This report, presented to Global Affairs Canada as part of a consultation on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), outlines the concerns and recommendations of the CDCE regarding the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions within the framework of this agreement.

Here, we recall the comments and proposals initially submitted in 2019 during the Consultations of Canadians on potential accessions to the CPTPP, while highlighting significant developments since then, including the adoption of the Online Streaming Act in April 2023 and the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence. These developments further strengthen the arguments and requests we made in 2019.

We emphasize the importance of protecting culture in e-commerce and invite the Canadian government to seize every opportunity to enhance this protection in the CPTPP. The current agreement, like the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), has introduced reservations in certain chapters rather than a comprehensive exemption, which remains a source of disappointment and concern for the cultural community.

This intervention aims to reiterate Canada’s commitments to protecting the diversity of cultural expressions, to emphasize our concerns from 2019, to identify the persistent flaws in the CPTPP, and to present our recommendations.

Read the full report