Parliament has given the CRTC the job of regulating and supervising the broadcasting and telecommunications systems in Canada. The CRTC reports to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
You'll find general information in How to participate in a CRTC public proceeding as well as a form for submitting your comments.
Go to Public Proceedings
To find out how a song qualifies as Canadian, read about the MAPL system.
For a TV show, go to Canadian content for radio and television.
Read How to make a broadcasting complaint for information and instructions.
For more information, go to Loud TV commercials and sound levels.
The CRTC does not regulate false and misleading ads.
You can contact the product manufacturer and the TV station that aired the ads.
The Competition Bureau investigates complaints about false and misleading ads. You can call them toll-free at 1-800-348-5358.
It's called signal substitution. One signal, which is airing the program, is replaced temporarily by a local signal in order to air local ads. For more information, go to Signal substitution - same program, different commercials .
First, make sure your receiving equipment is working properly. Then contact your cable or satellite service provider to talk to them about your signal quality.
If you receive your signals over-the-air, contact the TV and radio stations involved directly.
For more information about interference, go to Industry Canada's Consumer Information.
Refer to the Terms of Service that are included in the front pages of your phone book.
Go to the National Do Not Call List to register your residential, cellular, fax, and VoIP numbers on the list for 3 years.
This is a practice called "slamming" - switching a long-distance telephone customer from one company to another, without their permission. If this has happened to you, and you want to find out who is actually providing you with long-distance service, call 1-700-555-4141 from your telephone.
Read Changing long-distance service providers for more information.
If your telephone company has given you notice that your service will be disconnected:
If your local telephone service provider is one of the original phone companies that existed prior to today's competitive market (i.e., TELUS, MTS Allstream, Bell Canada, or Bell Aliant), and it has disconnected or is threatening to disconnect your local service for unpaid long-distance charges, the CRTC-approved terms of service ensure that:
See Terms of Service – Disconnection for partial payment of charges (Telecom Decision CRTC 2004-31).
You're describing one of the following situations:
You can find more information about these at the front of your telephone directory under Privacy Issues.
You can also read New and revised Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules for information about telemarketing and other related issues.
The first thing to do is contact your telephone company. In most cases, problems can be resolved by dealing directly with the company.
If you're not satisfied with the results, go to How to make a complaint about your telephone service.
Go to Cellphone or wireless telephone services for more information.
If it's your residential phone, you may not have a contract for local phone service. If you don't have a contract, you can cancel your service anytime.
If you have bundled a number of services (e.g., Internet access and cable TV) with one company to pay a reduced rate, you may have a contract. You may also have a contract for a long-distance package. If you do have a contract, you'll have to read it to see whether you have to pay any penalties.
It's your responsibility to finalize any payments or resolve any issues with your other service providers.
In 1999, the CRTC studied the Internet and decided not to regulate it. Access to Internet services was competitive, and both creativity and innovation grew in an environment without regulation. While there was some broadcasting content being offered, most Internet services at the time were text based. The CRTC concluded that the Internet was meeting the objectives of the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act.
The CRTC periodically reviews its policies to ensure that the objectives continue to be met.
The CRTC doesn't regulate content on the Internet. Go to Internet for more information.