Mr. Chair and members of the committee, good afternoon.
Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today. My name is Denise Amyot, and I am the President and Chief Executive Officer of Colleges and Institutes Canada. I am joined by Mark Hanna, of Humber College, the biggest college in the country.
Mark Hanna is here to provide the practical perspective of fair dealing basically on the ground.
First of all, I want to recognize that we are on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
I want to say that we appreciated Mr. Ruimy's remarks of last week when he highlighted the responsibility and role of all stakeholders to contribute to the dialogue during this review. This is a prime example today.
Colleges and Institutes Canada and its members recognize the importance of both creators' and users' rights. This study is an opportunity to build on advances brought forward by Bill C-11, the Copyright Modernization Act, and to further contribute to an innovative economy in Canada by supporting learning, knowledge creation, and strong creative industries.
Colleges and Institutes Canada represents Canada's publicly supported colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics and is an international leader in applied education and innovation. CICan's members offer more than 10,000 different education and training programs to a broad range of one million students comprised of recent secondary school graduates but also adult learners, indigenous learners, new Canadians, international students, and university graduates. Ninety-five per cent of Canadians live within 50 kilometres of a college campus or one of our learning facilities.
In 2012, Bill C-11 and a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada fundamentally changed the copyright landscape. Although fair dealing existed, in fact, for centuries as a right prior to 2012, the inclusion of education as a fair dealing purpose and the Supreme Court's decision confirmed fair dealing as a much broader right than had been applied by the education sector prior.
To help institutions govern fair dealing copying, our associations collaborated with the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada and Universities Canada to develop fair dealing guidelines. Since 2012, almost 90% of our members, excluding those in Quebec covered by Copibec, have adopted the guidelines or implemented new policies to manage copyright compliance.
Colleges and institutes respect copyright and the importance of compliance. Consultations with our members indicate that they engage their staff regularly in copyright-related awareness raising and training. This has not reduced the purchase of materials. Quite the contrary. Over 70% of our members have maintained or increased licensing expenditures since 2012. Statistics Canada reports that expenditures of print and electronic acquisitions for colleges and institutes have increased by 26% since 2012, and sales of educational titles for publishers in Canada rose by 5% between 2014 and 2016.
The provisions of fair dealing drive knowledge creation by providing students and faculty with reasonable access to the content they need. Colleges and institutes offer a broad range of programming and credentials such as upgrading diplomas, trades, degrees, and post-diplomas to a diverse student population, and they need a vast array of learning materials.
Bill C-11 also provided for the educational use of the Internet, which facilitates distance learning and access to education for rural, remote, and northern communities. Our members report that Internet materials are now the most commonly used educational resources, followed by videos, and then textbooks.
The educational world continues to evolve at a rapid pace, and advances in technology are having a profound impact on how our members deliver their programming. Learners expect quick, flexible, 24-7 access to learning materials. They have multiple devices and learn not just in the classroom but from wherever they happen to be. There is a greater use of learning resources created by and for industry, open access publications, open data, sources such as Creative Commons, and e-reserve systems in libraries.
Industry requires nimble training programs that respond quickly to employer and community needs. Colleges and institutes work closely with business and industry to ensure that the curriculum is aligned with marketplace needs and provides students with work-integrated learning and co-op opportunities.
Copyright legislation impacts teaching, learning, and knowledge dissemination. Confirming education as an explicit purpose of fair dealing and making provisions for the educational use of the Internet contribute to the delivery of a 21st-century education, and also support learning in an innovative economy. The current copyright regime is working well for our constituency, and we believe it strikes a good balance that respects the law and jurisprudence.
In its review, we urge the government to ensure that the legislation not only deals with the realities of today but is also flexible enough to address whatever changes might occur in the future. As an important step towards reconciliation, we also recommend consultation with indigenous communities to work towards the protection of indigenous knowledge.
Thank you for the time you are investing in this important topic. Our association and its members are prepared to assist the committee in its work.
My colleague Mr. Hanna and I will gladly answer any questions.
Thank you.