Federal Consultations on Canada’s Place in a Digital World

The federal government is taking steps toward an overhaul of Canada's cultural policies. 

Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly announced on April 23 the launch of public consultations with consumers and content creators with an aim to bring Canada’s cultural properties into the digital age to ensure our country is poised to seize opportunities for economic growth and innovation.

With the help of an advisory group, Minister Joly will lead public, stakeholder and online consultations beginning summer 2016 on strengthening Canadian content creation, discovery and export in a digital world.

The consultations will encompass information and entertainment content as presented in television, radio, film, digital media and platforms, video games, music, books, newspapers and magazines.

The objective is to begin identifying the tools and policy levers that will guide the work of Canadian Heritage over the course of the government’s mandate to foster a leading, resilient and innovative cultural sector that meets the needs of Canadians and Canadian creators.

"Canada’s cultural and creative industries are important drivers of innovation and a vibrant part of our economy. The intersection of culture and technology holds tremendous potential for our country’s growth and prosperity," said Minister Joly in the announcement.

"As we adjust to the realities of rapid technological advances and changing consumer behaviour, I am launching consultations to better understand the challenges and opportunities brought on by this transformation.

These consultations will provide an opportunity to listen and learn from Canadians and examine the federal government’s current cultural policy toolkit.

This project is driven by our belief that the time is ripe to review the role of the federal government in helping Canada’s creative sector navigate this transformation and chart a course to ensure that we are poised to position ourselves as global leaders.

As we engage in the pre-consultation phase of this project, I invite you to help define the scope of the consultation by completing the questionnaire below."

Questionnaire

Participate in the pre-consultation questionnaire here. Responses will be used to better define the themes and questions that will be used to guide the consultations.

Following the pre-consultations, the Department of Canadian Heritage will develop a scoping document to guide the consultations. Public hearings will begin in September. 

Questionnaire Deadline

The online questionnaire closes May 20, 2016.

Learn More

Learn more information in the pre-consultation document here.