Heritage Canada Continues Review of Book Publishing Policy

On July 20, 2010, the Department of Canadian Heritage announced that it would undertake a review of its Revised Foreign Investment Policy in Book Publishing and Distribution (the Book Policy). The Book Policy, which governs foreign investment in the Canadian book industry, was introduced in 1985 and last revised in 1992. The review specifically seeks to determine whether the Book Policy continues:

• to provide opportunity for healthy competition in the book publishing, distribution and retail industries; and
• to contribute to the broader government objective of ensuring that Canadian cultural content is created and accessible in Canada and abroad.

To initiate the review process, the Department of Canadian Heritage released a discussion paper in July entitled Investing in the Future of Canadian Books. The paper outlined the motivations for the review, described the structure of the Canadian book industry and discussed the impact of existing foreign investment