The Publications Assistance Program (PAP) is entering the second year of its three-year re-application process for all participating publications. The administrators of PAP, which is part of the Canadian Department of Heritage, are pleased with the Canadian Community Newspapers Association and the help they have provided to make overseeing the program easier.
ÔÇ£PAP has had a very positive experience in dealing with the community newspaper clientsÔÇöour PAP officers have a very heavy workload, over 1200 titles to be reviewed annually, and we appreciate the cooperation,ÔÇØ said head of program administration Margaret Thibault.
This is good news for the 380 community newspapers that are part of the program. Participants will be notified by mail so that they can reapply for funding. Forms will be send October 25, 2004, (so long as a labour dispute is settled) and they must be completed and returned by December 3, 2004.
Participants can look forward to easier-to-complete forms. Any pre-printed information will be more up-to-date than in the past, and there is a special form that can be downloaded for change of ownership, which will allow PAP officials to determine the level of Canadian ownership.
Since confederation, Canada has been subsidizing the postage costs of newspapers, to provide Canadians with a broad access to media. The Publications Assistance Program carries on that tradition by defraying the postage costs of over 1,200 community newspapers and magazines across Canada. To find out more about the programÔÇöand recent changesÔÇöplease visit http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/pap.