Ottawa adds funding to CBC, despite executives' claims it was asked to cut its budget

Canada's public broadcaster is getting an increase in funding, despite executives insisting that a request to cut CBC/Radio-Canada's budget for the next fiscal year was one reason they announced layoffs for 10 per cent of staff.

Documents Canadian Heritage released on Thursday show CBC will get a $1.4 billion budget in 2024-25, up from the $1.3 billion it spent in the previous fiscal year.

It's an increase of about $90 million, the documents say.

The broadcaster announced in December it would cut 800 jobs and $40 million from its production budget because of a $125-million projected shortfall for the coming fiscal year, which begins on April 1.

A CBC spokesperson previously said that about $11 million of that shortfall would come as a result of an expected 3.3 per cent budget cut.

The broadcaster did not immediately respond to questions about how its calculations could shift now that it is not just avoiding cuts, but getting an influx of new money.

On top of the new government funding, CBC is expected to get $7 million from Google following the company's deal with Ottawa to support news organizations and avoid regulation under the Online News Act.

Executives insisted earlier this year that the job cuts were coming in part because the government asked them to cut 3.3 per cent from their budget.

CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait and Shaun Poulter, executive director of strategy, public affairs and government relations, said in January they were expected to plan for that cut.

«We were told to budget a 3.3 per cent cut, and that's what we've done,» Poulter said after a parliamentary committee hearing in January.

But the Treasury Board, which oversees spending in the federal budget, said there was no such directive.

Instead,