CRTC Caption Regulations
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has policies that outline quality and quantity standards for closed captions, monitor and report on captioning accuracy, and provide an avenue for consumer complaints and concerns.
When it comes to closed captioning quantity, the CRTC requires most broadcasters to:
- Caption 100% of their programs broadcast from 6 AM to midnight
- Ensure that 100% of advertising, sponsorship messages, and promotional content is captioned
- Provide viewers with closed captioning for all programming aired overnight (from midnight to 6 AM) if captions are available
The CRTC also has standards for closed captioning accuracy. For prerecorded programs, broadcasters must target a captioning accuracy rate of 100%. For live programming, French captions must target an accuracy rate of 85% compared to a verbatim transcript. For English-language live captioning, broadcasters must reach an accuracy rate of at least 98, as measured by the method described in the Canadian NER Evaluation Guidelines.
CRTC policies also address:
- Minimizing caption lag time for prerecorded and live programming
- Correcting errors before re-broadcasting a program
- Providing proper placement of captions to avoid blocking on-screen information
- Controlling various aspects of formatting, including the use of chevrons and, for French-language programming, hyphens
- Ensuring the captioning of emergency alerts