Artist’s Resale Right Proposed in Canada’s 2025 Federal Budget
On November 4, 2025, the federal government announced its proposal to create an Artist’s Resale Right (“ARR”) as part of Canada Strong: Budget 2025. The ARR is the right of an artist to share in the profits of a future sale of their work.
As described in the budget document, which has not yet been introduced as legislation, the ARR would provide “creators of original visual artwork with a royalty whenever their work is resold through an eligible sale providing an additional income stream.”
An ARR is known in other jurisdictions (more than 90 countries have implemented similar provisions) as being attached to original artwork and becomes payable on each resale, or on resales meeting a minimum price threshold in the secondary market (e.g., auction houses, commercial galleries, etc.). ARR rights typically last the duration of copyright protection in the applicable jurisdiction. The ARR is often defined broadly to attempt to cover all forms of transactions of sale or equivalents.
A private member’s bill in 2013 previously considered establishing an ARR, proposing a royalty amount of 5% on resales of all artistic works for $500 or more subsequent to the first transfer of ownership by the author for the duration of the copyright protections. It remains to be seen if the provisions of this bill will be repeated.
Please contact the authors or a member of the Intellectual Property Group at Aird & Berlis LLP if you have any questions or require assistance regarding the proposed Artist’s Resale Right or related copyright matters.
