GATINEAU, March 11, 2022

The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced the launch of a new funding initiative to help Canadian booksellers increase their ability to sell books online, in order to strengthen the sustainability of their operations in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic.

The Government of Canada’s new Support for Booksellers component of the Canada Book Fund will invest $32.1 million in bookstores over two years for expenses related to online book sales and to help these bookstores improve their online business models. New funding will also support collective projects that build industry capacity for online Canadian book sales. Support for these projects will be through the existing Support for Organizations component.

The COVID-19 pandemic fuelled a sharp increase in demand for online book sales, resulting in logistical challenges and extra labour, technology and shipping costs. Investments are needed to help Canadian booksellers improve their online business models. This will help them to be more competitive in the digital marketplace and continue to get Canadian books into the hands of readers. Online Canadian book sales benefit the entire book industry, from authors to publishers to booksellers.