Definitions*

Aboriginal magazine
See definition of Types of magazines.

Administration expenses
All costs not elsewhere captured, including corporate overhead costs, occupancy costs, furniture and equipment depreciation, etc.

Advertising content
Paid pages or fractions of pages (including contra or in kind—see definition) of a magazine that are designed to convince people to buy products or services from particular suppliers (manufacturer, distributor, or agent) including advertorial material that is specifically designed to resemble editorial content. Charitable, public service and house ads are excluded and are not considered part of the calculation of the magazine’s advertising content.

Advertorial
A publication considered to be of advertising nature if it promotes or presents the interests, opinions, services or products of an advertiser (manufacturer, distributor or agent) in a similar style, format and layout of an editorial or journalistic report. The purpose of an advertorial is to gain monetary value by selling an opinion, service or product to its reader or consumer. For the purposes of the CMF, the editorial content of an advertorial is considered advertising.

Advertising expenses
All costs relating to the sale of advertising including, but not limited to, salaries, commissions, travel, telephone/fax, and promotional materials.

Advertising revenues
Net advertising revenues (gross revenues less agency commissions and cash discounts).

Affiliated companies
For the purposes of the CMF, companies will be considered affiliated if:

1. one or more employees, officers or directors of another company, in the course of their mandate, control the management and/or policies of another company;
   
   
2. the publications are owned and controlled by the same company; and
   
   
3. the company owns and controls at least 51% of the voting shares or assets of the other companies.

Alternative newsweeklies
Published in a tabloid format focusing primarily on local news and coverage containing primarily local advertising, and available free of charge in publicly accessible places.

Ancillary product expenses
All costs related to the creation, operation, sale, and distribution of all ancillary products and services.

Ancillary product revenues
Gross revenues from all ancillary products and services (e.g. book sales, consumer/trade shows, conferences, radio/TV productions, etc.).

Association magazine
A magazine published for or by an association. Please see Part I, section 4 d) concerning ineligible association magazines.

Auditor’s report
See definition of Financial statements.

Basic listing
A simple listing of information, with no added content whatsoever. Examples would include stock listings, sports scores, sports rankings (e.g. the top twenty skiers in the world), television listings (show x is on at time y), etc.

Any publication which is made up of more than 50% basic listings is to be considered primarily a listing for the purposes of the CMF, and would thus be ineligible under program criteria.

Please also see definition of Enhanced listing.

Benefits (eligible editorial expense)
The employer portion (net of payroll deductions from Canadian or permanent resident employees) relating to:

1. statutory benefits such as the Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan, Employment Insurance and provincial health plans where applicable; and
2. non-statutory benefits such as group insurance coverage for medical, dental, disability, life insurance, and other items.

Business, professional, or trade magazine
See definition of Types of magazines.

Canadian editorial content
Editorial content (text, photographs, graphics, illustrations) authored or translated by a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Canadian editorial content adapted or condensed by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and derived from content created by a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident will be considered Canadian editorial content for the purposes of the CMF.

Canadian ownership and control
An eligible magazine must be owned and controlled by a Canadian. For the purposes of the CMF, “Canadian” means:

1. a Canadian citizen;
2. a permanent resident within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;
3. a Canadian corporation as defined in the Applicant’s Guide;
4. a partnership, trust or joint venture in which a person or any combination of persons referred to in a), b) or c), beneficially owns and controls, directly or indirectly, interests representing in value at least 51% of the total value of the assets of the partnership, trust or joint venture, as the case may be, and of which the president or other presiding officer, and more than half of the directors or other similar officers are persons referred to in a) or b) above; or
5. a not-for-profit organization in which at least 51% of its members and directors are persons referred to in a) or b) above.

“Canadian corporation” means:

1. a corporation that is incorporated under the laws of Canada, a province or a territory;
2. a corporation whose principal place of business is in Canada;
3. a corporation whose president or other presiding officer, and more than half of the directors or other similar officers are Canadian citizens or permanent residents within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;
4. a corporation, in the case of a corporation with share capital, of which Canadians beneficially own and control, other than by way of shares held only as security, directly or indirectly, in the aggregate at least 51% of all the issued and outstanding voting shares representing more than half of the votes; and
5. a corporation, in the case of a corporation without share capital, of which Canadians beneficially own and control, directly or indirectly, interests representing in value at least 51% of the total value of the assets.

For the purposes of the CMF a person who is controlled in any manner by a person or entity that is not a Canadian that results in control in fact, whether directly through the ownership of securities or indirectly through a trust, an agreement, an arrangement or otherwise, is deemed not to be a Canadian.

Circulation (average)
Number of copies of a magazine distributed per issue via various distribution methods (e.g. newsstands, mail, etc.).

Circulation (controlled)
A magazine distributed on a regular basis to consumers selected by the publishing firm. It is free of charge and in general, audited.

Circulation (paid)
A magazine’s total copies sold over a 12-month publishing cycle through paid subscriptions, single copy sales and newsstand sales.

Circulation (total)
Number of copies of a magazine distributed over a 12-month publishing cycle via various distribution methods (e.g. newsstands, mail, etc.).

Circulation expenses
All costs relating to the production and maintenance of a circulation list including, but not limited to, subscription or controlled circulation promotions/mailings, telemarketing, data entry, salaries, and contract services.

Contra and in-kind ads
Refers to ads exchanged between organizations and/or publishing firms without a monetary transaction.

Contra and in-kind revenues
Refers to revenues exchanged between organizations and/or publishing firms without a monetary transaction.

Contribution agreement
A contribution agreement is an undertaking between a donor department and a prospective recipient of a contribution which describes the obligations of each.

Design and assembly (eligible editorial expense)
Costs associated with the creative selection of typefaces and graphic elements by a Canadian or permanent resident; the process of marrying the selected text and graphics into visually pleasing page format in a medium ready for production. Does not include pre-press costs such as proofs, digital files, films, plates, etc.

Distribution expenses
Magazine postage costs, newsstand shipping and promotion costs, and other forms of magazine distribution costs.

Edited in Canada
The commissioning of editorial material and artwork; directing writers, illustrators, and photographers regarding the final form of the material; as well as laying out, copy editing and proofreading, and otherwise preparing the contents for printing; must be done in Canada.

Editor / Editor in chief
The individual in charge of implementing the editorial policy and responsible for the editorial content of a magazine.

Editorial activities (eligible editorial expense)
Costs covering all creation activities leading up to production of a work created by a Canadian or a permanent resident, including writing, design and assembly, editing, illustrating, photography, and translation. Production activities such as scanning, colour separation, printing and binding are not considered editorial activities.

Editorial content
The space in a magazine, excluding advertising and non-revenue pages, which consists of text, photographs, graphics, and illustrations.

Editorial expenses
All costs relating to the generation of editorial pages including, but not limited to, editors’ and writers’ salaries, freelance fees, photography, page design and assembly, travel, telephone and fax.

Enhanced listing
Unlike basic listings, enhanced listings will include explanatory text (e.g. product descriptions, restaurant descriptions, a program description in a TV guide). Despite the fact that editorial work is involved in selecting and preparing such enhanced listings, they are not considered original editorial content for the purposes of the CMF, as they do not add analysis, opinion or other value-added material.

However, in recognition of the fact that additional editorial work is required, the threshold for being called primarily a listing is different for enhanced listings. Any publication which contains more than 66% enhanced listings will be called primarily a listing and will not be eligible.

Please also see definition of Basic listing.

Entity

1. a Canadian citizen;
2. a permanent resident within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;
3. a Canadian corporation as defined in the Applicant's Guide;
4. a partnership, trust or joint venture in which a person or any combination of persons referred to in a), b) or c), benefically owns and controls, directly or indirectly, interests representing in value at least 51% of the total value of the assets of the partnership, trust or joint venture, as the case may be, and of which the president or the other presiding officer, and more than half of the directors or other similar officers are persons referred to in a) or b) above;
5. a not-for-profit organization in which at least 51% of its members and directors are persons referred to in a) or b) above.

Ethnocultural magazine
See definition of Types of magazines.

Farm magazine
See definition of Types of magazines.

Financial statements
The following are definitions of the different engagement levels acceptable to the CMF for financial statements. A notice to reader or draft versions of financial statements are not acceptable.

Auditor’s report
The certified accountant has performed auditing/verification activities in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. An auditor’s report, without any qualifications or reservations, will generally include three paragraphs:

• An introductory paragraph identifying what statements have been audited, that the financial statements are the responsibility of the entity's management and that it is the auditor's responsibility to express an opinion on the financial statements based on the results of the audit.
• A scope paragraph indicating that the audit was conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards that require planning and execution of auditing activities to provide reasonable assurance that the statements are free from material misstatements and the nature of audit activities performed.
• An opinion paragraph stating whether the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows of the entity in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

Review engagement report
Reviews are distinguishable from audits in that the scope of a review is less than that of an audit; therefore, the level of assurance provided to the reader of the financial statements is lower. A review engagement report will generally include three paragraphs:

• An introductory paragraph identifying what statements have been reviewed, that the review was conducted in accordance with generally accepted standards for review engagements consisting primarily of enquiry, analytical procedures, and discussion related to information provided to the certified accountant by the entity.
• A statement that a review does not constitute, and that the certified accountant is not expressing, an audit opinion on the financial statements.
• A conclusion indicating whether anything has come to the certified accountant’s attention that causes the accountant to believe that the information being reported on is not, in all material respects, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

Financial year
Refers to the publishing firm’s financial year consisting of an accounting period of twelve (12) consecutive months.

Fiscal year
Refers to the federal government fiscal year which starts on April 1 of a given year and ends on March 31 of the following year.

Foreign editorial content
Editorial content is considered non-Canadian if the author of the text, photograph, graphic or illustration is non-Canadian or if the authorship cannot be established. For example, texts and images obtained from graphics sites or CDs where authors are often unknown or unidentified are considered, for the purposes of the CMF, non-Canadian editorial content and must be treated as such in the page count.

Freelance costs (eligible editorial expense)
Costs charged by a Canadian or a permanent resident and independent organizations that are not employed by the publishing firm but provide the following editorial related services on a contract basis:

• writing
• editing
• fact checking (verification of data)
• photography (including styling, models, location costs, etc.)
• translation
• illustration
• design and assembly

Eligible costs will include fees for services, reasonable travel and accommodation expenses, materials and supplies (equipment is excluded). Example of materials and supplies are:

• photography—the photographer may incur and charge costs to purchase and develop film.
• styling—a freelancer may incur and charge costs to engage the services of models and rent appropriate premises.

Full-time equivalent (FTE)
Any position which requires more than 30 hours a week to fulfill (see definition of Staff). Full-time equivalents, or FTEs, can also be used to express the amount of work required to fulfill a function. For example, a typesetting job for a magazine which would require one person to work full time on it during the week, and another person to spend half his or her work time on it during the week, could be expressed as requiring 1.5 FTEs. If the total staff on a magazine was 7 people, including both volunteers and paid positions, then it could be said that it requires 7 FTEs to publish the magazine.

General consumer magazine
See definition of Types of magazines.

GLBT magazine
See definition of Types of magazines.

Guide
A publication which exists primarily for information purposes, that is to say that it is primarily comprised of listings, enhanced listings, maps, schedules, timetables or calendars, or a combination of the above.

Income statement
An income statement is defined as per section 1520 of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) Handbook. An example of an income statement is provided in the application kit as well as on the Web site for reference.

Internet (eligible editorial expense)
Internet and e-mail fees for editorial purposes (not including installation costs) are an eligible expense only for Category A magazines with an average circulation between 2,500 and 10,000 copies per issue.

List rental revenues
Revenues generated by renting lists.

Magalogue
A printed publication that primarily combines the style, format and layout of a magazine and/or catalogue in order to sell, promote or present a product or service from a company (manufacturer, distributor or agent). A magalogue may include informative articles, pictures, high-end graphics, product descriptions, and entertainment in the style of a magazine, but all for the purpose of gaining monetary value.

Magazine
A printed publication that is commonly recognized as a magazine and appears in consecutively numbered or dated issues, and is published under a common title at regular intervals, not less than twice a year and not more than 52 times a year. For the purposes of the CMF, the Magazine category does not include newsletters, comic books, newspapers, community newspapers, weekly community newspapers, alternative newsweeklies, directories, guides, financial reports, catalogues, magalogues, schedules, calendars, timetables, or listings.

Mechanical expenses
Pre-press (proofs, digital files, film, plates), printing, binding and mailing prep costs.

Newspaper
A publication that is commonly recognized as a newspaper due to possessing a number of characteristics common to newspapers (i.e. produced in a tabloid or broadsheet format regardless of its frequency, unbound, self-identified as a newspaper, etc.). In all cases where there is disagreement as to whether the publication is a newspaper or a magazine, a scale will be applied (refer to Part I, section 4), and all publications showing more than a minimum number of characteristics common to newspapers will be considered newspapers for the purposes of the CMF.

Newsstand revenues
Total net revenues generated from newsstand sales.

Non-revenue pages
All pages other than paid advertising, contra or in-kind, or editorial content. They can include self-promotional pages, pages donated to local charities or business with no payment, delivery of in-kind services or other consideration, etc. Blank pages are considered to be non-revenue pages.

Official-language minority magazine
See definition of Types of magazines.

One-time promotion
A special promotion done on a timely basis, the purpose of which is to boost the paid circulation of a magazine (newsstand, subscriptions and other copy sales). A marketing tool sometimes used by new magazines, smaller circulation magazines or magazines wishing to reach an additional targeted market.

SEC will allow this one-time promotion in order not to penalize a magazine which normally has a 50% paid circulation base.

One-time promotions which are repeated or become part of the business model of the magazine will be considered to be unpaid circulation.

Press agencies (eligible editorial expense)
Costs and/or fees to purchase Canadian data/content from independent organizations, e.g. Canadian Press, etc. are an eligible expense only for Category A magazines, with an average circulation between 2,500 and 10,000 copies per issue.

Print run
Total number of copies of a publication printed at a given period.

Professional development for editorial personnel (eligible editorial expense)
Costs for Canadian editorial personnel to attend training courses, seminars and conferences directly related to Canadian editorial activities. Eligible costs include registration fees and materials. Travel and accommodation expenses are to be reported separately as travel costs.

Professional fees (eligible editorial expense)
Payments for professional services related to editorial content rendered by an individual or an organization that is not employed by the publishing firm. Includes fees for, in respect to services provided by, for example, consultants, lawyers, economists, physicians and/or any other individual the publishing firm consults for professional advice on editorial material.

Publications cost (eligible editorial expense)
Costs for subscriptions to and purchase of magazines and newspapers.

Publisher
The individual with overall responsibility for managing one or more than one magazine including administrating, editing, marketing/selling, and other activities.

Publishing firm
The entity responsible for the publication of a magazine (see definition of entity).

Purchase of articles (eligible editorial expense)
Costs associated with the acquisition of Canadian editorial material from other publishers.

Purchase of rights (eligible editorial expense)
Payments made to a Canadian or permanent resident for the use of a work in the printed version of the magazine only, e.g. an article, a photography, an illustration, etc.

Research (eligible editorial expense)
Expenditures for:

• readership surveys to assess editorial content (not advertising) for directional/positioning purposes;
• polling surveys from which data may be used in a magazine’s issue;
• access to specialized databases and archive services.

Religious magazine
See definition of Types of magazines.

Review engagement report
See definition of Financial statements.

Salaries and wages (eligible editorial expense)
Working full-time on editorial activitiesGross earnings and taxable benefits of Canadian or permanent resident employees on the firm’s payroll, that work directly and/or exclusively on editorial activities.

Working partially or part-time on editorial activities
Portion of gross earnings and taxable benefits of Canadian or permanent resident employees on the firm’s payroll, for work on editorial activities.

Editorial personnel
Gross earnings and taxable benefits for Canadian or permanent resident personnel dedicated solely to writing, editing, illustration, photography, and design (refer to the definition of Editorial activities). The maximum amount that may be claimed for each employee (gross earnings and taxable benefits) is $100,000. In instances where an individual dedicated solely to editorial activities is engaged on a part-time basis, it is expected that the maximum amount will be reduced accordingly.

Publisher
Canadian or permanent resident publishers can claim a portion of their salary only if they work directly on the creation of Canadian editorial content, meaning creation activities including writing articles, design and assembly, photography, proofreading, illustrating, translating or editing.

Note: CMF guidelines limit to $100,000 the maximum salary and benefits that may be claimed as an eligible editorial expense for any employee, including the publisher’s salary.

Please refer to Part I, section 5 Eligible editorial expenses for specific details on how to claim the publisher’s salary.

The Canada Magazine Fund reserves the right to disallow the publisher’s salary and benefits expenses of a publishing firm that employs a publisher as well as various editors.

Scholarly magazine
See definition of Types of magazines.

Special interest magazine
See definition of Types of magazines.

Special issues
For the purposes of the CMF, a special issue is an issue that is published as an addition to the regular publishing cycle. For example, if a magazine publishes six issues per year, a seventh issue published to focus on an event, theme or topic will be considered a special issue.

The eligible editorial expenses of a special issue can be claimed if the special issue is included in the subscription price of the magazine, if it is an eligible magazine under the SEC criteria and if it meets all other applicable eligibility criteria. Up to four special issues a year can be claimed.

Please note that a special issue is not eligible if it is published with a different title, volume number or ISSN number or if it is not included in the subscription price of the magazine. In this case, editorial expenses cannot be claimed.

A special issue is considered to increase the frequency of the magazine only if it is an addition to the regular publishing cycle and sent separately from the regular issues of the magazine.

Staff
A full-time employee is one who works at least 30 hours per week. An employee is any person drawing pay for services rendered, or for paid absence, and for whom the employer is required to complete a Canada Revenue Agency T4, Statement of Remuneration Paid.

Subscription revenues
All subscription revenues (irrespective of source and pricing).

Telephone (eligible editorial expense)
Long distance charges for editorial purposes are an eligible expense only for Category A magazines with an average circulation between 2,500 and 10,000 copies per issue.

Travel (eligible editorial expense)
Economy class travel and accommodation for related editorial activities, including professional development activities. Eligible costs will be:

• transportation—airline, taxi, vehicle rental, parking, and mileage costs;
• accommodation—hotel and other; and
• meals.

Types of magazines
Business, professional, or tradeThese magazines deal with processing, manufacturing, management, sales, or operation of industries, or of a specific industry, occupation, or profession. They are published to interest and assist persons actively engaged in the sector.

Farm
These magazines deal with the farming industry, including animal farming.

General consumer
These magazines are aimed at the entire market or at a large portion of that market for the purpose of informing and entertaining the reader.

Religious
These magazines are primarily religious in purpose and content.

Scholarly
These magazines present results of research or advanced knowledge in a specific field. They are aimed at specialists and are mainly published by universities, research institutes, and learned societies.

Special interest consumer
These magazines are aimed at a special interest market, and inform and entertain the reader.

Aboriginal
A magazine with content primarily for or about Aboriginal, Inuit or Métis peoples.

Ethnocultural
A magazine that is primarily serving and/or primarily concerned with a commonly recognized specific cultural or racially distinct community, or specific linguistic groups using other than Canada’s official languages. Ethnocultural magazines may be in English, French, a third language or a combination of official and non-official languages.

GLBT
A magazine that is primarily serving and/or primarily concerned with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgendered communities.

Official-language minority
A magazine that is published in English or French in a region of Canada where the language and content of the publication primarily serves and is concerned with an official-language minority community.

Web site / E-commerce expenses
All costs related to the creation, maintenance, and operation of Web sites and e-commerce activities.

Web site / E-commerce revenues
Net revenues (gross revenues less agency commissions) derived from Web site / E-commerce activities related to the magazine.

* For the purposes of the SEC component of the CMF.

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