CBC reaching out to rural, Western Canadians as part of plan to build audience

OTTAWA — The head of CBC/Radio-Canada says the public broadcaster’s plan to reach out to “dissatisfied” audiences means a new focus on rural areas and Western Canada.

In a five-year plan released Tuesday, CBC/Radio-Canada said it will work to connect with children and youth, newcomers to Canada and those who aren’t satisfied with or don’t use its services.

“We’ve identified various groups that are less likely to be in contact with us today through our traditional and digital platforms,” CBC president Marie-Philippe Bouchard told The Canadian Press in an interview.

“The strategy aims at creating content and also opportunity for them to discover us and to consume Canadian content.”

Those dissatisfied users tend to live in rural areas or in Western Canada, Bouchard said, citing Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“These are all factors that may add up, one to the other. That creates a context where they feel maybe that there’s less content or no content that reflects what their preoccupations are, or what their values are,” she said.

When asked whether that means the plan is to reach out to Conservative supporters, Bouchard said there may be some overlap between those demographics but it’s not something she considers a factor.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to defund the CBC if his party forms government — a promise that has drawn cheers at his rallies.

Bouchard also presented the public broadcaster as a way to guard against disinformation at a time when many people are turning to AI chatbots that may not be offering accurate information.

“We also have a role to play with other media actors and other actors of the journalism world in Canada to reinforce the capacity of Canadians to determine what’s true and what’s not true and what’s reliable and what’s not reliable,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2025.