The State of Publishing in Canada 2023 marks the eighth edition of BookNet Canada’s State of Publishing industry survey. Offering a comprehensive look at the Canadian English-language publishing landscape, this study includes data from Canadian-based publishers of all sizes and explores publishers' operations and staffing; revenue and sales; distribution; format-specific publishing programs; and more.

We’ll share some highlights below, but you can download a PDF copy of the study or read the whole thing here!

The State of Publishing in Canada 2023

Of the publishers surveyed, 63% of them were small publishers with a gross revenue between $0 and $999,999, 27% were mid-size with gross revenue between $1M and $9,999,999, and 10% were large publishers with revenue higher than $10M.

The majority of publishers surveyed offered their employees a hybrid work arrangement (68%), 20% were entirely remote and 12% worked entirely in person.

In 2023, 65% of print and digital sales were backlist and 35% were frontlist titles.

The average return rate in 2023, as a percentage of books shipped for all trade publishers, was 9%, down quite a bit from 16% in 2021.

More highlights

Most publishers reported that their revenue increased marginally from 2022 to 2023.
The most popular way publishers were considering leveraging AI was for marketing materials (49%).
Canadian publishing divisions published on average 35 books in 2023 and multinational companies published an average of 752 books across all divisions in Canada in 2023.
Mid-sized publishers had the highest percentage of new books by at least one Canadian contributor (84%) and small publishers followed at 79%.
Most of the books printed by the publishers we surveyed were published in Canada in 2023 (74%).
Over three quarters of publishers have scaled down their print runs to decrease waste, mitigate risks, limit overstock, and increase efficiencies (79%).
Over half of Canadian publishers produced audiobooks in 2023 (58%), up slightly from 53% in 2021.
The majority of publishers described the health of their company as fair based on their ability to withstand challenges, adapt, and change (63%).

Ready to learn more? In the study we cover topics such as sustainability, printing methods, shipping, distribution, marketing, and much more — download your free copy today!