Facilitating arts and culture

The Cultural Affairs Sector of the Department of Canadian Heritage, in partnership with other public and private organizations, helps sustain the vitality and vibrancy of Canada’s arts and cultural industries—of Canadian artists and creators, of the infrastructure and businesses that support them, and of the institutions that sustain and celebrate them. Working within the context and partnerships of the federal toolkit, the Sector:

• encourages and enables the creation of excellent Canadian arts and cultural content that reflects Canada’s diversity; and
• facilitates access to that content by domestic and international audiences.

Whether watching, listening, reading, experiencing—or some combination of them all—Canadians are consuming arts and culture in volume. The program, policy and research activities of the Cultural Affairs Sector help ensure that Canadian cultural products and experiences reflect our rich linguistic, ethnocultural and regional diversity. They do so in the context of constant and intersecting forces of change: demographic, economic, technological.

The majority of the results featured in this report stem from programs and policies that focus on particular modes of content creation and delivery—from screen-based and interactive media to music, books, magazines and performances. The Sector also, however, delivers a complementary and comprehensive support framework that takes the form of policy, investment, research and strategic planning activities. These activities play a specialized role that cuts across all arts and cultural industries.

Copyright Policy

The effects of Canada’s copyright regime ripple throughout the cultural and creative sector and directly touch the lives of the Canadian public. In recent years, copyright industries—those touched by copyright—have accounted for 4.5 percent of Canada’s gross domestic product and 5.5 percent of total Canadian employment.⁴ An effective copyright regime enables the marketplace for cultural works and supports innovation, creativity and access. The Copyright Act sets out certain economic and moral rights for authors, performers, producers and broadcasters in relation to literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, performances, sound recordings and broadcast signals. Works of joint authorship and cinematographic works are also covered by the Copyright Act.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage is responsible for formulating cultural policy, including as it relates to copyright. The Cultural Affairs Sector advises the Minister on Canada’s copyright regime and provides research and analysis to develop and maintain a copyright policy framework consistent with Canada’s social and economic objectives and conforming to international standards. The Sector also advances Canada’s interests on copyright issues in international discussions and negotiations through fora, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and in the negotiation of trade agreements. The Minister of Canadian Heritage shares responsibility for copyright with the Minister of Industry.

A key priority for copyright in Canada continues to be ensuring that the Canadian copyright regime is responsive to the challenges of the globalized digital age—in a way that benefits Canadians while ensuring the country’s alignment with international standards. Taking guidance from the 2007 Speech from the Throne commitment to amend the Copyright Act, the Sector worked toward the introduction of legislation. Digital piracy and counterfeiting came to the forefront of both domestic and international policy agendas. The Sector also played a key role in the introduction of Bill C‑59, which combats piracy by prohibiting the unauthorized recording of a movie in a movie theatre. The Sector also participated actively in international efforts to combat digital piracy through fora, such as the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Cultural Sector Investment Review

The Investment Canada Act is applied so that Canadians benefit whenever foreign investors establish or acquire businesses in Canada’s publishing, film/video and music sectors. For example, such benefits typically involve encouraging the availability of Canadian content or the sustainability of Canada’s cultural infrastructure.

The Sector continued to negotiate and monitor net benefit commitments to ensure that foreign cultural investments produce positive results for Canada and its citizens. In 2007-2008, 35 such investment proposals submitted by foreign investors were assessed. These investments resulted in, among other things, employment creation across Canada, collaborative industry research projects, innovative artist development programs, and increased visibility for Canadian cultural products. In addition, 50 investments approved in previous years were monitored to ensure their ongoing benefit to Canada.

Strategic Policy and Research

The Cultural Affairs Sector actively pursues strategic policy and research to maintain an awareness and understanding of the evolving environment facing arts and culture in Canada. In 2007-2008 the Sector:

• Delivered the International Forum on the Creative Economy, which attracted 200 delegates from across Canada and the world to discuss relevant and recent research on the contribution of the cultural sector to national economies. Over a 2-day period, 35 presentations were made, each contributing to our understanding of the emerging creative economy.
  
  
• Led a research study entitled The Transformation of Value Chains in the Canadian Arts and Cultural Industries,which analyzed how Canadian arts and cultural industries have been transformed by digital technologies and the digital economy. The concepts of value network analysis were applied across ten industries: music, radio, film and video, television, magazines, books, console games, online content, performing arts and visual arts. This work provided insight into how each of these industries currently functions and has helped the Sector identify key policy focus areas.
  
  
• Managed the development of strategies and special events, and supported the Department in official government responses related to Francophone culture and select official languages affairs.
  
  
• Paid particular attention to key trends and linkages regarding the impacts of technology across the cultural sector. This activity fostered coordination and consistency in policy development throughout the Sector, and provided strategic analysis and advice to address common policy concerns related to new technologies.

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