318.   Canada is pleased to co-sponsor the present meeting's "IP and innovation" theme of "Innovative approaches to assisting in branding and promotion and the creative industries", and the accompanying communication on this topic. We would like to thank Japan in particular for drafting the paper for discussion, under document IP/C/W/653. We would also like to thank the co-sponsors of this discussion, and all Members that have shared their national experiences and insights so far. 319.   Canada would first like to take this opportunity to present on a recent initiative involving Canada's creative industries, the "Creative Export Strategy". 320.   Canada's creative industries are diverse and world class. In 2017, arts, culture and heritage contributed CAD 53.1 billion (or roughly USD 39.52 billion) to the Canadian economy and accounted for more than 665,000 jobs in sectors such as film and video, broadcasting, music, publishing, archives, performing arts, heritage institutions, festivals and celebrations. The important contributions made by these sectors plays an important role in enhancing our country's prosperity and in demonstrating a positive image of Canada on the international stage. 321.   Canada firmly believes that a strong Canada brand that resonates internationally contributes to the innovation and commercialization of our creative sector. For this reason, in June 2018, the Government of Canada launched the Creative Export Strategy, a five-year multifaceted initiative focused on maximizing the export potential of Canadian creative industries and promoting Canadian talent abroad. The investment of CAD 125 million (or roughly USD 93 million) over five-year demonstrates Canada's commitment to ensuring that our creative industries have strong presence in international markets. 322.   The Strategy is organized around three pillars: 1) boosting export funding in existing programmes administered by the Department of Canadian Heritage and Telefilm Canada, a Crown corporation that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage; 2) strengthening the presence of Canadian creative industries abroad by offering direct services to companies through Global Affairs Canada's Trade Commissioner Service; and 3) establishing a new funding programme, and building relationships through trade missions and participation in key international events. 323.   The new funding programme, called Creative Export Canada, provides financial support for projects from Canadian entities, including the private sector, that foster innovation and discoverability of Canadian content abroad. One of the programme's first recipients received funding to create an immersive exhibition that will showcase and amplify the international reach of Canada's creative industries through virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality content. The results of this programme could provide valuable information on how private-public sectors can collaborate to encourage innovation. 324.   As part of the Creative Export Strategy, the Government of Canada is also supporting Canada's participation as the Guest of Honor Country at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2020. Canada's participation in this international event, a high profile, high visibility global initiative, allows Canada to showcase Canadian cultural content to the world. A key principle guiding our participation to this event is innovation in creative industries. 325.   We know that some of the key drivers of favourability toward Canada in the global marketplace are its contribution to innovation, its cutting-edge ideas in the creative sector and Canadian-made products. Fostering innovation and promoting the Canada brand internationally through the incredible artistic and imaginative work of our creators is at the cornerstone of the Creative Export Strategy. 326.   Turning to the issue of branding, we would also like to take the opportunity to present on two Canadian branding initiatives, "EduCanada" and the "Canada Brand". 327.   In 2016, Canada unveiled its new education brand – the EduCanada brand – as part of Canada's efforts to attract more international students to Canadian schools. The EduCanada brand provides a single, strong and coherent message to promote Canada's educational offerings. The EduCanada logo has been displayed prominently at Canada's Trade Commissioner Service education promotion events, and on branding materials produced by Global Affairs Canada, as well as Canada's provinces and territories, universities, colleges, Collèges d'enseignment général et professionnel (or CEGEPs), language schools, and kindergarten-to-grade 12 institutions. Additionally, to support the effectiveness of the brand, Canada has registered the EduCanada logo as a trademark, both domestically and abroad. 328.   As well, in 2006, the "Canada Brand" was introduced as part of Canada's Food and Agriculture Strategy to raise the international profile of Canadian food and agriculture products and help motivate buyers to source from Canada. The introduction of the Canada Brand was based on buyer and consumer research conducted in several key markets, which consistently displayed Canada's reputation abroad. However, this research also revealed that potential customers in international markets had little knowledge about Canadian food and agriculture products. 329.   Further to this research, work began on the Canada Brand in 2004, and involved cooperative efforts among Canada's federal, provincial and territorial governments, and industry representatives. The Canada Brand strategy is designed to communicate a specific set of key attributes that the Canadian food and agriculture sector can ideally be known for, such as quality; commitment to food safety and environmental sustainability; and costumer focus. The brand also takes a "brand architecture" approach, which layers the attributes at a pan-Canadian food and agriculture sector level. For instance, Canada's environment is leveraged in sector messaging. 330.   The Canada Brand was officially launched in 2006, with an application process to enrol Members. Through the Canada Brand, the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada provides a bank of tools, free of charge, to support industry marketing activities. These include graphics and logos that can be used in company or association marketing materials or on labels. The Canada Brand is aimed at Canadian companies, industry associations, federal, provincial, and territorial governments, academia, or other entities that have a role to play in the marketing and promotion of Canadian food and agriculture products. In support of licensing the brand to Canadian entities that have a role in producing, promoting or supporting Canadian food and agriculture products, Canada obtained protection for the Canada Brand logo under Canada's Trade-marks Act. 331.   To conclude, Canada would like to thank the co-sponsors for the discussion on the important issue of innovative approaches to assisting in branding, promotion and the creative industries. We would like to once again thank all Members for sharing their insights, and for the opportunity to present on Canada's national experiences.