Canada. Industry Canada : The antecedents of the Department of Industry - as created in 1995 - can be found in the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce (ITC), the original Department of Industry (as it existed between 1963 and 1969), the Department of Regional Economic Expansion (DREE), the Department of Regional Industrial Expansion (DRIE), the Department of Industry, Science and Technology (ISTC), and the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs (CCA).
The new ministry known as the Department of Industry took shape in mid-1993. To this end, Order-in-Council 1993-1487 (dated 25 June 1993) combined the Department of Industry, Science and Technology and the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, and transferred to the Department of Industry, Science and Technology control and supervision of the Investment Review Division, the Investment Research and Policy Division, Automated Applications, Telematics and New Media, Spectrum Management Operations, Certification and Engineering Bureau, Communications Research Centre, the Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister (Quebec), Regional Spectrum Services Centre and Canadian Workplace Automation Research Centre. Established in 1967 following the reorganization and expansion of the Department of the Registrar General, CCA was previously responsible for consumer affairs, corporations and corporate securities, combines, mergers, monopolies, restraint of trade, bankruptcies, insolvencies, and -- through the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) -- patents, copyrights, trade marks, and industrial designs . In 1992, CIPO became a Special Operating Agency (SOA) within the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, with CCA becoming part of Industry Canada in 1994. This amalgamation marked the beginning of the administrative reorganization that created the Department of Industry. The new department was organized and operating under its new name considerably before the legislation establishing it was passed. The Department of Industry Act (assented to March 16, 1995) repealed the Department of Industry, Science and Technology Act, and officially established the Department of Industry (a completely separate entity from the 1963-1969 Department of Industry).
The Department of Industry, with its partners and stakeholders, was designed to improve the micro-economic climate for growth and job creation in Canada. Its mandate is to help make Canadians more productive and competitive in the global, knowledge-based economy. The department's policies, programs and services are intended to create an economy that provides more and better-paying jobs for Canadians; to support stronger business growth through sustained improvements in productivity; and to give consumers, businesses and investors confidence that the marketplace is fair, efficient and competitive.
The department's programs and services are provided directly to Canadian businesses and consumers across the country. It works in partnership with industry, universities, non- governmental organizations, other members of the Industry Portfolio, other government departments, and provincial and territorial governments in order to develop and sustain a micro-economic policy environment that meets these objectives.
The larger Minister of Industry is responsible for 13 federal departments and agencies that make up the Industry Canada Portfolio. As such, the organizations of the Department of Industry are designed to further the government's goal of building a knowledge-based economy in all regions of Canada and to advance the government's jobs and growth agenda. The Industry Canada Portfolio includes: the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Business Development Bank of Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, the Competition Tribunal, Copyright Board Canada, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, Industry Canada, National Research Council of Canada, Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Standards Council of Canada, Statistics Canada, and Western Economic Diversification Canada.
