New diversity goal builds on the public broadcaster's gender parity progress
At the Banff World Media Festival today, CBC/Radio-Canada announced a new commitment to diversity for all English and French-language commissioned programs across scripted and factual genres. The public broadcaster made this announcement in the context of its new strategic plan, “Your Stories Taken to Heart,” which prioritizes giving underrepresented Canadians greater opportunities to build their skills, experience and relationships in the industry.
By 2025, CBC/Radio-Canada aims to ensure that at least one of the key creatives in all scripted and factual commissioned programs will be held by a person from a diverse background. Key creatives include producer, director, writer, showrunner and lead performer.
In cases where the talent pipeline may not be as robust, the public broadcaster will expect a commitment from independent producers to mentor or train a diverse person in one of the key creative roles of a greenlit production. For the purposes of this commitment, a diverse person includes members of visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ2+ community.
“We are a remarkably diverse country and we need to reflect that diversity in the stories we tell,” said Catherine Tait, President & CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada. “As the public broadcaster, we want to be able to draw on the richness of Canada’s talent pool to better reflect the country we serve.”
This year, CBC/Radio-Canada surpassed its goal of gender parity across its commissioned programs. During the 2018/19 broadcast year across all original English and French shows, the public broadcaster supported 62% female-led projects where the majority of the key creative roles of producer, director, writer and showrunner were held by women.
“I am so proud that we have reached our gender parity goal. It’s a testament to the ongoing work we have been doing for many years with our production partners. It’s also a commitment that we will maintain into the future and furthermore, we’ll take those learnings to ensure that all Canadians see themselves on their public broadcaster,” added Tait.
Read more on diversity and inclusion at CBC/Radio-Canada.
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About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic and Chinese, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
For additional information, please contact:
Kerry Kelly
Senior Manager, Public Relations
tel. 416 205-7831
cell. 416-522-2962
