The CRTC says it will not force U.S. video streaming giant Netflix or other foreign platforms to subsidize Canadian TV content, despite complaints from conventional broadcasters that the services divert resources from the homegrown industry.

The federal broadcast regulator said results of a fact-finding and industry consultation exercise are inconclusive, indicating that it will leave the sector’s evolution to market forces and revisit the issue next spring.

“The commission considers that it is best to allow the market to continue evolving, better measurement tools to emerge and entities that contribute to the policy objectives of the (Broadcasting) Act to take advantage of the many opportunities in this new environment,” the CRTC said in statement.

It said it had found no evidence conventional broadcasters are being hurt by the online streaming of TV shows and movies.

The CRTC said consumers do not appear to be reducing or cancelling their television subscriptions as a result of the new platforms, though the regulator admitted its measurement tools can’t fully gauge consumer behavior in the area.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said the digital streaming is in fact complementary to content distributed over more conventional cable and satellite broadcast systems.

“Some online programming services have established viable business models and are competing in the marketplace for programming rights and viewers,” the CRTC said without mentioning Netflix or other streaming providers.

Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix launched its service in Canada just over a year ago with a flat fee of $7.99 a month for an unlimited number of TV shows and movies, attracting more than one million Canadian subscribers so far.

Media companies including Astral Media have said that foreign streaming companies should face the same rules as more traditional Canadian broadcasters, such as contributing funds for local programming and paying the same taxes.

“We are surprised that the CRTC is not taking action,” Astral said in a statement; though it added that it welcome another review of the issue next year.

“Overall, the CRTC’s announcement today could be seen as a slight negative for cable companies,” Desjardins analyst Maher Yaghi added in a note to clients.

“However, we do not expect the decision to have a negative impact as we continue to believe that OTT (over-the-top) is not yet a full substitute for regular cable.”

The CRTC also noted that traditional broadcasters are launching their own online and mobile programming services to take advantage of the rising digital platforms.