Québec City, May 27, 2024 – The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Mathieu Lacombe, Minister of Culture and Communications, Minister responsible for Youth and Minister responsible for the Outaouais region, as well as Martine Biron, Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie and Minister responsible for the Status of Women, are proud to launch the activities for the first meeting of the UNESCO Group of Experts on the diversity of cultural expression in the digital environment.

This meeting of experts from around the world will be held in Québec City from May 28 to 30, 2024. It will be preceded on May 27 by a day of conferences for Canadian, Quebec and international cultural workers. These conferences will be organized by the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE), with the collaboration of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD).

Over the past few months, Canada and the government of Quebec have supported the creation of this international group of 18 independent experts within UNESCO. Until the 18th session of the Intergovernmental Committee in February 2025, this group will conduct a reflection and make recommendations to the Parties to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (“2005 Convention”) on four themes: the linguistic diversity of cultural content online, the discoverability of local and national cultural content online, the greater transparency of digital platforms, and the impact of artificial intelligence on cultural and creative industries.

As co-organizers of the UNESCO Group of Experts meeting, Canada and Quebec will use this work on the 2005 Convention to advance the priorities of Canadian and Quebec artists, organizations and cultural and creative industries, as they relate to the implementation of this Convention in the digital environment. The 2005 Convention, which now has 153 signatories, is an essential instrument for ensuring the diversity of cultural expressions in all environments, including the digital environment.

The May 27 conferences, organized by the CDCE, with the collaboration of the IFCCD, will be held under the theme Promoting our cultures in the digital age – Conversations among cultural workers from here and abroad. These conferences will focus on the priority themes listed in UNESCO’s mandate to this group of international experts. The Canadian Commission for UNESCO is also involved in the activity and will present an Indigenous cultural segment as part of the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

Cultural workers from Quebec and Canada are invited to visit the CDCE website for program information on the May 27 conferences.