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= Canadian Children's Television = Full list of Canadian Children's Television Shows listed here: Canadian Children's Television Series

Full list of Canadian Children's Broadcasting Networks listed here: Canadian Children's Broadcasting Networks

Children’s television in Canada comprises of television programmes meant for people under the age of twelve. Television watching is a widespread activity among Canadian youth – with children aged 2 to 11 years averaging 18.5 weekly viewing hours per capita in 2008. The television industry includes two sectors of distribution: the private and the public sector. As a whole, the regulations for children’s programming in Canada apply to both sectors; they both must adhere to the regulations of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and of the Advertising Standards Canada (ASC). The CRTC, under the Canadian federal government, has different requirements for each children’s television station regarding Canadian content, and every channel, whether it is meant for children or not, has different fulfillment expectations of children’s programming. Canadian programming has been around since the 1950s, with the numerous shows made in Canada lasting over 20 years.

History
Between 1950 to 1970, Canada created and broadcasted many programmes for children that had a lifespan of over 10 years. Namely, The Friendly Giant (1958-1985) and Mr. Dressup (1967-1996) on Canada's national public broadcaster, the CBC, The Littlest Hobo (1979-1985) on CTV, and Polka Dot Door (1971-1993) on TVO. It was not until September of 1988 that Canada launched its first speciality channel for children: YTV. This channel was created because of the realization of children’s consumer potential and had time slots for different age groups during their suspected prime time hours. In 1997, YTV had further split into speciality channels for an even younger age group – preschoolers now had TreeHouse. In 2006, Rogers got the rights to a channel meant for even younger children – babies and toddlers - who now had a commercial-free channel called BabyTV. Today, viewing time of children’s programmes are 55 percent Canadian content.

CRTC Protection for Children
The CRTC has protected children’s programming since 1987, through licensing various children programme channels and ensuring Canadian content through them. The CRTC currently licenses seven Canadian children’s channels: YTV, teletoon/télétoon, VRAK TV, Treehouse, BBC Kids, Discovery Kids, and The Family Channel. These channels are all speciality-television services, with the exception of The Family Channel, which is a paid television service. Each of these channels are required under their license to spend between 20 and 47 percent of their profits on Canadian programming. The specialty TV services must air 267 hours of Canadian programming each year.

The CRTC endorses three codes of content that broadcasters must follow in order to renew their licenses. These codes are self-regulating by the industry but are under the rule of the CRTC. Children’s programs under the ethics area of the code are encouraged to promote positive actions and mind-sets that reflect Canadian morals and ethics. Another area of the code regards violence. This area of the code discourages violence shown in children’s programs to be too realistic that it will scare children. Violence is also not allowed to encourage reproduced violent behaviours, but it is also not to downplay the outcome of violent behaviour. Cartoon shows are not allowed to have storylines that revolve around violence, either.

History of Children’s Advocates
Policy-making in Canada for broadcast licensees include the involvement of Canadian advocate groups and the public. In 1974, the Children’s Broadcast Institute formed as the main group for children’s television – they were concerned that the government would intervene completely in children programming if the industry was not adequate. The group became what is known today as the Alliance for Children and Television in the 1980s. Their main focus is working through children’s television issues with the industry to design codes, such as the ethics and violence codes.

History
A bill was proposed in 1973 to ban advertising during children’s television shows. Although it was not passed, the concern of advertising policies led the province of Quebec, in 1979, to ban all advertising directed to children. The concern also led to more regulation of commercial messages through the formation of the Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children.

The Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children
The advertising industry in Canada, Advertising Standards Canada (ASC), is self-regulated, with the exception of Quebec. The ASC enforces the Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children, which is a set of regulations and guidelines for all advertising directed at children. These advertisements are screened by an ASC panel and must get an ASC clearance number, if the advertisement is scheduled in or next to a children’s program. Regulations include advertising content and scheduling guidelines. Content regulations focus on issues on advertising and comparison claims, as well as purchase terms and product disclaimers. Also, product endorsement by children’s television hosts is prohibited. In regard to scheduling guidelines, there can be no more than 4 minutes of advertisements during a half-hour children’s show. In addition, the same product cannot be commercialized more than once during a half-hour show. More guidelines are found in the Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children.

The Public Sector
The national public broadcaster in Canada is the CBC. It was initially called the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC), created in 1932, but it later became the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 1936. It is a Crown Corporation created by the Canadian Broadcasting Act. The CBC has many requirements mandated by the CRTC, regarding Canadian content and programs for children. They are required to schedule Canadian content for at least 60 percent of their total programming. The CBC also must schedule 15 hours per week minimum for children. In addition, the CBC prohibits broadcast advertising preceding, following, or in their children’s programs.

Many provincial public broadcasters in Canada devote large time slots for educational programming for children, usually coinciding with the respective curriculums. For example, 47 percent of Tele-Quebec's content is put aside for children’s programming. This is in place for children to be able to access a variety of content in addition to the national public and private broadcasters.

The Private Sector
The private sector also has content requirements mandated by the CRTC. 50 percent of private stations’ content must be Canadian content between 6pm and midnight. Each network varies in the amount of content that must be meant for children, but the CRTC are usually not strict in their conditions for children’s programming. Examples of private stations in Canada are the CTV, which must have 2.5 hours per week dedicated to children’s broadcasting. Private children’s programming channels, like The Family Channel, are required to put aside 25 percent of their schedule to show Canadian programming for children.