Canadian Heritage – Business Innovation – Canada Periodical Fund (CPF)

ByMaurice

Description:

The Business Innovation component of the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) provides financial support to eligible small and mid-sized printed magazine and digital periodical publishers.

Comments on Funding:

Funding is up to 75% of eligible expenses to a maximum of $50,000 per periodical, per government fiscal year. For projects spanning two government fiscal years, the total requested amount cannot exceed $75,000.

All funding from governmental sources (federal, provincial, territorial and municipal) cannot exceed 75% of the total eligible project-related costs.

Eligibility:

The applicant must be a publishing firm producing printed paid or request circulation magazines and publishers of digital periodicals. The publishing firm and any affiliated companies must:

  • be in operation throughout the application process and until the completion of the project;
  • be majority owned and controlled by Canadians;
  • be private-sector entities, including corporations, not-for-profit organizations, partnerships and sole proprietorships;
  • have a Business Number (BN)); and
  • have its principal place of business in Canada.

Eligible periodicals:

Print magazine or digital periodical must:

  • be edited, designed, assembled and published in Canada and have completed at least one uninterrupted 12-month publishing cycle before the time of application;
  • be published at the time of application, throughout the application process, and through the completion of an approved project;
  • contain an average of at least 80% Canadian editorial content in the issues published during the reporting period. Ethnocultural periodicals must contain an average of at least 50% Canadian editorial content in the issues published during the reporting period; and
  • contain an average of no more than 70% advertising in all issues published during the reporting period. Advertising content is calculated as a percentage of total content published. Note that advertorial and sponsored content are included in this calculation.

Print magazines must:

  • be printed and appear in consecutively numbered or dated issues published under a common title, at a frequency of between two and 56 issues per year, including special issues;
  • have at least 50% paid or 50% request circulation, or a combination of these equaling 50%. Indigenous, ethnocultural, official-language minority and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer or two-spirited (LGBTQ2) magazines must demonstrate paid or request circulation, but are not required to maintain the 50% threshold;
  • have an average circulation of no less than 250 and of no more than 100,000 copies per issue;
  • paid circulation magazines must:
  • have subscriptions sold at a minimum average subscription price of $12 per year; or at a minimum average subscription price of $1 per copy; and
  • have a total average circulation for all magazine titles published by your organization during the 12-month reporting period that does not exceed 100,000 copies per issue.

Digital-only periodicals must:

  • be available through a valid URL, an app for download, email format, or a third party publishing platform;
  • maintain a regular publishing schedule in which the majority of editorial content changes at least twice during a 12 month period;
  • contain over 50% original editorial content and not syndicated or reproduced from another website, publication or previous issues of the same publication;
  • have articles date-stamped with identified authors;
  • maintain one of the following types of verifiable circulation over six months:
  • paid subscription service: priority will be given to periodicals that maintain an average of at least 250 subscribers;
  • email-based service: priority will be given to periodicals that maintain an average of at least 1,000 registered email recipients;
  • open access-service: priority will be given to periodicals that maintain an average of at least 2,500 unique monthly visitors;
  • maintain an editorial function where the editor is named;
  •  regularly present written editorial content from more than one person;
  • generate revenues (e.g. subscription revenues, advertising sales, etc.);
  • present a clearly displayed masthead or contact page that includes, at minimum, the names of the publisher and editor in addition to the postal address for the publication; and
  • have a total revenue of less than $500,000 for the publication

Applications Steps:

Applicants must:

4

submit their application at least eight (8) weeks before the planned project start date.

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    We encourage you to submit your application package electronically, at the following email address: pch.fondsdesperiodiquescanada-canadaperiodicalfund.pch@canada.ca. You can also mail, courier or hand-deliver your complete application package to the headquarters of the Department of Canadian Heritage. Your application must be postmarked no later than the published deadline to be considered.

    Documentation Needed:

    Applicants must submit a complete application package, including the signed Application Form and the following supporting documents:

    1. proof of legal status (for a first time applicant or incorporated in the year if applicable),
    2. research that supports project activities,
    3. detailed quotes and résumés (e.g. from consultants to substantiate activities and projected costs),
    4. written confirmation of in-kind contributions to the project and other sources of funding, if applicable,
    5. Not-for-profit applicants must provide a resolution from the organization’s board of directors supporting the project, and identifying signing authority.
    6. other specific document as requested according to periodical type (print magazines, digital periodicals).

    Print magazines:

    1. a copy of the latest edition of the printed magazine; and
    2. a circulation report or printing invoices that support the reported circulation information for the declared reporting period. We accept reports from the following audit circulation boards:
    • Canadian Circulations Audit Board, a division of BPA Worldwide;
    • Alliance for Audited Media; and
    • Canadian Media Circulation Audit.

    Digital periodicals:

    1. must be made fully accessible to us in order to determine eligibility;
    2. must provide a clear explanation of the method used to determine the percentage of Canadian content reported in the application form;
    3. analytics report – For web projects, we require an analytics report at the time of application and upon completion of the project. The report should capture the six-month period before the application date;
    4. must submit documents to support circulation levels declared in the application form (declaration, reports from web auditing tools/an accepted audit circulation board/from service providers).

    Other Things to Note:

    Applications for projects starting in the current fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) will be accepted on an ongoing basis until September 15.

    About the author

    Maurice

    Maurice (Moe) Muise learned the ins-and-outs of government while an employee of the Government of Canada in Ottawa for 10 years. His current focus is helping small businesses in Ontario to identify and maximize government grants to grow their business. Click here to learn more about Moe’s background and how he can help your business.

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