The Department of Canadian Heritage is aiming to get application forms for the new Canada Periodical Fund out to publishers by September or October, Scott Shortliffe, DCH’s periodical publishing policy and programs director, said during a session on public policy held Thursday at MagNet.

The new $75.5 million CPF program will replace the Canada Magazine Fund and Publications Assistance Program. There is a sense of urgency to get the CPF in place for 2010, Shortliffe said, because Canada Post is definitely ending its annual $15 million contribution to the PAP on March 31, 2010.

Shortliffe anticipated concern from publishers about the short time frame and said that he and his staff are looking at ways to speed up applications and fulfillment for the program, primarily by taking advantage of the long history many titles have with the CMF and PAP. For example, there's really no reason for the DCH to do a full check on The Beaver's Canadian content requirements every year, Shortliffe said.

Though Shortliffe mostly spoke in generalities, he did seem to hint that it's unlikely magazines with annual paid circulation of less than 5,000 will receive funding from the main CPF pot.