Capital Cities Communications v. CRTC

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Capital Cities Communications v. CRTC (1977), [1978] 2 S.C.R. 141 is a Supreme Court of Canada decision on the legislative jurisdiction of cable television. Chief Justice Laskin, writing for the majority of the Court, held that television fell within the definition of a federal undertaking under section 92(10)(a) of the Constitution Act, 1867.

Rogers Cable provided a subscription service for American television programs. The CRTC, a federal regulatory agency, required television broadcasters such as Rogers to remove the commercials from American television feeds and replace them with Canadian ads.

The issue before the Court was whether the federal government had legislative jurisdiction over the content of cable television.

Laskin held that both cable and broadcast television were both within the jurisdiction of the federal government.