The federal government is asking Canadians to share their thoughts on the domestic publishing industry and whether changes need to be made to Canada's foreign investment policy for the book sector.

Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore has launched a review of the Revised Foreign Investment Policy in Book Publishing and Distribution.

"As the digital world creates new opportunities for Canadians to discover and connect with Canadian-authored books, it is critical that we foster innovation, efficiency, and healthy competition in Canada's book industry," Moore said in a statement issued late Tuesday afternoon from Ottawa.

In 2007, the federal government created the Competition Policy Review Panel to examine and recommend improvements to Canada's competition and foreign investment policies. The panel has since recommended Canada adopt a more globally competitive mindset and, specifically for the Canadian Heritage department, to conduct a review of its policies every five years.

This review "seeks to ensure that Canada's foreign investment policy for the book sector reflects new realities and supports our goal of ensuring that readers everywhere have access to a wide range of Canadian-authored books."

The current policy, which sets conditions for foreign investment in Canadian publishing, was introduced in 1985 and revised in 1992.

The three-phase evaluation process seeks to update the policy for today's drastically different publishing landscape, which features far fewer bricks-and-mortar booksellers, dominant online retailers like Indigo and Amazon, changing digital technology such as e-books and e-readers, and an easier-to-access global audience.

The goal is to determine if the policy:

  • Continues to provide healthy competition in the Canadian book publishing, distribution and retail industries.
  • Contributes to ensuring Canadian content is created and accessible, both nationally and abroad.

Individual Canadians, literary associations, publishers, book distributors and retailers are all invited to submit their views to a special government website: www.pch.gc.ca/bookconsultation

Submissions will be accepted until Sept. 18, after which they will be posted online for month for public viewing, comment and analysis.

A limited number of groups and individuals will then be chosen to participate in roundtable discussions to be held later this year. A ministerial decision on whether (and how) to revise the policy is expected to emerge in 2011.