OTTAWA—The fate of a proposed new national industry organization, called Printing Industries of Canada (PIC), is up in the air following the impending closure of CPISC on March 31.

Plans for PIC were the result of tentative merger talks last year between the Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council (CPISC) and the Canadian Printing Industries Association (CPIA).

Now, with all Sector Council funding being dropped by the Government of Canada, resulting in CPISC's closure, the future of PIC is "uncertain at this time," according to a CPIA release. In the meantime, the intellectual properties developed by CPISC over the years, like the HR toolkit and the labour market information, will be transferred to and maintained by the CPIA.

While CPIA is one of the founding members of CPISC, the groups are separate legal entities. "Therefore, the closure of CPISC will not have an adverse impact on the the Association," reads the release.

Along with taking over CPISC projects, CPIA will continue its role as an industry advocate, with upcoming initiatives including an examination by Environment Canada of the printing and packaging industries' air emissions, and working with Health Canada's Consumer Product Safety Branch on concerns over lead content in print raw materials.

To collect input on its future, CPIA said it will be scheduling a teleconference call with industry leaders. For more information, contact chairperson Sandy Stephens at sstephens[at]informco.com.