Create. Access.
Experience.
Canadians are going out—to concert halls, theatres and festivals. They’re visiting art galleries and buying works of art. The private sector, individuals and national, provincial and local organizations are partnering to support arts-related activities. Culture is a magnet, drawing crowds and generating revenue. At the same time, expectations are changing. The audiences for culture are more diverse than ever before. And today’s arts and cultural organizations are connecting with those audiences directly—through their works and performances, and by taking advantage of today’s digital tools and multiple media platforms to market themselves and make an impression.
Connecting with culture
Celebrating Canada’s French-speaking communities from coast to coast, the Arts Presentation Canada program has contributed $22,000 per year to the Festival du Bois since 2004. The Festival du Bois is presented annually by the Société francophone de Maillardville in British Columbia; the 2009 festival in March will be the 20th edition of this celebration of French language and culture. The festival weekend will be preceded by 20 performances in British Columbia schools and will include outreach activities such as participation in Coquitlam’s Flaunt Your Frenchness! campaign, programming at Les Fêtes de Maillardville and a four-concert jazz and blues series. And while events, such as the Festival du Bois take culture to the people, other supported initiatives give cultural expressions a home. The people of the Huron Wendat Nation have established a new permanent centre for their culture in Quebec. Culminating 10 years of preparation, the Huron Wendat Nation built a museum that displays close to 2000 artifacts and objects. The Nation also built an outdoor amphitheatre which is the Wendake Reserve’s only professional performing arts space. Just north of the City of Québec, this cultural infrastructure was built with the help of a $1.3 million contribution from the Cultural Spaces Canada program. The museum and the amphitheatre were officially inaugurated in 2008, in time to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the City of Québec.
The Year in Brief: Arts
- Arts Policy and Programs
Canada’s arts sector comprises artists and arts organizations. It includes the performing arts (theatre, music, opera, dance), as well as the visual arts (painting, sculpture, multimedia arts, photography).
At the heart of the sector are those who create cultural content: writers, painters, sculptors, musicians, actors, dancers and others. According to the most recent Census data (2006), 141,130 people were part of the Canadian arts labour force. Based on the latest available information, in 2003, artists generated over $2.5 billion of economic impact toward the Canadian gross domestic product.69 And over the past 15 years, the number of Canadian artists has increased at a higher rate (28%) than the overall workforce (11.8%) in Canada.70
Equally essential, of course, is the audience. Canadians are citizens with a proud artistic identity; they are cultural consumers and participants whose attendance, volunteerism and donations influence the type of art created. For example, Statistics Canada notes that 10.8 million Canadians attended a live performance by professional artists in 2005.71 And as new technologies foster creativity, audiences are also finding new ways to directly experience and benefit from artistic creativity, innovation and communications.
Pursuing our priorities
Through its policies, programs and research activities, the Cultural Affairs Sector aims to ensure that Canadians create and have access to the arts. Among its achievements in the arts in 2007-2008:
- 3,500 artists in disciplines such as dance, theatre, music and circus arts graduated from institutions supported through the National Arts Training Contribution Program.
- 98 Canadian communities received funding from the Cultural Spaces Canada program for cultural infrastructure improvement projects.
- 50,000 arts events were presented at Canadian festivals and art series with support from the Arts Presentation Canada (APC) program.
- 601 organizations received funding from APC in support of their presentation activities such as festivals and arts series.
- 169 business skills development projects were accomplished thanks to funding from the Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program.
The following chapter provides further details regarding the results our activities bring to Canadians.
Results
Arts Policy and Programs
Through its arts policies and programs, the Cultural Affairs Sector aims to foster artistic talent in Canada and connect people to the arts. Its priorities in the domain of the arts are to ensure that creative excellence prospers in Canada, that Canadians have access to the arts and that arts organizations operate in a sustainable environment.
Federal funding and support contribute to the development of an environment that is conducive to the creation and accessibility of Canadian artistic expression—ensuring a range of artistic activity, content and audiences. This support is routinely enhanced through partnerships with other government bodies, not-for-profit organizations and private-sector contributors to the arts. Collectively, Canada has the resources and ingenuity to sustain a rich and rewarding arts sector. The typical arts organization receives 9 percent of its funding from the federal government. The remaining 91 percent of its revenues are generated through other sources—51 percent from box office and other earned revenues, 23 percent from the private sector and 17 percent from other levels of government.72
Federal support for professional arts organizations is provided primarily through the Canada Council for the Arts and Canadian Heritage programs. The Canada Council for the Arts provides direct support to Canadian artists and arts organizations to assist in the creation of work of the highest quality. Canadian Heritage programs create the conditions in which artistic excellence can flourish through, for example, support for infrastructure, support for festivals and arts events in communities of all sizes, and support for improved governance and business practices.
Due in part to the support of federal funding programs, the average Canadian arts organization is in a better financial situation than it was seven years ago. Based on a sample of roughly 190 arts organizations, from 1998-1999 to 2005-2006, Canadian arts organizations have generally improved their financial position. In 1998-1999, the number of organizations with accumulated deficits outnumbered organizations with accumulated surpluses (89 to 67). By 2005-2006, the number of arts organizations posting an accumulated surplus was significantly the higher (127 to 61).73
Accumulated Surpluses and Deficits of Arts Organizations (1998-2006) | ||
| # of Accumulated Surplus | # of Accumulated Deficits |
1998-1999 | 67 | 89 |
1999-2000 | 103 | 69 |
2000-2001 | 99 | 78 |
2001-2002 | 97 | 62 |
2002-2003 | 114 | 63 |
2003-2004 | 111 | 68 |
2004-2005 | 135 | 67 |
2005-2006 | 127 | 61 |
Funding and investment
In 2007-2008, the Sector invested close to $100 million (total grants and contributions) in not-for-profit arts and heritage organizations to support the training of Canada’s most promising artists; augment access through improved cultural infrastructure and professional artistic presentations in all parts of the country; and strengthen the organizational, administrative and financial capacity of arts and heritage organizations.| National investments 2007-2008* | |
|---|---|
National Arts Training Contribution Program | $19.4M |
Arts Presentation Canada | $21.7M |
Cultural Spaces Canada | $32.8M |
Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program | $26.0M |
- The National Arts Training Contribution Program (NATCP) supports arts training institutions of the highest calibre.
- Arts Presentation Canada (APC) supports organizations that present professional arts series or arts festivals.
- Cultural Spaces Canada (CSC) supports the improvement, renovation and construction of arts and heritage facilities for arts presentation, exhibition and creation.
- The Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program (CAHSP) helps organizations strengthen their organizational, administrative and financial capacity in communities that support them.** Cultural Capitals of Canada awards are part of this program. The Sector’s arts programs invest in all parts of the country.
| 2007-2008 Investments | ||
|---|---|---|
Province/Territory | Arts Program Investments | Arts Program Investments |
BC | 13,112,000 | 13.12 |
AB | 7,270,000 | 7.27 |
SK | 1,691,000 | 1.69 |
MB | 4,913,000 | 4.92 |
ON | 34,721,000 | 34.74 |
QC | 33,772,000 | 33.79 |
NB | 1,427,000 | 1.43 |
NS | 778,000 | 0.78 |
PEI | 273,000 | 0.27 |
NFL | 894,000 | 0.89 |
YK | 218,000 | 0.22 |
NWT | 632,000 | 0.63 |
NUT | 257,000 | 0.26 |
Total | 99,958,000 | 100 |
Capacity building and development
The policies and programs of the Sector have had a strong positive impact on Canadian arts organizations. Programs have delivered a number of important results for Canadians.
Sustainability of Canadian cultural organizations is strengthened
While public funding remains essential to Canada’s arts organizations, other sources of revenue are also keenly important, among them private-sector and community investments and individual donations. The Endowment Incentives component of the CAHSP has helped increase community investment in funded organizations over the past six years: in 2007-2008, endowment contributions to arts organizations nearly doubled the $14.8 million in funding that Canadian Heritage had available to match them—a very positive sign of the growing capacity of arts organizations to raise private-sector funds.
| Endowment Incentives Component (CAHSP) Annual Amount Donated vs. Annual Amount Matched | ||
|---|---|---|
| Private-sector donations | Government matching donations |
2001-2002 | $10,765,212 | $3,177,622 |
2002-2003 | $8,279,710 | $8,279,710 |
2003-2004 | $9,070,579 | $9,070,579 |
2004-2005 | $8,570,967 | $8,570,967 |
2006-2007 | $20,212,560 | $14,818,097 |
2007-2008 | $28,152,762 | $14,634,076 |
Business skills development, including better business planning and governance skills, is critical to the long-term health of arts organizations in Canada. Between 2002-2003 and 2007-2008, the Sector supported over 1,000 such projects with a total investment of $36 million. Of these, 169 were funded in 2007-2008.
Also, the Sector continued its support of two national networks (the Creative City Network of Canada and Les Arts et la Ville). These networks assist municipal officials by providing tools to help them build the sustainability of arts and heritage organizations at the local level. A stronger local environment ensures that public and private investments in the arts are optimized.
Canadian cultural creators build their skills and experiences
The Sector also maintained its support of the NATCP. Approximately 3,500 artists graduated from Canada’s 37 NATCP‑funded institutions in 2007-2008. On average, 80 percent of NATCP graduates work professionally in the arts and are more likely than non-NATCP graduates to earn their living wholly in the arts within three years.
Diverse and excellent Canadian cultural works are accessible to Canadians and to the world
APC and CSC ensured the availability of arts and cultural experiences across the country in 2007-2008.
- Since APC was launched in 2001-2002, the number of opportunities for Canadians to attend arts festivals or series supported by Canadian Heritage has tripled from 184 arts festivals in 78 communities to more than 600 presenting organizations in nearly 250 communities (whose activities touch about 200 more).
- 80 percent of arts organizations reported that changes resulting from CSC funding have or will enable them to attract a larger audience.
- 77 percent of APC-funded festivals have noticed an increase in youth audiences, and 71 percent have noted an increase in culturally diverse audiences.
- The increased number of APC-funded events across the country has made available a greater number of artistic experiences for Canadians across cultural communities. Comparing figures from 2002-2003 to 2007-2008:
- 52 percent of APC clients said they were reaching out to culturally diverse audiences in 2002-2003. This has risen to 70 percent.
- 19 percent of APC clients said they were reaching out to Aboriginal audiences; now 31 percent say so.
- 26 percent of APC clients said they were reaching out to audiences in official language minority communities. Today, this is 34 percent.
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