Magazines

Canadian Heritage develops, implements and maintains publishing policies and programs in support of magazines to help create a stronger publishing industry in Canada.

For more than a century, the Government of Canada has had programs and policies to support the production, distribution and promotion of Canadian books, magazines and newspapers that reflect Canada's unique and dynamic culture. Canadians must have access to Canadian voices and Canadian stories. Looking to the future, the cultural sector must continue to adapt so as to benefit fully from a changing global economy. For the Government of Canada, this means searching for innovative ways to support publishers so they can take advantage of opportunities available both at home and abroad.

The magazine industry is supported by federal regulations and direct assistance programs:

• The Foreign Publishers Advertising Services Act (Bill C-55), and
  Regulations - HTML Version | PDF Version
  • The purpose of the Act is to regulate foreign publishers' access to the Canadian advertising services market. It received Royal Assent on June 17, 1999 and came into force July 1, 1999. See Backgrounder for details.
    
    
  • The Act provides foreign publishers with two forms of conditional access to the Canadian advertising services market:
    • foreign publishers will be able to sell up to 18% of the space dedicated to advertisements in their publications to Canadian advertisers. This level of access will be phased in over three years from the date of enactment (12% as of July 1, 1999, 15% as of January 1, 2001, and 18% as of July 1, 2002).
      
      
    • foreign publishers who make an investment in periodical publishing which has been approved under guidelines set out in the Investment Canada Act (see below) will have unrestricted access to the Canadian advertising services market.
  
  
  
• Investment Review Guidelines for Magazines
  • The acquisition of Canadian publishing firms by foreign investors is not permitted.
    
    
  • New investments resulting in ownership and control by a foreign investor will be reviewed under the Investment Canada Act for net benefit to Canada using Investment Review Guidelines to ensure that new foreign-owned magazine businesses generate majority Canadian content.
  
  
  
• Tax deductibility
  • The proposed amendments to section 19 of the Income Tax Act become effective June 1, 2000. A deduction will be available for advertisements placed in periodicals - regardless of whether the ownership of the periodical is domestic or foreign.
    
    
  • A full tax deductibility is available for advertising placed in periodicals for an advertisement directed at the Canadian market if the original editorial content in the issue is 80% or more of the total non-advertising content in the issue.
    
    
  • A 50% tax deductibility is available for advertising placed in periodicals for an advertisement directed at the Canadian market if the original editorial content in the issue is less than 80% of the total non-advertising content in the issue.
    
    
  • The proposed changes to section 19 apply only to periodicals. There are no fundamental changes on the availability of the tax deductibility for newspapers. The tax deductibility remains available for advertising placed in newspapers with a minimum of 75% Canadian ownership.
  
  
  
• Postal Subsidy
  • The Publications Assistance Program (PAP) provides a subsidy to Canadian publishers of paid-circulation magazines that meet certain criteria, to help defray the cost of distributing subscriber-paid copies of their publications.
  
  
  
• Support for Literary and Arts Magazines
  • The Canadian government continues to provide support to literary and arts magazines through the Canada Council of the Arts and through the creation of the new component Support for Arts and Literary Magazines of the Canada Magazine Fund
  
  
  
• Canada Magazine Fund (CMF)
  • To ensure the continued vibrancy of the Canadian magazine industry, the Government of Canada created the Canada Magazine Fund (CMF). Launched in 2000 as a key element of the Government's comprehensive policy in support of the Canadian magazine industry, the CMF will contribute toward the production of high-quality magazines showcasing the work of a wide cross-section of Canadian creators. The CMF will also help build industry capacity through support for business development of small magazine publishers, industry development projects and support for arts and literary magazines.