About us

Department Structure

Small Business, Tourism and Marketplace Services

Chief Informatics Office (CIO)
Corporations Canada (CC)
Information Management Branch
Investment Review Branch
Measurement Canada (MC)
Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada (OSB)
Small Business and Tourism Branch
Strategic Planning and Management Services Directorate (SPMS)

Chief Informatics Office (CIO)

The Chief Informatics Office (CIO) Branch is mandated to maximize Industry Canada's business performance through modern and progressive management of information technology (IT) services, policies, and resources. The CIO Branch is specifically responsible for:

Establishing IT strategies and policies that support the overall mandate of the Department and are consistent with established funding envelopes;
Aligning IT resources with departmental priorities and IT plans through a practical governance structure;
Providing high-quality, affordable IT services to departmental business partners;
Providing high-quality and responsive support to departmental IT users; and
Establishing department-wide technology standards and architecture to maximize opportunities for horizontal investments in IT across the department.

Corporations Canada (CC)

Corporations Canada provides the basic information and tools that business owners and operators need to incorporate and operate a corporation under federal corporate law and the statutes governing corporate activity in Canada.

The Corporations Canada website provides access to the various forms, policies, information kits, fees payable, statutes, regulations and other pertinent documents relating to the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Canada Corporations Act (CCA - non-profit), the Canada Cooperatives Act, and the Boards of Trade Act.

Additional CC responsibilities include compliance and enforcement activities related to the statutes it administers and registering official documents under the Great Seal of Canada.

Information Management Branch

Corporate Integrated Records Services

In addition to providing mail and records services in the National Capital Region, Corporate Integrated Records Services provides corporate information management leadership through the development of policies, guidelines, standards, and procedures for the management of departmental information, regardless of media, to support program and service delivery and to ensure that Industry Canada meets legal, business and accountability requirements.

Information and Privacy Rights Administration

Information and Privacy Rights Administration is responsible for implementing the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to manage the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) programs and services for Industry Canada.

Library and Knowledge Centre

Going beyond traditional library services, the Library and Knowledge Centre offers Industry Canada staff the latest electronic resources, specialized commercial databases, library networks and media monitoring services delivered directly to the desktop. The Centre connects the varied business portfolios of the department to a team of specialists in information management and knowledge management.

Information Management Policy, Planning and Innovation Directorate (IMPPI)

The Information Management Policy, Planning and Innovation Directorate (IMPPI) is responsible for setting, monitoring, assessing and reporting on the strategic direction, policy and governance for IM across the Department, as well as developing innovative IM tools and applications to support business needs. IMPPI also provides a single point of access service to the general public on Industry Canada web site information. These activities complement and integrate the services provided by the Library and Knowledge Centre, Corporate Integrated Records Services, and the Information and Privacy Rights Administration directorates. The Directorate is organized into three units: Policy and Strategic Planning, Information Architecture, Tools and Applications, and the Web Services Centre.

Investment Review Branch

The Investment Review Branch manages the foreign investment notification and review process under the Investment Canada Act. This Act gives the Minister of Industry the responsibility for encouraging and facilitating investment and assuring that foreign investment is of net benefit to Canada.

Measurement Canada (MC)

Measurement Canada, a Special Operating Agency of Industry Canada, sets the rules of the marketplace with respect to trade measurement, and ensures these rules are effectively implemented and respected. The agency administers and enforces the Weights and Measures Act, the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act, and net quantity provisions of the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Feeds Act, Seeds Act, Fertilizers Act and the Pest Control Products Act. Measurement Canada's mission is to ensure equity and accuracy where goods and services are bought and sold on the basis of measurement, in order to contribute to a fair and competitive marketplace for Canadians.

Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada (OSB)

The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada helps ensure that bankruptcies and insolvencies are conducted in a fair and orderly manner. The Office is responsible for:

supervising the administration of estates in bankruptcy, commercial reorganizations, consumer proposals and receiverships;
maintaining a publicly accessible record of bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings;
recording and investigating complaints from creditors, debtors, and members of the general public regarding possible wrongdoing by someone involved in the insolvency process;
the licensing of private-sector trustees to administer estates and the appointment of administrators of consumer proposals; and
setting and enforcing professional standards for the administration of estates.

Small Business and Tourism Branch

The Small Business and Tourism Branch is responsible for maintaining a strategic overview of Canadian small business across industrial sectors and tourism across regions. This includes keeping an evergreen view on marketplace conditions affecting tourism and small business. It also involves providing advice on government policies and programs designed to help the small business community and tourism sector grow and succeed; and to ensure that the perspectives of the small business community and tourism sector are taken into account.

Branch activities include conducting research, carrying out policy analysis, developing advice and meeting the information needs of tourism and small business, while aiming to simplify access to government services. To this end, the branch is spearheading activities related to reducing the paperwork burden within the Department and throughout the federal government.

The branch further supports small business through initiatives such as the Canada Business Network, a multi-channel government information service for start-up entrepreneurs and small business; BizPaL, an online service that provides entrepreneurs with tailored information on the permits and licences they need to start and operate their business; and the Small Business Internship Program (formerly Student Connections), a program that hires post-secondary students to work with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as interns to help the businesses improve their efficiency and productivity by using information and communications technology.

Additionally, the branch is responsible for the administration and strategic direction of the Canada Small Business Financing Program, which facilitates access to loans for establishing and expanding small businesses in Canada. The branch also provides support for the Minister of Industry and the Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) with respect to their responsibility for the Business Development Bank of Canada and the Canadian Tourism Commission. As well, the branch is responsible for managing the interdepartmental SME Financing Data Initiative and for developing and managing a number of small business information websites.

To achieve its mandate, the branch works in partnership with other government departments and agencies, key private-sector organizations, academic and research institutes, community-based groups and other organizations.