About Us

About Us

Background

Founded in 1972, Livres Canada Books is a not-for-profit organization based in Ottawa. In its first 13 years of operation, Livres Canada Books, then known as the Association for the Export of Canadian Books, provided expert advice on book publishing export to a number of federal departments responsible for book publishing. In 1985, Livres Canada Books agreed to take on the responsibility for administering the International Marketing Assistance (IMA) component of the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP), now known as the Canada Book Fund. The two major components of IMA were the Export Marketing Assistance Program (EMAP) and the Foreign Rights Marketing Assistance Program (FRMAP). For 33 years, Livres Canada Books has managed the IMA component of the Canada Book Fund in a transparent, accountable, and fiscally responsible manner, taking the lead on the development and implementation of policies, programs, and services in support of publishers’ book export activities.

Mandate

The mandate of Livres Canada Books is to support Canadian-owned book publishers in their export sales activities, in developing international partnerships, and to assist publishers in improving their overall results through a range of services, including financial support, promotion, research, training, and a collective presence at major international book fairs, and by providing a unique forum for collaboration between English- and French-language publishers in Canada.

Main Activities

Programs and Funding

  • Administers the Foreign Rights Marketing Assistance Program, which provides cost-shared funding for export sales trips and participation in international trade events.
  • Manages a Mentoring Program aimed at the specific needs of publishers taking their first steps in export sales. Its goal is to help eligible publishers evaluate the efforts needed to penetrate foreign markets, develop and implement targeted marketing strategies, and in time increase export sales and become eligible for supplementary assistance through the Canada Book Fund.

Export Expertise and Professional Development

  • Publishes in-depth intelligence about foreign markets, offers professional development through trade missions, webinars and market guides, and works closely with other publishing industry associations to ensure Canadian publishers are strongly positioned to expand into export markets.
  • Informs publishers of continuously evolving technologies and business models as they affect export sales by leveraging digital communications to publish forward-looking research and offers webinars and reports on the opportunities and challenges of publishing in the digital age.

Collective Marketing

  • Organizes the Canada Stand, a turnkey collective exhibition stand aimed at helping publishers maximize their presence at key international book fairs.
  • Develops cooperative initiatives, such as Rights Canada (a collective Canadian rights catalogue) and the Canadian Studies Collection to promote Canadian publishing abroad. Titles in the collective publications are also shared via the organization’s Web database of Canadian titles and authors.

Communications and Information Sharing

  • Publishes a monthly newsletter and posts timely information on its website and blog about export activities and programs.

Governance

Livres Canada Books is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, an experienced and representative group of exporting publishers, knowledgeable in every aspect of book exporting, who provide essential advice and direction to ensure the organization continues to meet the evolving needs of Canadian publishers.

Land Acknowledgement

Livres Canada Books respectfully acknowledges that our offices are located on the traditional, unceded territories of the Algonquin nation.