ABOUT US

OUR STRATEGIC PLAN

At CBC/Radio-Canada, we have been transforming the way we engage with Canadians. In June 2014, we launched our strategic plan, Strategy 2020, a plan to make the public broadcaster more local, more digital and financially sustainable. We have come a long way since then, and Canadians are seeing the difference. Many are engaging with us, and with each other, in ways they could not have imagined a few years ago. Our connection with the people we serve can be more personal, more relevant, more vibrant. Our commitment to Canadians is that by 2020, CBC/Radio-Canada will be Canada’s public space where these conversations live.

When we began Strategy 2020, more than half of Canadians told us that CBC/Radio-Canada was very important to them personally. By 2020, we want three out of every four Canadians to feel that way. We also want to increase our digital reach to 18 million Canadians – one out of two – by 2020. We are well on the way, with three million new digital users in the past year across CBC/Radio-Canada platforms, and an average of almost 15 million digital users per month in 2015-2016.⁽¹⁾

As we move ahead with the strategy, our goal is to make the public broadcaster more digital, more local and more ambitious in its Canadian programming, and in doing so increase our value to Canadians.

To guide our way, we have set out the following mission and vision statements, rooted in the Broadcasting Act that enshrines our mandate:

Our mission and vision will be achieved through a focus on distinctive content and services that mirror Canadians’ changing media consumption. We will do that by reducing infrastructure, transforming our people and culture, and increasing our financial stability. As previously noted in this report, almost two years after we first announced Strategy 2020, the Government of Canada announced an important reinvestment in the public broadcaster as part of its Budget 2016.

As previously noted in this report, almost two years after we first announced Strategy 2020, the Government of Canada announced an important reinvestment in the public broadcaster as part of its Budget 2016.

The additional $75 million in funding for 2016-2017, and $150 million per year on an ongoing basis is a vote of confidence by Government and by Canadians in our programs, our people, and our vision for the future. It is also recognition that CBC/Radio-Canada faces some significant financial challenges. The funding will provide an element of flexibility as we assess the progress of our digital strategy and make necessary investments in the future.

In April, we announced details of how that funding would be used, specifically addressing how the $75 million earmarked for 2016-2017 will be applied in support of Strategy 2020. This includes one third of the funding to maintain our momentum for key, strategic programming and initiatives already planned this year; approximately half of the funding for the creation of new content across all of our platforms as we continue our transformation toward digital; and the remainder to support existing services. This includes areas that are central to our mandate, but in which cuts were deeply felt, including reviving plans to open a radio and digital station in London, Ontario; reducing radio repeats; and improving our international coverage with a new, pocket foreign bureau in Turkey.