An agreement that Netflix will invest at least $500 million in original productions in Canada is set to be part of a long-awaited reboot of Canada's cultural policy.
Heritage Minister Melanie Joly will unveil the comprehensive overhaul Thursday that will look at everything from the CRTC to how best to sell and promote Canada's creative work.
The plan is being dubbed a ``creative economic strategy'' designed to both update the approach the government takes to encouraging Canadian content production and the laws and organizations which govern it.
Getting companies like Netflix to play a bigger role financially is one of the government's goals as traditional broadcasters have long complained about an uneven playing field.
Some had hoped to see the policy force the U.S. giants to charge sales tax for their subscriptions or contribute to the same content funds as Canadian broadcasters.
But a government source, not authorized to speak on the record, says Netflix has agreed to invest at least $500 million over the next five years in original productions here.