Stakeholder engagement

Our stakeholders

The Creative Export Strategy (CES) serves for-profit companies and not-for-profit organizations in the creative industries, including those owned or led by Indigenous peoples and members of equity-deserving communities, such as women, racialized people, people who are part of 2SLGBTQI+ communities, persons with disabilities and official-language minority communities.

We work closely with federal, provincial and municipal government partners who support the international business development goals of the creative industries. We also consult with national creative industries associations to stay informed of export-related industry issues and opportunities.

On this page

• How we engage
• The Creative Exports Advisory Table
  • Current members of the Advisory Table
  • Executive summary of meetings

How we engage

Connecting with, listening to and learning from stakeholders and partners is an important part of shaping the CES so it remains relevant to the needs of Canada’s creative exporters. We take the opportunity to meet with and hear the diverse perspectives of our stakeholders and partners in a variety of ways, including:

• the Creative Exports Advisory Table, made up of creative industries leaders from across Canada representing the sectors supported by the CES
• focused consultations, such as those conducted in 2021-2022 in the lead-up to the renewal of the CES in 2023 (see Stakeholder’s Feeback)
• dialogue with Indigenous peoples and equity-deserving communities, such as through the consultations held in 2023 to develop the CES’s voluntary self-identification questionnaire
• convening an advisory panel of Indigenous creative industry leaders to develop a cultural awareness guide for international buyers looking to do business with Indigenous creative industries in Canada
• at international cultural and /or trade events for the creative industries

The Creative Exports Advisory Table

The Creative Exports Advisory Table (CEAT) was established in 2024 to support and facilitate dialogue and increase stakeholder engagement between the federal government and Canada’s creative industries on export-related topics. The Table meets once or twice a year.

Co-chaired by Canadian Heritage (PCH) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the Table is made up of creative industry leaders representing:

• artistic craft
• audiovisual
• design
• digital and interactive media
• music
• performing arts
• publishing
• visual arts

Members represent regions across Canada and include Indigenous peoples and members of equity-deserving communities.

Current members of the Advisory Table

• Annick Press (on behalf of the Association of Canadian Publishers)
• Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL)
• Association professionnelle des diffuseurs de spectacles (RIDEAU)
• Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM)
• Black Screen Office (BSO)
• Canadian Apparel Federation (CAF)
• Canadian Association for the Performing Arts (CAPACOA)
• Canadian Crafts Federation (CCF)
• Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA)
• Canadian Interactive Alliance
• Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA)
• CINARS
• FACTOR (Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings)
• Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF)
• Indigenous Fashion Arts (IFA)
• Indigenous Screen Office (ISO)
• Livres Canada Books (LCB)
• Magazines Canada
• Mmode
• Music Publishers Canada
• Musicaction
• Simon Bentley Gallery (on behalf of the Art Dealers Association of Canada)
• Toronto Fashion Incubator
• West Baffin Co-Operative (on behalf of the Art Dealers Association of Canada)

Executive summaries of meetings

2023-24

Meeting #1

The first meeting of the Creative Exports Advisory Table was held on March 18, 2024, and focused on the theme of international market priorities. This topic was chosen to help identify and align government and industry export priorities for the current CES mandate (2023-2026). The meeting featured presentations by government officials on:

• export supports for creative industries available through the CES
• Canadian Heritage’s International Market Priority Framework, and the accompanying Regional Strategies and International Engagement Plan for 2023-2026

Following the presentations, participants were separated into two concurrent roundtables, each moderated by a senior government official, to discuss their sector’s international market priorities, as well as opportunities and challenges to exporting to the identified markets.

Key takeaways from the discussion included the following:

• The international market priorities and events of interest to Table members and their organizations are generally aligned with those outlined in Canadian Heritage’s International Market Priority Framework.
• The biggest markets, such as the United States and Europe, have the most well-developed business networks and channels for the creative industries. The Indo-Pacific is a region with high potential where, in general, there is support and interest from the sector to do business.
• Discussions were held on the best way to align government efforts on PCH-led trade missions, in particular, post-mission support to capitalize on opportunities for maximum impacts.

Overall, the presentations and roundtable discussions were an opportunity to set the stage for continued dialogue on trade topics for the creative industries.

2024-25

Meeting #2: to be announced in winter 2025.