Dear Members,

As you know, the Shaw Rocket Fund is fighting to maintain vital support for Canadian kids’ content. Rogers has stopped its contributions as of this month, but we believe those contributions should continue until August 2026, when their licence term is up for renewal. To that end, Rocket Fund has filed a Part 1 Application with the CRTC, opening the door for public interventions.

The YMA has already participated by submitting a letter of support (below). Now, we encourage you to add your voice. During the Rogers/Shaw hearing, producer interventions made a real difference—and they can again.

 What you can do:
If you are willing to file a letter, the Shaw Rocket Fund can provide you with:

- A summary of the issues
- Guidance on why they matter to you
- Instructions on how to file with the CRTC

Deadline to file: September 10, 2025.

Thank you for standing with Rocket Fund and with Canadian youth content creators during this critical time.

Warm regards,
The YMA Team

 

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Montreal, September 3rd 2025

For fifty years, the Youth Media Alliance has celebrated and supported the creators, broadcasters, and partners who bring Canadian children meaningful, high-quality stories. Throughout this journey, the Shaw Rocket Fund has been one of the most important and consistent champions of youth content in our country.

Families may not always know it, but many of the shows their children watch—on television or online—exist thanks to the Rocket Fund’s unique mandate. For over two decades, it has been the backbone of Canadian children’s production, the only fund of its kind dedicated exclusively to young audiences in both French and English. It has supported the rise of digital platforms, taken bold risks on new forms of storytelling, and given countless creators the chance to reach children where they are—whether on television, YouTube, or emerging platforms.

But today, this vital support is in jeopardy. Rogers has announced plans to end its contribution to the Shaw Rocket Fund, its primary source of financing. If allowed to happen, this would come at the worst possible time: Canadian youth media is already in crisis, with major channels shutting down, investments in children’s television dropping by more than a third, and animation production nearly cut in half over the past decade.

The consequences go far beyond numbers. Without dedicated funding, Canadian children risk losing stories that reflect their lives, their communities, and their languages. They will be left with foreign content—homogenized, disconnected, and unable to carry forward our culture and values. We cannot allow an entire generation to be deprived of their own stories.

“Our industry is hurting right now, and children’s content is being hit the hardest. It is a profound mistake for major players and funders to step away from children’s programming that is produced with education, child safety and development in mind. Consider the unsafe and potentially dangerous content targeting our youth that could fill the void. Children are our future. To deprioritize them is to undermine Canada’s cultural future itself,” said Athena Georgaklis and Maria Kennedy, Co-Presidents of the Youth Media Alliance.

The Youth Media Alliance urges the CRTC to act. Rogers must maintain its commitment to the Shaw Rocket Fund until a sustainable long-term solution is secured. The future of our young audiences, our creators, and our cultural diversity depends on it.

The Fund is asking the CRTC to require that this support be maintained at least until 2026. But this withdrawal comes at a critical moment: the children’s content industry, already fragile, is on the brink. Warning signs are multiplying among Canada’s major private players:

- WildBrain: announced the shutdown of its four channels (Family Channel, Family Jr., WildBrainTV, and the French-language channel Télémagino) after Rogers and Bell confirmed they would no longer carry these channels on their networks.
- Corus: announced the end of distribution of five channels (Nickelodeon, ABC Spark, Disney XD, Disney Junior, and Disney Channel) as of September 2025, along with the termination of the Quebec dubbing of The Simpsons (after 36 seasons).
- Québecor/TVA: closure of Yoopa (January 2024).
- Bell Media: closure of Vrak (October 2023) and withdrawal of funding from the Harold Greenberg Fund, which led to its shutdown (2021).
On top of this, the numbers are alarming. Since 2015–2016, investment in Canadian children’s television has dropped by 35.7%, falling from $552M to $355M in 2023–2024, while investment in animation (television and film) has declined by 47%, plummeting from $331M to $175M over the same period.

This is not just an economic issue—it is a cultural and generational one.

Now is not the time to retreat from youth content—it is the time to protect it.

For the Youth Media Alliance

Athena Georgaklis
Children’s Content Executive Producer

Maria Kennedy
Little Engine Moving Pictures