431-00264 (Culture and heritage)

The Government would like to thank the petitioners for expressing their concerns regarding the remuneration of artists in the music industry.

As you may be aware, a statutory review of the Copyright Act (Act) was launched in March 2018, under the leadership of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (INDU). To support the review, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage (CHPC) conducted a study on remuneration models for artists and creative industries. Together, these committees heard an important number of perspectives on how the Act is working for Canadians, and issued reports that made over 50 recommendations regarding the Canadian copyright framework.

Many issues raised in the context of the review relate closely to the requests made by the petitioners. For example, in its report on the review, CHPC recommended that music streaming services be regulated like other Canadian music services, and that tariffs for online music services be reviewed by the Copyright Board to ensure royalty payments provide fair compensation for artists. Meanwhile, INDU recommended that the Government “study the private copying regimes in place in other countries, with a view to identifying the digital environment, the distribution of royalties flowing from the private copying levy, and the impact on consumers on which a private copying levy applies, including the impact of the private copying regime on the retail prices of the different types of digital device to which they apply.”

In light of the recommendations of the review, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, were tasked in their December 2019 mandate letters with reviewing the Act. As such, Government officials have been studying the committees’ recommendations with a view to ensuring that Canada has a healthy and transparent copyright framework, where creators and innovators alike can reap the full rewards of their hard work and investments, and Canadians can easily and confidently access a wide variety of content.

Regarding the Copyright Board’s role in rights holder and creator remuneration, the Government has taken significant action to address the longstanding issue of decision-making delays in Board proceedings, including a 30 percent increase in the Board’s annual funding, the appointment of a new Vice-Chair and additional Board members, and extensive amendments to the Board’s legislative framework. The immediate objective of these new measures is to facilitate faster decision-making, which in turn is expected to facilitate rights holder and creator remuneration while also minimizing costs of such persons or their representative bodies in Board proceedings, among other benefits.

Department of Finance Canada - Part 4

The Government is committed to ensuring that companies in all sectors, including digital enterprises, pay their fair share in respect of their activity in Canada.  To this end, Canada has been actively working with our international partners to develop a harmonized approach. Canada and the other members of the OECD-led

Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, with the support of the G20, have been engaged in an extensive policy development process, seeking multilateral agreement on revisions to the international tax framework to account for the challenges of digitalization.

With respect to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), goods and services purchased by Canadians over the internet for use in Canada, including streaming services, are generally subject to tax.  Canadian companies that sell goods and services over the internet to Canadians are generally required to register, collect, and remit the GST on their sales.  Foreign companies that have no physical presence in Canada are generally not required to register and collect the GST on their internet sales to Canadians.  Where physical goods are purchased online from a non-resident company that is not registered for the GST, the applicable GST on those goods would generally be collected by the Canada Border Services Agency at the time the goods are imported into Canada. 

The Government is committed to ensuring that international digital companies whose products are consumed in Canada collect and remit the same level of tax as Canadian digital companies.