CBC/Radio-Canada has confirmed it’s been asked to participate in a federal government expenditure review that would require the public broadcaster to cut up to 15% of its total budget over the next three years.

The directive – which applies to every major Crown corporation and federally-funded organizations like Via Rail, the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Museum of Human Rights, and Statistics Canada – is part of an effort to find $25 billion in annual savings as Ottawa pledges an additional $9 billion for defence this year alone, while also signing NATO’s new Defence Investment Pledge in June, committing 3.5% of GDP to core military spending and 1.5% to infrastructure by 2035. Lesser spending reduction targets of two per cent have been imposed on the Department of National Defence, Canada Border Services Agency, and the RCMP.

“The government will assess all of the proposals, including CBC/Radio-Canada’s, and final decisions will be reflected in the government’s Main Estimates for 2026–2027, made public early next calendar year. Any necessary action on our part would be taken after that time,” a CBC/Radio-Canada spokesperson told Broadcast Dialogue, adding that the efficiency exercise is separate from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s commitment to invest an additional $150 million in the public broadcaster.

CBC President & CEO Marie-Philippe Bouchard told staff in an internal memo, obtained by Le Journal de Quebec, that the broadcaster has been asked to identify up to $98 million in proposed cuts next year, rising to $198 million within three years.

“Cuts of this magnitude, if implemented, would impact some jobs,” Bouchard said.

Friends of Canadian Media, the public broadcaster watchdog and media advocacy group, wrote in a letter to its membership that “the idea of cuts at CBC/Radio-Canada goes completely against what we fought for in this election, and what millions of Canadians voted for at the ballot box.”

“We have opposed these types of cuts before, and we will do so again,” said Sarah Andrews, Friends’ Senior Director, Government & Media Relations. “In the meantime, we will ensure that the government knows what Canadians think of this decision.”