Statistics – February 2021

Overview of the 2020-21 PLR Program

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Registered authors: 20,021

Authors receiving payments: 17,925

Eligible titles in PLR database: 87,310

Titles found: 80,608

Total amount paid to authors: $14,799,693.28

Minimum author payment: $50.00

Maximum author payment: $4,500.00

Average author payment: $826.00

Median author payment: $406.24

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Distribution of Author Payments

Payments by Province and Territory (2020–21)

Province	Number of authors	Total Paid
Newfoundland and Labrador	242	$158,381.95
Nova Scotia	644	$440,887.53
Prince Edward Island	66	$51,326.06
New Brunswick	422	$264,762.82
Quebec	7,054	$6,384,358.69
Ontario	4,941	$3,925,402.01
Manitoba	391	$252,064.79
Saskatchewan	331	$238,077.50
Alberta	885	$724,941.65
British Columbia	2,443	$1,918,484.09
Northwest Territories	18	$10,122.96
Yukon	25	$14,222.66
Nunavut	3	$2,036.12
Outside Canada	460	$414,624.45
Total	17,925	$14,799,693.28

Library sampling

PLR payments are determined based on how often a title shows up in an annual survey of select public library system catalogues across Canada. We survey each participating system for all eligible titles.

Calculating the payments

PLR payments are calculated using a four-category payment scale. The categories correspond to the number of years that a title has been registered with the program. This year, for any title found in the PLR’s library sampling, the payment was calculated as follows:

Year Title was Registered with PLR	Payment if Title Found
Category I: 2016 to 2020	$63.47
Category II: 2011 to 2015	$50.78
Category III: 2006 to 2010	$44.43
Category IV: 1996 - 2005	$38.08

The amounts in this scale apply to authors claiming 100% of a PLR payment. In situations where there is more than one eligible contributor to a book, payment is calculated based on the percentage of the book’s content that was claimed.

Re-Activated Files: An author whose file is re-activated will receive payments based on the category corresponding to the original date of registration of their titles.