[1] Since its founding, various PEN Centers around the world have campaigned on behalf of such acclaimed writers as Czech playwright Václav Havel, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, novelist Salman Rushdie and Turkey's 2006 Nobel laureate in literature, Orhan Pamuk.

PEN Canada is a member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange network.

[2] Over the years, PEN Canada membership has included many of the leading figures in the Canadian literary and cultural establishment, including Margaret Atwood, Adrienne Clarkson, John Ralston Saul, David Cronenberg and Yann Martel.

The Canadian Issues Committee run by PEN Canada acts as a watchdog on legislation and actions in Canada that violate the right to freedom of expression guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The One Humanity Award has been given since 2006 to an international writer, journalist, academic, or honorary PEN member who has endured repression or shown courage in exercising their freedom of expression.