The Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE) is today releasing its strategic document Committing to Canadian Cultural Sovereignty. This text brings together the priority issues on which Canada’s cultural sector is united and outlines the path toward ambitious decisions from the federal government.

This document first identifies six key issues on which the government must not back down, including the general cultural exemption in the review of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, and short-term expectations regarding funding.It also sets out five specific requests related generative artificial intelligence, as well as two measures at no cost to government that are nonetheless essential to the viability of the music and book sectors.

The CDCE underscores that culture is a major economic and social pillar: in 2023, the sector generated $63.2 billion in value added and employed 669,600 people.

“Canadian culture is at a turning point. Its vitality and sustainability now depend on clear and ambitious choices from the federal government.”

—Bill Skolnik, copresident of the CDCE and representative of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC).

“The issues we are presenting this week are not abstract: they directly concern Canada’s ability to protect its cultural sovereignty in a context of globalization and rapid technological change. At the same time, in this period of great uncertainty, culture plays a unifying role here at home while projecting to the world the values that define Canada.”
— Hélène Messier, copresident of the CDCE and  CEO of l’Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM).

This week, the CDCE is on the ground in Ottawa to advance these priorities with decision-makers. Among other activities, it is hosting a reception on October 8, and appeared on Monday before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage as part of its study on the impact of artificial intelligence on creative industries.