Question Period Note: Budget of the Canada Book Fund

In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, the Government announced on March 25, 2020, a simplified process for assessing financial assistance files, with the aim of accelerating the payment of amounts allocated to recipients of the Book Fund Canada (FLC) and the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF).
The 2020-2021 Grants and Contributions envelope for the Canada Book Fund is $42.2M. This includes a 500,000$ supplement from the Creative Export Strategy to support Canada’s Guest of Honour presence at the Frankfurt 2020 Book fair, and $5M to enhance the production and distribution of accessible digital books.

• In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, the Government of Canada has announced that the Canada Book Fund will use an accelerated process to assess financial assistance files for 2020-21, so that funds can be allocated to publishers before summer.
• The Department of Canadian Heritage, through the Canada Book Fund, provides approximately $36.7 million directly to some 300 Canadian book publishers and industry organizations each year.
• In 2020-2021, The Canada Book Fund will provide an additional $5M to Canadian book publishers and industry organizations. This funding will support the sustainable production and distribution of accessible digital books. The objective of this funding is to increase the availability of Canadian-authored digital titles that can be used by as many readers as possible, including those with print disabilities.

• The Canada Book Fund (CBF) is the Government's principal measure in support of Canadian books. It aims to ensure access to a diverse range of Canadian-authored books in Canada and around the world.
• The CBF provides annual funding of approximately $36.7 million through two streams: Support for Publishers (SFP) and Support for Organizations (SFO). SFP ($30.7M) provides funding to Canadian-owned publishers for the production and marketing of Canadian-authored books. The SFP stream also includes an additional budget envelope of $400,000 for internships and business planning. SFO ($5.6 million) provides funding to book industry organizations and associations for collective projects that strengthen industry infrastructure and develop the market for Canadian books.
• Program funding flows to approximately 300 publishing businesses and not-for-profit industry organizations. The CBF funds businesses and organizations in over 80 cities in all 10 provinces and in one territory (Nunavut).
• Each year, Publishers supported by the Program produce about 6,500 new Canadian-authored books, employ approximately 2,500 Canadians and generate more than $380 million in sales of Canadian authored books, which includes export sales of more than $120 million.
• Overall, CBF stakeholders are satisfied with the Program and have a good relationship with the Department.
Increase to the CBF's budget
• The Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL) and the Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP) are the two principal stakeholders in the book publishing sector and are longstanding funding recipients of the CBF.
• For several years, the ACP and ANEL, along with other industry organizations, have called for a significant increase to the CBF budget. The CBF budget has not increased since 2001.
• In a written Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance, for the Pre-Budget Consultations in advance of the 2020 Budget, the ACP and ANEL recommended that the CBF budget be increased to $58.4 million annually.
Initiative on Canadian Accessible Books
• Budget 2019 announced an investment of $22.8 million over 5 years (2019-20 to 2023-24) via the Canada Book Fund to enhance the production and distribution of accessible digital books by Canadian independent book publishers.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Canadian book publishing industry
• The COVID-19 pandemic added financial pressure on Canadian publishers and on all industry players, such as bookstores and distributors. The closure of independent bookstores and chains, such as Indigo and Renaud-Bray, has resulted in a significant reduction in book sales across the country. At the peak of the crisis, the drop in bookstore sales reached 70%. In this context, Canadian publishers had to delay or cancel the launch of new books. Sales of digital books have surged, but not enough to offset the losses caused by the decrease in print book sales. The future of many publishers and bookstores is under threat due to their low profit margins.
• The Government has announced that the assessment of financial assistance files for 2020-2021 will be carried out in an accelerated mode and that the current recipients of the CBF will receive the same amount as in 2019-2020.
Canada’s presence as Guest of Honor country at the Frankfurt Book fair
• The Government of Canada is currently in discussions with the organizers of the Frankfurt Book fair regarding Canada’s participation as Guest of Honour that was planned for 2020. An announcement in this regard will follow in due course.

None