The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation spent tens of thousands of dollars on a Federal Court case to fight an order to show how many people subscribe to its streaming services, according to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“As a matter of principle, the CBC owes taxpayers transparency, but instead of being transparent with taxpayers, it’s wasting more money on legal bills trying to keep Canadians in the dark,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “The CBC bragged about its Gem subscription service and pointed to Gem as proof it’s providing value, so why is the CBC trying so hard to keep these numbers hidden?”

The CBC has spent $59,000 so far on lawyers to fight an order directing it to disclose subscriber numbers for its Gem streaming service.

The CBC launched the Gem streaming service in 2018. It has a paid and unpaid version.

The state broadcaster refused to disclose the number of Gem subscribers when asked through an access-to-information request filed by Matt Malone, who is the founder of the transparency organization Open By Default.

The Information Commissioner ordered the CBC to provide the records, but the CBC argued the information should remain confidential and took the matter to court.

The CBC is asking the court to disregard the Information Commissioner’s order and rule that Gem records are exempt from disclosure.

CBC CEO Marie-Philippe Bouchard claimed the subscriber numbers are “sensitive commercial information,” according to the Canadian Press. “The number of people who are paying is a number we keep confidential for competitive reasons,” Bouchard said.

However, publicly traded companies disclose subscription metrics. Streaming companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube have reported total paid memberships or subscription revenue in financial filings and annual reports.

Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard rejected the CBC’s competition claims. Maynard said the subscriber numbers relate to its general administration and the exemption to disclosure rule therefore does not apply.

“[While the] CBC did identify possible harms to its competitive position or to ongoing negotiations, it did not demonstrate that there was a reasonable expectation that these harms could occur, well beyond a mere possibility,” Maynard said.

As a way to defend the CBC’s falling viewership, former CEO Catherine Tait repeatedly claimed “millions” of Canadians stream its videos through Gem.

Tait told MPs at committee in January 2024 the broadcaster had “an increase in the millions of those who are watching Gem.” Tait repeated the claim that “millions are streaming video and audio in English and French across our platforms” at committee in October 2024.

“The CBC should be more transparent than Netflix or Amazon, so if these companies can back up their claims about their subscriber base, then taxpayers should definitely be able to hold the CBC to a higher standard,” Terrazzano said. “If the CBC doesn’t want to release the information and be transparent with taxpayers, then it shouldn’t get one cent from taxpayers.”

This isn’t the first time the CBC has tried to withhold records from taxpayers.

The CTF launched a legal challenge against the CBC as the state broadcaster stonewalled the release of senior executive bonuses. The CBC released a record showing its seven senior executives took home $3,793,000 in total compensation – an average of more than $540,000 each. But the records did not reveal how much of that compensation was bonus pay for senior executives.

The CBC costs taxpayers more than $1 billion per year.