Understanding creative economy policies in the Canadian context: a case study of “Creative Canada”

This paper examines how the discourse of creative industries is interpreted in the Canadian context with a case study of the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Creative Canada policy framework. Based on textual analysis of policy documents from both federal and provincial governments, it analyzes the underlying dynamics of Creative Canada with pre-existing dialogues of Canadian cultural policies. The findings of this research indicate that this policy masterplan reinterprets traditional mandates of Canadian cultural policies, such as safeguarding the nation's cultural sovereignty and developing a distinctive Canadian value with market mechanisms. While Creative Canada is a major turning point in policymaking towards the commodification of culture and creativity, its schemes of valuing culture and the arts remain subject to the complexity of the nation’s cultural politics that also shapes the market.