University of Toronto Press has broken new ground in the Canadian literary establishment, becoming the first publisher to be designated a Major Organization by the Ontario Arts Council. The recognition, given in honour of UTP’s “significant contribution to Canadian culture and economic impact,” puts the publisher and distributor in the same category as other brand-name cultural organizations including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the National Ballet.
In a press release dated October 29, OAC CEO Michael Murray says, “The Major designation and grants are awarded to organizations that not only support the careers of artists and arts workers, but also provide positive net investment for a strong provincial economy and improve the quality of life of Ontarians.” He goes on to praise “the integral role UTP plays in supporting the creation of Canadian arts and culture,” which includes its book publishing and distribution networks, along with journal publishing and university-affiliated bookstores.
“I feel like it’s a recognition of some services that are very understated,” says Jessica Mosher, president, publisher, and CEO of UTP. “It’s not about our publishing program so much as it is all the publishers we represent within our distribution centre.”
In addition to being the largest academic publisher in Canada, responsible for bringing out approximately 250 scholarly and trade books each year, UTP also maintains almost 70,000 square feet of warehouse space in Toronto, from which it acts as distributor for some 80 Canadian trade publishing imprints, including House of Anansi Press, Cormorant Books, Biblioasis, and Dundurn Press.
“We support a large number of these trade publishers, specifically Canadian and in this case specifically based in Ontario,” Mosher says. “Putting the spotlight on those publishers through this designation I think really is a big part of it.”
Mosher notes that the OAC has long been an advocate for UTP, but its focus is on culture. The press also puts out numerous journals in the fields of medicine, law, and urban planning, among others, which do not qualify for OAC grants. While still focused on the press’s cultural endeavours, the Major Organization designation, as more of an umbrella recognition, pulls in aspects of UTP’s operation that might otherwise have gone missing, such as their dedication to promoting and servicing smaller, independent presses in the province via their extensive distribution network.
For Mosher, distribution is an essential element of the publishing ecosystem, and one that often gets overlooked by people not in the industry. “It’s not an easy place to play,” she says, noting the disappearance of numerous distributors in the past two decades, from General Distribution Services to H.B. Fenn and Thomas Allen. “Canada is this massive landmass with very few people. So distribution is even more challenging.”
Though many of the struggles specific to Covid lockdowns and supply chain disruptions, such as access to paper, have eased, Mosher says challenges still exist to the distribution sector in Canada, including skyrocketing real estate costs that impact warehousing of books and other inventory. These are issues that she hopes the OAC’s recognition will help bring into a brighter light. “It’s an essential service,” she says. “And that is a big part of the messaging we’ve been doing with government officials and the university.”
That messaging is helped, Mosher says, by the OAC publicly declaring UTP’s operations to be on par with some of the top cultural agencies in the province. “To be able to say that it’s so important they consider us almost like the National Ballet, that is the statement that I love from this. Because it’s not that glamorous, but it’s so, so, so important.”
When Mosher first arrived in her position three years ago, conversations were already underway with the OAC about the anomalous nature of the press. There was the feeling that UTP did not fit into a minor role in terms of its cultural impact if all aspects of its operation were assessed cumulatively rather than hiving off single elements such as their own publishing program or culturally involved journals like the Canadian Theatre Review.
The shift to Major Organization status does not affect UTP’s overall funding levels, though the application process is different under the new rubric. The new status as a Major Organization is most beneficial from a marketing and visibility standpoint, allowing the press to point to a concrete metric that testifies to its cultural impact inside and outside the province. “More people should be talking about what we’re doing, and this helps,” Mosher says. “I wish the funding was extremely different, but it’s not. But we’re grateful for every penny.”