Still impossible to get paid on TikTok in Canada

Content creators in Canada still do not receive any compensation from TikTok when they broadcast videos of a minute or more on its platform, although the company pays them elsewhere in the world.

Canada does not qualify for the Creator Rewards Program introduced this year, replacing the TikTok Creator Fund founded in 2020.

To be eligible, a content creator must have a formal personal account on TikTok in a country where the program is available. The latter is accessible in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and France and Brazil.

Additionally, the creator must be at least 18 years old, have more than 10,000 subscribers and at least 100,000 views in the last 30 days.

Although Canadian creators do not have access to the rewards program, they still have access to tools to help creators produce advertising campaigns on TikTok and connect them to brands for collaborations.

Despite everything, content creators in the country consider this measure unfair.

We should have access to every possible advantage to our American counterpartssays Tyra Blizzard, a Canadian content creator followed by more than 900,000 people.

Content monetization on TikTok in Canada

Many entrepreneurs believe that having access to TikTok’s program would help them grow their businesses.

This is particularly the case for Tess Barclay, a content creator on TikTok in Toronto, who says the program would be more financially beneficial for her than collaborations with companies.

000subscribers, I asked for around 3000$ per post, she says. Everyone I’ve worked with made their money from corporate partnerships rather than the rewards program.”,”text”:”When I had about 50,000 followers, I was charging about $3,000 per post, she says . Everyone I’ve worked with makes their money with corporate partnerships rather than the rewards program.”}}”>When I had around 50,000 followers, I was charging around $3,000 per post, she says. Everyone I’ve worked with makes their money with corporate partnerships rather than the rewards program.

Others have also expressed their frustration with this situation, especially for those who have a lot of views and engagement on their content and who do not receive any financial benefit from TikTok.

million views and nearly 200000 likes. I get nothing in return”,”text”:”I have a video that has over 1.5 million views and almost 200,000 likes. I get nothing in return”}}”>I have a video that has over 1.5 million views and almost 200,000 likes. I get nothing in returnnotes Canadian author Markus Harwood-Jones, adding that having access to the program would help him support his family financially.

Note that the amount of money accessible to a content creator via the reward program varies depending on the income per thousand views (revenue per thousand impressionsRPM).

Different factors cause the RPMincluding the engagement rate on the video, the quality of the content and the region in which it is viewed.

The ball in TikTok’s court

Last year, NDP MP Brian Masse questioned the federal government as to why Canada is excluded from this rewards program. He called on Ottawa to put pressure on TikTok to remedy the situation.

He received an email response from the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, last November. TikTok would have specified to him that the financing model is imperfect and will be reviewed before an official launch on the Canadian market.

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TikTok, however, reminds that Canadians can still monetize their content through sponsorships and the sale of digital products.

We should work more on Parliament Hill to apply pressure on TikTokargued Mr. Masse.

The appeal of the United States

Although there is not yet enough data on this subject, several experts believe that this situation could encourage many Canadians to leave for the United States in order to create content.

This is the case of Neil Shyminsky, an English professor at Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ontario, who believes that this scenario is plausible and that it could accelerate. People have already left Canada and specifically settled in Los Angeles, where a large community of content creators existshe said.

Mr. Shyminsky says the government should consider allocating additional funds to culture and the arts in order to financially accommodate content creators for social media.

CBC News attempted to discuss with Canadian Heritage to find out if the government plans to intervene to make the rewards program accessible in Canada. The ministry did not respond to the question, instead saying it is working to cultivate a fair market where content creators can succeed.

Based on reporting by CBC News’ Avneet Dhillon