Key Notes
- Petition e-7898 lists 1,795 validated signatures and remains open until March 4, exceeding the 500-signature requirement for later certification.
- The campaign asks Canada’s government for capital to help BioWare and its intellectual property become independent of Electronic Arts.
- Certification and presentation by an MP must precede the government’s response period, and crossing the signature threshold does not approve a rescue.
An official Canadian petition seeking government help to rescue BioWare has passed the 500-signature threshold needed for an electronic petition to qualify for certification. The House of Commons page listed 1,795 validated signatures when checked on November 5, a day after it opened.
The campaign gives supporters a route toward a formal government response after parliamentary presentation. It does not mean Parliament has already debated the studio’s future, that funding has been approved or that Electronic Arts has agreed to sell BioWare.
What the Petition Asks Ottawa to Do
Petition e-7898, initiated by Brendan Routh of Burnaby, British Columbia, asks the federal government to provide capital so BioWare and its intellectual property can become independent of EA and resume operating as a Canadian company.
The text presents the developer as an important Canadian cultural export. Its other requests concern protecting Canadian businesses and cultural institutions from foreign corporate interests and preserving the values it associates with BioWare’s games. Those are the petitioners’ arguments, rather than findings adopted by the House.
The official page names New Democratic Party MP Don Davies, who represents Vancouver Kingsway, as the authorizing member. The petition opened on November 4 and is scheduled to remain available for signatures until March 4, 2027.
We previously covered NDP leader Avi Lewis’s call for federal assistance to help BioWare employees buy and run the studio. The new petition pursues parliamentary attention for a similar independence proposal, without setting out a purchase price or an agreement with EA.
The 500-Signature Rule Does Not Trigger a Rescue
The House’s MP guide says an e-petition with at least 500 valid signatures can be certified after its signing period closes, provided it meets the requirements. An MP must then present the certified petition; the member who authorized its publication normally does so but is not obliged to.
Once a petition is presented, the government is required to respond within 45 calendar days. The House’s petitions overview notes that a response is tabled on the next sitting day if the House is not sitting when it is due. The response period starts with presentation, not when the online counter crosses 500.
The BioWare page still lists the campaign as open for signatures. Its counter explicitly says it includes only validated signatures, so the displayed total is not simply a count of every form submitted. Final certification remains a later step.
Eligibility also differs from a general online fan campaign. The signing rules allow Canadian citizens and residents, including citizens living abroad. Signatures require email confirmation, and the Clerk of Petitions may reject any that cannot be verified.
A Separate Route From Save Mass Effect
BioWare’s October 21 closure statement confirmed that the studio was shutting down and early development on the next Mass Effect was ending. The announcement left fans campaigning both for the team’s survival and for the continuation of its best-known series.
The parliamentary initiative is separate from the Change.org Save Mass Effect campaign, which passed 200,000 signatures as we reported in October. That petition asks EA to continue developing the franchise or let another studio do so; its signatures do not count toward the House of Commons threshold.
The official petition instead asks the federal government to help secure an independent BioWare and its intellectual property. A parliamentary response would address that request, while a funded rescue and any transfer of studio assets or game rights would require separate decisions and agreements.
