Summary of the Evaluation of the Canada Periodical Fund 2015-16 to 2019-20

Evaluation Services Directorate
January 9, 2022

List of tables

Table 1: number of titles and projects funded per CPF component
Table 2: number of funded titles from target groups from 2015-16 to 2019-20

Alternate format

Summary of the Evaluation of the Canada Periodical Fund 2015-16 to 2019-20 [PDF version - 2 MB]

List of acronyms and abbreviations

ATP: Aid to Publishers
BI: Business Innovation
CI: Collective Initiatives
CPF: Canada Periodical Fund
LGBTQ2S: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two-Spirit
OLMC: Official Language Minority Communities

Overview

The Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) provides financial assistance to Canadian print magazines, print community newspapers and digital periodicals, to enable them to overcome market disadvantages and continue to provide Canadian readers with the content they choose to read.

CPF provides funding and other supports through three program components:

Aid to Publishers (ATP) to support publishing activities, such as distribution, content creation, online activities and business development
Business Innovation (BI) to support business development and innovation projects of Canadian print and digital magazines
Collective Initiatives (CI) to increase the overall sustainability of the Canadian paid print and digital magazines and community newspaper industries

Evaluation Findings

Relevance

CPF provides critical financial support to the periodical industry in Canada.

Modernization of the CPF is underway to:

Better align with the new industry realities
Prioritize the production of quality Canadian editorial and journalistic content, regardless of platform
Improve access to content for audiences living in remote areas
Enhance the efficiency of the funding allocation process

Through a stable funding of approximately $75M per year, the program addressed important needs and challenges that include:

Decreases in advertising revenue
Difficulty for magazine publishers to maintain both print and digital operations
Challenges in monetizing digital content
Increased competition with other industries and new competitors

Design and delivery

CPF benefited from well-established program delivery structure.

Its robust performance measurement strategy provided detailed information on program reach.

However,

an online application process was still waiting implementation, and
the application intake cycle created administrative resource challenges.

Program effectiveness

Over the 5-year period, CPF funded 3,741 titles and 464 projects.

Table 1: number of titles and projects funded per CPF component
Year	Aid to publishers	Business Innovation	Collective Initiatives
2015-16	788	51	14
2016-17	747	66	19
2017-18	749	96	21
2018-19	728	96	17
2019-20	729	69	15

ATP was successful in providing meaningful support to a number of magazines and community newspapers.

BI and CI provided complementary support, including an increasing level of participation from digital periodicals.

In 2019-20, ATP funded periodicals were published in:

67% English
20% French
10% Other languages
3% English and French (bilingual)

Special measures to improve ATP access are in place for periodicals that target Official Language Minority Communities (OLMC), Indigenous. Ethnocultural and LGBTQ2S readers.

Table 2: number of funded titles from target groups from 2015-16 to 2019-20
Year	Ethnocultural	OLMC	Indigenous	LGBTQ2S
2015-16	52	29	14	1
2016-17	44	29	16	1
2017-18	53	31	17	1
2018-19	56	24	16	1
2019-20	73	22	17	1

Recommendations

The evaluation recommends that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Cultural Affairs Sector:

Explore options and implement new approaches within the BI component to maximize the opportunities for recipients to innovate in changing market conditions.
Undertake the completion of a gender-based analysis to further ensure the CPF program is aligned with the emerging needs and preferences of diverse groups.

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Date modified:: 2022-05-06

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