Canada’s government keeps trying to rewrite the digital rulebook and keeps getting burned. From the Online News Act to the Online Streaming Act and now the new Digital Services Tax (DST), Ottawa seems convinced it can bend global tech giants to its will. Reality keeps proving otherwise.
Take the Online News Act. It was built on the idea that Meta was “stealing” Canadian journalism and profiting without fair compensation. Meta called the bluff. A year later, Facebook and Instagram still don’t allow links to Canadian news outlets. Publishers lost an estimated $230 million in referred traffic. And despite early panic remember the worries about wildfire evacuation info in 2023? users simply found news elsewhere. By this summer’s Jasper evacuation, no one even mentioned the Facebook ban.
Yet Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge still hints Meta might pay up because some users post screenshots of articles. Screenshots aren’t links. They don’t drive traffic or count as “facilitating access,” which the law specifically targets. Even the CRTC, Canada’s telecom regulator, admits it has no grounds to act.
Then there’s the DST. Canada grew tired of waiting for a global tax deal and rushed ahead with a 3 percent levy on digital services, hoping for $1.4 billion in new revenue. Predictably, Google announced it will add a 2.5 percent surcharge to Canadian advertisers starting in October. Others will likely follow, passing costs down to consumers. And Washington is already rattling the sabre over trade retaliation.
The pattern is clear: Ottawa bets that tech companies are bluffing or too dependent on Canada to resist. Meta wasn’t. Spotify and other streamers are now in court over CRTC fees and have hinted at reducing or exiting Canadian operations. The U.S. could easily retaliate on the DST.
Regulating Big Tech is tricky everywhere, but Canada keeps acting as if sheer political will can rewrite global economics. So far, the only sure losers are Canadian consumers, who face higher prices and fewer choices. Unless Ottawa changes course, that streak will continue.
