237. Canada is pleased to co-sponsor today's discussion on "IP Improving Lives", as part of the three-part theme "The Societal Value of IP in the New Economy." We would like to thank Australia for drafting the discussion paper (IP/C/W/642) as a basis for today's agenda item. We would also like to thank the co-sponsors for developing the discussion under this theme, and those Members that have shared their experiences and insights on this issue so far.
238. As touched upon on in the discussion paper, emerging technologies are increasingly reshaping how we interact and engage with our environments, with implications for education and learning, labour productivity, as well as how our businesses, cities, and markets are organized. The scale and scope of emerging technologies – such as advances in information and communications technology (ICT), 3D printing, artificial intelligence (AI) learning, and automation – will have significant impacts on how we work, interact, live, and govern, as well as overall quality of life. Given the pace of technological change, increasing attention is being paid to the accessibility and adoption of new technologies, to ensure that they meet their potential for improving livelihoods for a diverse community of users. In this regard, it is important to ensure that the IP system is understood and accessible in order to serve its purpose, and support the commercialization of innovation and creation from a wide range of groups.
239. With this in mind, Canada would like to note the recent announcement of our national IP Strategy. Canada's IP Strategy was launched on April 26, 2018, and contains a mix of initiatives aimed at increasing businesses' ability to use the IP system to be more competitive and successful. These initiatives include legislative changes, IP literacy and advice, and tools to support growth. Canada would be pleased to present on these initiatives in greater detail at TRIPS Council meetings in the coming months, including legislative changes under the IP Strategy, but for now, would like to highlight a few initiatives aimed at increasing IP education and aware-ness, as well as the involvement of a broad range of groups in the IP system. In particular, under Canada's Budget 2018, CAD$2 million will be provided to Statistics Canada over three years to conduct an IP awareness and use survey to help identify how Canadians understand and use IP, including groups that have traditionally been less likely to use IP, such as women and indigenous entrepreneurs. As well, Canada's Budget 2018 also proposes to invest CAD$1 million over five years to enable representatives of Canada's Indigenous Peoples to participate in discussions at the WIPO IGC.
240. In addition, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is developing initiatives through its IP Education and Awareness Programme to ensure that businesses have a sound understanding of IP and can better utilize and leverage their IP assets as part of their business and growth strategies. This includes CIPO's IP for Business and IP Academy programmes, which will deliver seminars and webinars, IP training, and produce a suite of online information products and tools, as well as guides for those seeking IP in export markets. This also includes CIPO's IP Hub, which will deliver and support a suite of networked services, including referral, consultation and support to advisory services.
241. Another way that Canada has sought to make the IP system more accessible for a wider range of groups is by way of recent reforms to the Copyright Act in respect of persons with perceptual disabilities, under the 2016 Bill C-11 (An Act to amend the Copyright Act (access to copyrighted works or other subject matter for persons with perceptual disabilities). These reforms included amendments to permit the making of large-print books, reduced restrictions on exporting accessible materials, safeguards to protect the commercial market for materials in accessible formats, and exceptions relating to the circumvention of technological protection measures (or TPMs). As was noted when Canada notified these amendments to TRIPS Council (under document IP/N/1/CAN/17), these reforms enabled Canada to accede to the WIPO Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled on June 30, 2016, with the treaty subsequently coming into force on 30 September 2016.
242. As these examples and initiatives articulate, a key avenue to providing that innovation and IP systems improve livelihoods is in ensuring that those that stand to benefit from these systems are involved at all stages of the process, "from the ground up" so to speak. IP education and awareness is one such avenue for ensuring that a wider range of previously under-represented groups are involved in the IP system, with a view to facilitating more diverse innovations and creations that may benefit a wider range of communities. As Canada embarks on a national IP Strategy aimed at helping all Canadians harness IP, we are interested in hearing the views and experiences of other Members, with regard to how IP and innovation systems can reach and involve a broader range of groups, for the benefit of all. We would again like to thank other Members for the discussion today, and look forward to engaging further on this issue.
