Canada Aid Signature

The visual identity for Canada’s international assistance will help us raise awareness with diverse audiences, at home and abroad. While we want a consistent visual style to ensure recognisability and ease-of-use, we know that a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work to reach all audiences, particularly those who are new to the subject matter.

Public opinion research in Canada has demonstrated that although some people are quite engaged in global issues, the majority of Canadians do not consider themselves highly informed or involved in international assistance. They don’t know much who we are, what we do, or what terms we use to describe about our work.

The Canada Aid signature was developed with the goal of helping to change that. It includes the term “aid” because it may be more easily understood by Canadians than many of the other terms we use to describe our shared work. It’s intended to help us reach Canadian audiences who may not be as familiar with terms like international assistance, international development, development cooperation, and international cooperation.

Global Affairs Canada began piloting the Canada Aid signature as part of the branding in fall 2020. During the pilot period, we conducted an online consultation to gather feedback directly from the international development sector and interested Canadians. The online consultation revealed that while most participants were not in favour of using “aid”, others had positive feedback and saw the merits of the approach.

To that end, the Canada Aid signature is available as part of the broader suite of visual identity options. Think of it as an additional tool in the branding toolbox: using it is not mandatory, but it’s available to Global Affairs Canada and international assistance partners to help reach domestic audiences who are less familiar with international assistance.

Global Affairs Canada will use the Canada Aid signature on selected communications products intended for a domestic audience. Partners are also welcome to use the signature on their communications products for Canadian audiences as they see fit.