Committed to All Canadians

Private broadcasting is an important part of the Canadian community. Broadcasters have the ability to influence opinion, modify attitudes and shape minds. That’s why the industry created a voluntary system of codes that set high standards for all programming broadcast in Canada, whatever the language used.

Through these codes, private broadcasters promise to respect the interests and sensitivities of the communities they serve, while meeting their responsibility to preserve the industry’s creative, editorial and journalistic freedom.

Since 1990, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has helped the industry ensure that these high standards are maintained.

And familiarity with the services of the CBSC is now being increasingly and appropriately extended to many more of Canada’s linguistic and cultural communities.

Canada’s Broadcasting Codes

The CBSC administers several voluntary codes on behalf of Canada’s private broadcasters. Some of the content of these codes can be found on the reverse side of this brochure. In brief, though, the codes cover issues such as:

Violence on television

Television programs broadcast in Canada may not glamorize or show gratuitous violence (violence unnecessary to the development of the plot, characters or theme). Programming containing violence intended for adults may air only after 9 p.m. The rules on violent content in children’s programming are even stricter.

The portrayal of men and women

Programming must respect the intellectual and emotional equality of men and women, and may not demean either sex. Broadcasters must be careful when making use of gender stereotypes in their programming.

Fairness and accuracy in the news

News and public affairs issues have to be reported fairly and accurately and must not focus on irrelevant factors. Broadcast journalists will respect the dignity, privacy and well-being of everyone with whom they deal.

Controversial public discussion

Controversial public issues must be treated fairly. Open-line shows may be provocative, but on-air commentary must be full, fair and proper.

Human rights

All programming must respect human rights and must be free of abusive or unduly discriminatory comment.

Your Concerns Are Important

If you see or hear something that concerns you in English, French or any other language, this is what you should do.

First, write down the following information:

  1. the name, date and time of the program
  2. the name or call letters of the broadcaster
  3. a short summary of what concerned you

Then contact the broadcaster.

Register your concerns with the broadcaster by phone, letter, fax or e-mail and you will get a response. Most complaints are settled in this way.

If you still are not satisfied, let us know.

If you are not satisfied by the broadcaster’s response, then send us the details. We will investigate your complaint further. But don’t wait too long.

Broadcasters have to keep tapes of their radio and television programming for only a short time. If you have a complaint, please write to us as soon as possible.

What Will Happen

Your complaint will be considered.

Tapes of the program in question will be reviewed by the CBSC, even when the program is not in English or French (we will arrange for translation of the program). In appropriate cases, a Panel made up of equal numbers of broadcasters and members of the public will be convened to adjudicate the complaint.

The CBSC will decide whether or not the broadcaster has respected the codes.

We will send you a copy of our decision, which will include an explanation of why that decision was reached.

Panel decisions will be made public.

Panel decisions are released to the media and remain open to the public. If a broadcaster has breached any of the codes, it must announce that decision on air during prime time television hours or peak radio listening times.

All Panel decisions and the texts of all CBSC administered broadcast codes can be found on ourWeb site at www.cbsc.ca. We also include the most important provisions of those codes in more than 40 languages on our Web site.

We are the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council

The CBSC was created in 1990 by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) to oversee the self-regulating system of codes and standards created by Canada’s broadcast industry.

The CBSC is an independent, non-governmental organization, and includes nearly all of Canada’s private radio and television broadcasters, specialty television services, and sattelite radio services. The voluntary codes administered by the CBSC reflect the industry’s commitment to respect community standards for programming. They include:

With your help, Canada’s private broadcasters will continue to meet the highest standards of professionalism.

How to reach us

You can write us at:

Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
P.O. Box 3265, Station D
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 6H8

You can also:

Call us at 613-233-4607 or toll free at 866-696-4718
Fax us at 613-233-4826
E-mail us at: complaints@cbsc.ca
Or fill out the Complaint Form on our website at www.cbsc.ca.

In addition to English and French, the CBSC brochure is available in Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Chinese, Cree, Croatian, Czech, Dari, Dutch, Farsi, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mohawk, Macedonian, Ojibwe, Pashtu, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

Translations of this brochure and the codes have been funded by OMNI Television
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
“Public Broadcasting, Public Trust”

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The Code of Ethics

The broadcaster codes include many important provisions, most of which can be found on the CBSC Web site in more than 40 languages. We have included highlights from these codes here.

Human Rights

Recognizing that every person has the right to full and equal recognition and to enjoy certain fundamental rights and freedoms, broadcasters shall ensure that their programming contains no abusive or unduly discriminatory material or comment which is based on matters of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status or physical or mental disability.

News

It shall be the responsibility of broadcasters to ensure that news shall be represented with accuracy and without bias. Broadcasters shall satisfy themselves that the arrangements made for obtaining news ensure this result. They shall also ensure that news broadcasts are not editorial.

News shall not be selected for the purpose of furthering or hindering either side of any controversial public issue, nor shall it be formulated on the basis of the beliefs, opinions or desires of management, the editor or others engaged in its preparation or delivery. The fundamental purpose of news dissemination in a democracy is to enable people to know what is happening, and to understand events so that they may form their own conclusions.

Full, Fair and Proper Presentation

It is recognized that the full, fair and proper presentation of news, opinion, comment and editorial is the prime and fundamental responsibility of each broadcaster. This principle shall apply to all radio and television programming, whether it relates to news, public affairs, magazine, talk, call-in, interview or other broadcasting formats in which news, opinion, comment or editorial may be expressed by broadcaster employees, their invited guests or callers.

Controversial Public Issues

Recognizing in a democracy the necessity of presenting all sides of a public issue, it shall be the responsibility of broadcasters to treat fairly all subjects of a controversial nature.

Radio Broadcasting

Particular care shall be taken by radio broadcasters to ensure that programming on their stations does not contain:

Television Broadcasting

Programming which contains sexually explicit material or coarse or offensive language intended for adult audiences shall not be telecast before the late viewing period, defined as 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. [An exception is provided for distant signal importation; the rule applies to the time zone in which the signal originates.]

Viewer Advisories

To assist consumers in making their viewing choices, when programming includes mature subject matter or scenes with nudity, sexually explicit material, coarse or offensive language, or other material susceptible of offending viewers, broadcasters shall provide a viewer advisory at the beginning of and after every commercial break [for either the first hour or the entire program, depending on the circumstances].

The Code of (Journalistic) Ethics

Accuracy

Broadcast journalists will inform the public in an accurate, comprehensive and fair manner about events and issues of importance.

Equality

Broadcast journalists will report factors such as race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, or physical or mental disability only when they are relevant.

Privacy

Broadcast journalists will respect the dignity, privacy and well-being of everyone with whom they deal.

Conflict of Interest

Broadcast journalists will govern themselves on and off the job in such a way as to avoid conflict of interest, real or apparent.

The Violence Code

Gratuitous Violence

Canadian broadcasters shall not air programming which contains gratuitous violence in any form [or which] sanctions, promotes or glamorizes violence. (“Gratuitous” means material which does not play an integral role in developing the plot, character or theme of the material as a whole.)

Children’s Programming

Programming for children [under 12 years of age] requires particular caution in the depiction of violence; very little violence, either physical, verbal or emotional shall be portrayed in children’s programming.

Violence shall only be portrayed when it is essential to the development of character and plot.

Animated programming [...] shall not have violence as its central theme, and shall not invite dangerous imitation.

Programming for children shall deal carefully with themes which could threaten their sense of security.

Programming for children shall deal carefully with themes which could invite children to imitate acts which they see on screen.

Programming for children shall deal carefully with themes which could invite children to imitate acts which they see on screen.

Programming for children shall not contain realistic scenes of violence which minimize or gloss over the effects of violent acts.

Scheduling

Programming which contains scenes of violence intended for adult audiences shall not be telecast before the late evening viewing period, defined as 9 p.m. [the Watershed hour] to 6 a.m.

Classification [in summary]

All children’s programs, drama, reality programming and feature films require on-screen classification icons. All information-based programming, such as newscasts, public affairs shows, magazine programs, talk shows and documentaries, is exempt from classification. So are sports programs, music videos and variety programming.

Viewer Advisories [in summary]

To assist consumers in making their viewing choices, broadcasters shall provide a viewer advisory at the beginning of every program, and following every commercial break, during the first hour of every broadcast intended for adults aired after 9 p.m.

To assist consumers in making their viewing choices, broadcasters shall provide a viewer advisory at the beginning of every program, and following every commercial break, during the entirety of every broadcast not suitable for children under 12 years of age aired before 9 p.m.

News & Public Affairs Programming

Broadcasters shall use appropriate editorial judgment in the reporting of, and the pictorial representation of, violence, aggression or destruction within their news and public affairs programming. Caution shall be used in the selection of, and repetition of, video which depicts violence.

While broadcasters shall not exaggerate or exploit situations of aggression, conflict or confrontation, equal care shall be taken not to sanitize the reality of the human condition.

Violence against Women

Broadcasters shall not telecast programming which sanctions, promotes or glamorizes any aspect of violence against women.

Broadcasters shall ensure that women are not depicted as victims of violence unless the violence is integral to the story being told. Broadcasters shall be particularly sensitive not to perpetuate the link between women in a sexual context and women as victims of violence.

The Sex-Role Portrayal Code

Equality of the Sexes

Television and radio programming shall respect the principles of intellectual and emotional equality of both sexes and the dignity of all individuals. Television and radio programming should portray women and men as equal beneficiaries of the positive attributes of family or single-person life.

Demographic Spectrum

Television and radio programming shall respect the principles of intellectual and emotional equality of both sexes and the dignity of all individuals. Television and radio programming should portray women and men as equal beneficiaries of the positive attributes of family or single-person life.

Exploitation

Television and radio programming shall refrain from the exploitation of women, men and children. Negative or degrading comments on the role and nature of women, men or children in society shall be avoided. Modes of dress, camera focus on areas of the body and similar modes of portrayal should not be degrading to either sex. The sexualization of children through dress or behaviour is not acceptable.