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The federal government has launched a consultation process on Canadian Content in a Digital World.

To see the Consultation Paper and the results of the pre-consultation questionnaire which went out in the spring, go to www.canadiancontentconsultations.ca/Background-Documents.

The reach of the consultations is broad across the sector, including information and entertainment content as presented in television, radio, film, digital media and platforms, video games, music, books, newspapers and magazines.

The paper clarifies a shift in philosophy with regard to support for the cultural sector:

• from protecting Canadian culture to promoting and supporting Canadian culture;
• from growing the domestic market to capturing a greater share of global markets;
• from subsidizing Canadian content to investing in Canadian talent and incentivizing risk-taking;
• from platform-specific to platform-agnostic;
• from seeing culture primarily as a social phenomenon to embracing culture's unrealized potential as a driver of economic growth.

Certainly a very important lens through which the challenges and opportunities of the digital world can be viewed must be that of skills training and professional development. Although this piece of the puzzle did not find itself among the priorities of the respondents to the pre-consultation survey, it is an essential part of a cultural strategy.

We encourage CHRC members across the sector to highlight training and professional development as key aspects of success in ensuring good quality Canadian content in a digital world - whether they be digital skills relating to creation, production, marketing, management or administration.

Here are ways to take part in these very important consultations:

• through the www.canadiancontentconsultations.ca/home Web portal and social media using the hashtag #DigiCanCon;
• by leading in-person discussions in their communities using the consultation kit available online http://www.canadiancontentconsultations.ca/host-your-own-event;
• and by registering for live social media events on https://business.facebook.com/events/191669814598936/ October 12, 2016, https://business.facebook.com/events/1857877961108212/ October 28, 2016; and https://business.facebook.com/events/1119219568162391/ November 7, 2016.

Canadians have until November 25 to provide their input.