New Canada Periodical Fund to be unveiled Tuesday

The much-anticipated merger of the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) and the Canadian Magazine Fund (CMF) will be unveiled on Tuesday by Minister of Canadian Heritage James Moore. Word is that invitations have gone out to key players in the industry so they can be in Ottawa Montreal for the announcement. The new program is expected to be launched starting April 1, 2010.

The anticipation of the new CPF hasn't been eager, mind you, since many publishers fear that the merged program may be somewhat less than the sum of its parts.) There has been vigorous lobbying by industry associations to ensure that the PAP in particular will be preserved. That seems to be assured, at least in the short term.

There is concern in some quarters that the program will be diluted by granting the same amount of money to a wider pool of applicants (it already goes to magazines and community newspapers). And Heritage has already put out a request for proposal for consulting on giving support to digital magazines and newspapers. The recent budget replaced $15 million that was being withdrawn from PAP by Canada Post, but there was no suggestion of increased funding over all.

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