Canadians back government action against AI companies using news content without permission
Seventy-one percent of Canadians want the federal government to stop artificial intelligence companies from taking and repackaging news content without permission or payment, according to a survey conducted for News Media Canada between December 2025 and January 2026.
The findings come as publishers face mounting pressure from AI systems trained on their reporting. News Media Canada, which represents more than 500 news outlets across Canada, is pushing the government to act on three fronts.
What News Media Canada is asking for
The organization wants the Minister of Industry to direct the Competition Bureau to study competition in search and AI markets. A key proposal: split Google's web crawler into separate crawlers for AI and search functions.
News Media Canada also wants the government to block any amendment to the Copyright Act that would create a text and data mining exception. Such exceptions would allow companies to use copyrighted material for training without explicit permission.
Third, the group is calling on Public Services and Procurement Canada and Treasury Board to require AI suppliers on the government's approved vendor list to commit to transparency, consent, and attribution for copyrighted news content.
The publisher perspective
Dave Adsett, chair of News Media Canada and owner of The Wellington Advertiser, framed the issue in terms of labor and cost. "Real news, created by real journalists, involves fact-gathering, fact-checking, as well as editorial and legal review, and that costs publishers like me real money," he said.
Adsett said publishers support building safe and trustworthy AI systems, but not at the expense of those who create the intellectual property that trains them.
The survey included 2,404 adult Canadians and has a maximum margin of error of ±2.0% at the 95% confidence level.
For government officials, this represents a policy window. AI for Government and AI for Legal frameworks are evolving rapidly as agencies determine how to regulate content use and intellectual property protection in AI systems.
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