Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

=== CBC Tandem and branded content ===
Since 2016, the CBC has utilized [[branded content]], publishing advertisements that are designed to look, read or sound similarly to news produced by the CBC itself.<ref name="CBC News">{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/crtc-cbc-tandem-hearing-branded-content-1.5875081 |title=CRTC peppers CBC with questions about plans for controversial branded content |work=CBC News |date=January 15, 2021 |access-date=September 4, 2021 |archive-date=September 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905032448/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/crtc-cbc-tandem-hearing-branded-content-1.5875081 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2020 the CBC formally launched a division called Tandem that focused its branded content marketing efforts, promising corporate clients they can "leverage" the CBC's reputation by aligning their message with the "trust Canadians have in our brand". Over 500 current and former employees called on CBC management to end Tandem, saying "in an era of 'fake news', where misinformation is already rife, it undermines trust&nbsp;... what's worse, it uses [Canadians'] tax dollars to do it."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.stoppaidcontentoncbc.ca/open-letter |title=An Open Letter to Canadians from CBC Journalists. |access-date=September 4, 2021 |archive-date=September 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905032448/https://www.stoppaidcontentoncbc.ca/open-letter |url-status=dead }}</ref> In November 2020 former employees requested that the [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] investigate Tandem as part of the public broadcaster's upcoming licence renewal, concerned the content blurs the lines between advertising and news, adding that "Canadians have a right to a national public broadcaster that puts their news and information needs ahead of the desires of corporate clients."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/12/09/on-air-personalities-join-campaign-against-cbcs-paid-content-division-tandem/ |title=On-air personalities join campaign against CBC's paid content division Tandem |work=City News |date=December 9, 2020 |access-date=September 4, 2021 |archive-date=September 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905032447/https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/12/09/on-air-personalities-join-campaign-against-cbcs-paid-content-division-tandem/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Private sector media criticized the CBC's ability to dominate the Canadian advertising market, using taxpayer-funded subsidies to unfairly compete with local newspapers and broadcasters, driving them out of business.<ref name="CRTC 2022"/>

CBC President and CEO Catherine Tait states that the CBC has since put "guardrails" in place that will ensure there is no confusion between CBC journalism and commercial advertising.<ref name="CBC News"/>

The CRTC integrated its investigation of Tandem into its hearings on the renewal of CBC's federal broadcast licences, ultimately renewing the CBC's licence from 2022 to 2027 and approving the Tandem program. The CRTC required that the CBC must establish, maintain, and publicize their guidelines on branded content as well as measure whether branded content is confusing to Canadians.<ref name="CRTC 2022">{{Cite web|title=Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2022-165 and Broadcasting Orders CRTC 2022-166 and 2022-167|date=June 22, 2022|website=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission|url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2022/2022-165.htm|access-date=July 6, 2022|archive-date=July 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703172031/https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2022/2022-165.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

The CRTC decision has been criticized as allowing the CBC to disregard its mandate as a public broadcaster, transforming into a "publicly funded commercial broadcaster".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-cbc-doesnt-want-to-be-a-cherished-public-broadcaster/ |title=CBC doesn't want to be a cherished public broadcaster |work=The Globe and Mail |date=June 28, 2022 |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706095503/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-cbc-doesnt-want-to-be-a-cherished-public-broadcaster/ |url-status=live }}</ref>