Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for your time today, everyone.
Magazines Canada is the national trade association representing the $2.2 billion Canadian content magazine media. Our members create consumer, cultural, specialty, professional, and business media titles.
There are over 2,000 Canadian magazine titles in French, English, aboriginal, and other languages, in print and through a growing number of new digital delivery platforms. These magazines are based in all parts of Canada and are mainly small businesses. The industry creates work for 15,000 people. These are creative, good-quality jobs. When they buy magazines, Canadians spend more than 40% of their purchases on Canadian titles, so Canada's policy to help make Canadian content accessible is truly working.
l'd like to say that this success results entirely from the creative talent and acumen of the industry, but that wouldn't be correct. Effective federal public policy and programs have played a very important role. However, new technologies and the digital age are changing everything. We all know that policies and programs focused on yesterday's needs will not create the jobs and economic growth we need today and tomorrow. They must be designed for the digital economy.
Recognizing this, the industry worked with Minister Moore and his department to update the programs that invest in Canadian content development. The new Canada Periodical Fund is the result. Now in its first year of operation, the new program is well suited to the digital age, better targeted, and more efficient to administer. It helps to move the industry ahead from only supporting postal costs to a more flexible footing, where each magazine brand can tailor its editorial and delivery strategies to the needs of Canadian readers, whether it be print, digital subscription, mobile apps, digital tablets, newsstand sales, or other as yet undiscovered platforms.
The new Canada Periodical Fund, or CPF, is an effective new tool that Canada's magazines can use to manage risk and meet world competition in the new and evolving digital environment. Minister Moore and his colleagues have put in place a new program that will serve the needs of Canadian readers and promote Canadian content in the digital age.
The issue, from the point of view of planning for the 2011 federal budget, concerns the financial support. Magazines Canada urges the Government of Canada to maintain its commitment to the Canadian periodical program at a level of $75 million per year for the next five years. This is not a call for increased support. This is the level of funding that has been in place for many years, and it is currently investing in about 925 magazines and community newspapers across Canada.
Over the past year, Minister Moore and the government have taken action to commit multi-year budgets for cultural programs. We applaud this approach. The predictability of these programs is important to planning for magazines, too, particularly as they launch into new ventures to access readers online and through new digital applications.
We are confident that the new program over time, at the same budget, will deliver similar results. It will provide Canadian readers access to Canadian content on multiple digital platforms. It will promote development of digital applications and delivery systems. It will create new jobs and investment in the creative sector. It is helping now to create more Canadian content on multiple digital platforms and opportunities for our writers, designers and photographers to reach beyond traditional audiences at home and abroad.
We ask that you support our recommendation that this new updated program receive a multi-year commitment. We have provided the committee with our pre-budget submission, and we would be pleased to answer any questions.
Thank you, again, for your time today.