accepts maintaining the designation of confidentiality, as it consists of detailed information whose disclosure could result in specific direct harm to the licensee (for more information please refer to the table in the Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-961 Annex).
Furthermore, Commission staff considers that public disclosure of this information is not necessary in order to enable parties to comment in the context of the present proceeding and is therefore not essential to the establishment of a complete record that would allow the Commission to render a decision.
Accordingly, staff denies the request for disclosure of the designated information and confirms that this information will remain confidential.
In light of the above, Commission staff hereby extends the intervention deadline from 17 March 2026 to 19 March 2026.
For any questions, please contact Audrey Aubin – Senior Analyst, French-language Audiovisual Programming at Audrey.Aubin@crtc.gc.ca.
Sincerely,
Original signed by
Scott Shortliffe
Vice-President, Broadcasting
CRTC
c.c.: peggy.tabet@quebecor.com
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