CBC gets $370M more than CSIS amid foreign interference threats

As Carney’s Liberals face mounting questions over Ottawa’s handling of foreign interference and espionage, the government is budgeting $370 million more for the CBC than Canada’s domestic spy agency.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Ottawa has allocated $370 million more to CBC/Radio-Canada than it has to Canada’s domestic spy agency, despite the Liberal government’s warnings about a rising threat of foreign interference, espionage and terrorism.

Under the federal government’s 2026-27 Main Estimates, CBC/Radio-Canada’s parliamentary funding was $1.38 billion, compared with $1.01 billion for CSIS.

The $370.4 million gap puts the CBC’s allocation about 37 per cent above that of Canada’s domestic intelligence agency, though the gap has narrowed from the previous year.

However, CBC’s share of the allocation dropped from $1.43 billion, while CSIS’s increased from around $980 million to $1.01 billion.