Short answers, pulled from the story.
NBA TV Canada officially launched on the 7th of September 2001 under the name Raptors NBA TV. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission granted Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment approval in December 2000 to begin operations.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment owns the channel today while Rogers Communications and Bell Canada serve as co-majority owners of MLSE. These two corporations also own TSN and Sportsnet networks which handle live game broadcasts outside of pre-season periods.
The channel renamed itself from Raptors NBA TV to NBA TV Canada on the 15th of October 2010. This change signaled a shift toward airing more programming devoted to the NBA generally alongside international basketball content.
NBA TV Canada does not broadcast live Raptors games outside of the pre-season period. Instead of live play-by-play action, the channel broadcasts full and abbreviated encores of Raptors telecasts for viewers to access game footage during the regular season.
The high-definition version of this channel launched on the 1st of November 2005. It originally carried the name Raptors NBA TV HD before becoming NBA TV Canada HD following technical upgrades that year.