Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 12th, 2026

[Francis Bilodeau, Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage]

Do you mean by the department itself? Much of the advertising in the Government of Canada actually will be directed centrally. We don't, as a department, typically do much personal advertising. For example, that's separate from what CBC might run in terms of its own advertising in the context of its program, but that wouldn't be department-led advertising.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Well, there was an article yesterday from the Star Phoenix that said the federal government has increased its spending on Facebook and Instagram. The article said that the government “spent $78.15 million on advertising”.

I imagine your department spends some of that money, or gets some of that money, in advertising. Can you specify any kind of dollar figure or percentage?

[Francis Bilodeau]

I don't have the specifics on how much the department specifically spends. We can endeavour to get that to the committee. Generally, I would say, advertising within the Government of Canada is structured by rules set in place by Treasury Board and coordinated through the Privy Council Office.

We will endeavour to get you the information on how much is spent by the department specifically. The sums won't be large.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Okay.

One of the most interesting things from the article was that of all government spending on advertising, 63% went to digital media. I mean, that is a bit of a trend. People tend to advertise on Google and Facebook. Liberal MPs, including the Prime Minister himself, have said that we're in a trade war with the U.S. We're spending all that money for digital media that's almost exclusively owned in the United States of America. Is that right? We're in a trade war. We're rewarding these tech giants.

Do you have any thoughts on that?

[Francis Bilodeau]

Again, the policy and the choices in terms of how the overall government advertises would not be with me. It would be with Treasury Board. That being said, I think generally the government will try to balance ensuring that they can reach citizens where they are and ensuring that they have efficient communications with citizens.

Absolutely, we are in a trade war, and there have been measures. I believe that in the past the government at some point banned advertising on Facebook and Instagram. That has been looked at. That is driven out of the centre, primarily out of Treasury Board, in terms of overall guidance and approach.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

According to the same report, “Between 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, government spending on TikTok advertising plummeted from about $1.1 million to about $180,000.” However, it goes on to say, “Over the same period, government spending on ads for Facebook and Instagram increased from about $500,000 to about $1.4 million.” The article also says this: “The increase on Meta platforms comes after years of declines, including a drop of more than $6 million between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, a timeframe that coincides with the passing of the Online News Act.”

Don't you think the Canadian public would be concerned by this? Again, we talk about how we're in a trade war with the United States: “Okay, we'll give you some more money. We'll reward you.”

[Francis Bilodeau]

I think excellent points are being made. These are matters that aren't necessarily directly within my area or my ambit in terms of responsibilities. That being said, as an overall posture, I think we've seen the government take an increasingly buy Canadian type of approach. As the Treasury Board and PCO consider the overall posture on advertising, as I said, I think part of what they're weighing is ensuring that the government is reaching Canadians where they are and being very mindful, at the same time, that we are certainly in a difficult dynamic in terms of trade and that those considerations play in.

As I said, these aren't directly under my purview.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

You’re talking about buy Canadian, but again, to stress this, 63% of government advertising went to digital media, and we know that it's almost exclusively owned in Donald Trump's U.S.A.

[Francis Bilodeau]

I think there has been a shift over a period of time where Canadians are on digital media more and more, and that is part of the reality of where Canadians consume their media. Again, that is not directly an area for which I am responsible, but certainly we're mindful that there has been a shift towards digital media.

That's actually part of the dynamic that, from our area of responsibility, has led to wanting to have a digital agenda and a regulatory agenda that also thinks about Canadian content.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

That is six minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Diotte.

Mr. Myles, you have six minutes.

[David Myles, Liberal, Fredericton—Oromocto, NB]

Thank you very much.

Thank you for being here.

Perhaps this is a question for Madame Montminy.

I'm curious about the future of the creative export program, something I hear a lot about. I think we've probably all heard about it from different stakeholders in Canada. Maybe you can state what the importance of that program is, but also what it's going to look like in the future, especially as we talk about cultural diplomacy, sovereignty and how we can bring Canada to the world.

[Joëlle Montminy, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Cultural Affairs, Department of Canadian Heritage]

Thank you very much for the question, Mr. Myles.

Yes, the creative export strategy is something that we put in place eight years ago that is specific to helping the creative sector increase its export in important markets. We've been doing this through different ways.

One is through trade missions. As you know, we are just about to take part in a Mexico-Canada trade mission over the weekend. Those have been extremely successful in introducing our creative companies to these new markets. We did one last spring in South Korea, as well as Japan, and we've prioritized different markets, including Europe, Australia, New Zealand and so on. Over the last eight years, we've had really great success in bringing Canadian companies abroad.

We also have a program that supports the creative companies in terms of developing export plans, and we've expanded this over the years. At first, we were focusing on companies that were already ready for export, but then we wanted to bring more creative companies into the realm. Over the last five years, we've also brought in another stream of programs so that we can actually help Canadian companies that are not quite ready to start developing that skill. That's also been successful.

Just in terms of the success, over the last eight years we've helped over 3,000 creative industry businesses and organizations in accessing more than 120 international markets. We've seen the results in terms of impact for those companies that have benefited from this strategy and have been able to significantly increase their export abroad.

The strategy is up for renewal at the moment, so we are waiting for a decision by the government in terms of this strategy, which is complementary to all the different services that Global Affairs Canada is offering, but different, because it's targeted to the creative sector. We're hoping that the strategy will be renewed.

As you know, regarding the business model, the reason Canadian Heritage has its own unique complementary strategy is that creative businesses tend to be different, of course, from agriculture or aerospace companies. A bit more targeted support, we feel, is needed and has demonstrated good results.

[David Myles, Liberal, Fredericton—Oromocto, NB]

Thank you very much.

I have a question for Monsieur Bilodeau.

You've come from Industry, I think, and we talk a lot about AI. We've just finished a study. I'm curious to know.... From your perspective of having come from Industry, you know the dynamic in terms of how quickly AI is moving and now moving into culture. Where do you see some of the challenges around making sure that we're not, obviously, getting in the way of innovation and moving forward and being key in this, but also making sure that we're protecting copyright, licensing and transparency, and all the things that are important for the cultural sector?

[Francis Bilodeau]

Yes, it's a really interesting question.

I think part of the dynamic for all of us, independent of the sector, is that AI is more and more an existing, real presence across industries, and it's going to shift industries in a way.

Part of what we are thinking of in terms of the cultural industry..... Actually, there will be a summit with the cultural industry and the AI industry in Banff in a few weeks, to discuss exactly those issues.

Part of the challenge is making sure that our industries, whether they're artistic, cultural, etc., can reap the benefit. At the same time, we recognize that there are shifts and potential restructuring of markets, and we want to make sure that our industries benefit from those—and that includes issues of copyright and ownership. I think all jurisdictions, in one way or another, are struggling with that. There's international dialogue that's happening.

I'm very much looking forward to having conversations in a few weeks, with both the AI industry and the cultural industry, about where the greatest opportunities are for our creative sectors, and where government or government collaboration with industry is necessary to make sure that Canadian industry evolves and benefits to the maximum in the opportunities that will be presented.

[David Myles, Liberal, Fredericton—Oromocto, NB]

Do you feel that the cultural industries have been amply consulted when we're talking about the future of AI in Canada so far? That was something we heard from witnesses, that they felt like they weren't part of these conversations. The conversations were rather with industry, but not necessarily the cultural industry.

[Francis Bilodeau]

It's interesting, coming from a department that's just spent a lot of time dealing with AI.

If you look at it, in a lot of our ecosystem, Canada became a leader in AI primarily through the strength of our early research. That research, through luminaries like Yoshua Bengio and others, actually provided an advantage in our own capacity to understand the technology.

Our colleagues over at Industry and my colleague Mark Schaan and Minister Solomon have been leading on the development of an AI strategy. We've been very strong advocates—and I owe this to my colleagues—around what it means for cultural industries, for artistic industries, and that's exactly why we're going to be participating. We've helped set up the summit that will take place with the cultural and artistic industry in only a few weeks.

We think that dialogue has to happen. We think that we as a department have a responsibility to be the voice of artistic and cultural industry as the government thinks about AI, and we're playing that role very strongly. We look forward to continuing an ongoing dialogue with a sector that will be, or potentially will be, so impacted by the advance of not only AI, but digital technologies generally as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

Mr. Champoux, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Welcome to the committee, Mr. Bilodeau. This is the first time you and your colleagues have appeared before the committee, and it will certainly not be the last.

I'll continue to talk about artificial intelligence. We've just completed a study, and my colleague Mr. Myles has already spoken to you about this. I'm just wondering. Obviously, we are seeing very serious and significant impacts on the cultural sector and cultural industries at all levels. It's no secret that artificial intelligence affects just about every aspect of society. All socio-economic sectors are affected, directly or indirectly, by artificial intelligence.

However, Minister Solomon has set up an advisory council made up of experts from the artificial intelligence community. You talked about that. Under that advisory council, there was a task force that came up with different recommendations and conclusions. However, no one represents the cultural sector and cultural industries on the advisory council or the task force. I am very concerned to see that, in such important work and with such serious repercussions on the cultural sector, experts in the cultural sector have not been included in these considerations from the outset.

We're very close, at the conclusion of this study, to providing a report. I'm wondering if you would support a recommendation for a task force to be set up under the supervision of that advisory council to implement AI strategies, specifically with respect to the impacts it has on cultural industries. Do you think that would be a good idea? The structure already exists, in a way.

[Francis Bilodeau]

I can't comment on a committee structure that would be someone else's responsibility. There will be a number of considerations. What I can say, from our perspective, is that it's incredibly important that the dialogue with the cultural industry and the arts industry happen and that it is part of our department's responsibilities to ensure that those voices are heard.

That is one of the reasons why Minister Miller and Minister Solomon came to an agreement and decided to work together to have a dialogue with industry. I don't think it will be the last such conversation. That dialogue can be structured in a number of ways. This issue is fundamental to the evolution of the industry. It's not just about artificial intelligence, but digital technologies in general. So we have made a commitment to make sure that the sector is an active participant in those conversations and that we will be able to represent the sector.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

What you said earlier was very interesting. You were talking about the fact that the experts who have contributed to the development of artificial intelligence are Quebeckers, Canadians, and that positions us as a global leader. It's no secret that we are 100 years behind the United States. When it comes to the development of artificial intelligence and its applications, we are really lagging behind. In terms of regulations, we're not there at all. We're falling behind with AI in the same way we did with broadcasting. We did not legislate on digital platforms for too long, and now we're seeing the mess that's causing.

I want to come back to the issue of protocol, which will be discussed next week at the UNESCO meeting. I wonder how we can deprive ourselves of this strong and essential tool that makes it possible to put in place enforceable legislation by states, including Quebec, Canada and European countries. That would make it possible to put policies and laws in place to effectively regulate these companies that come and generate huge profits without having to abide by or agree to abide by the rules we decide to put in place.

I would really like some clarification. Earlier, Ms. Montminy reacted when I asked the minister these questions about the protocol, which is supported by Quebec and, of course, by cultural industries in general, and by SODEC, with which you are familiar. Explain to me your vision of what this tool will have to be. I think the tool is crucial.

How should we articulate this to ensure that we have the tools we need to catch up, if at all possible, when it comes to AI regulation?

[Francis Bilodeau]

I'll ask Ms. Montminy to talk about that a bit.

I would say that it's not clear to me that we're 100 years behind when it comes to AI.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Let's say 25 years.

[Francis Bilodeau]

I think we still have a talent base, because we're one of the pioneers—Hinton, Bengio and others—who helped structure the technology. In addition, we have major centres in Canada in terms of understanding and regulating the technology.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Yes, but we're investing a few billion dollars in AI development, whereas the United States is investing $400 billion. We're not even in the game. We have to realize that as well. We have to put our strengths where we stand a chance of doing something.

[Francis Bilodeau]

I will agree with that and leave those questions to Minister Solomon and his team.

Certainly, I think there's a capability base in Canada that not all countries have. The role of the private sector means that investment is key in some places. In terms of the protocol, you heard the minister. I think there's a broader issue, and that's international collaboration on digital issues. I believe the Prime Minister and others have talked about the importance of realistic collaboration.

Ms. Montminy, do you want to add anything about the protocol?