Federal budget aims to double funds for arts-fest and performance presenters over two years

Advocates welcome boost from $8 million to $15.5 million per year, but call for longer-term funding

By Janet Smith

Photo by Martin Hüsey

THE NEW 2024 federal budget tabled by Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland yesterday (April 1 included a welcome funding boost for the touring and presenting sector.

The budget proposes $31 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, for the Canada Arts Presentation Fund to support organizations that present professional arts festivals or performing arts series.

The supplementary funding, which doubles from $8 million to $15.5 million per year, was welcomed by the #FutureOfLIVE coalition that had advocated for the boost over the past year-and-a-half. The performing-arts sector has been struggling to recover from the pandemic, with several B.C. festivals downsizing or recuperating from near collapse in recent years.

“We are deeply grateful for this recognition of the vital role that performing arts organizations and festivals play in bringing Canadian communities together,” Natalie Lue, CAPACOA (Canadian Association for the Performing Arts) board chair said in a statement yesterday. “We are also proud of the sector’s diligent efforts in demonstrating the need for this investment.”

However, the #FutureOfLive coalition qualified its support in its response yesterday: “On the downside, none of the supplementary funding has been permanently added to the program’s funding base. In other words, this funding offers an immediate relief and a significant boost, but the program is still set to return to its 2007 funding level in two years. The #FutureOfLIVE coalition has long advocated for predictable funding, which is a necessity considering that tours are usually planned two to three years before artists hit the stage. This message has not been heard. Yet.”

#FutureOfLIVE is a collective of 35 performing arts, presenting, festival and music industry associations, launching its campaign in October 2022. Among its members are the BC Touring Council, Jazz Festivals Canada, the CanDance Network, the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance, and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres.

The supplementary funding will benefit nearly 1,600 organizations in every province and territory, sustaining 78,000 cultural jobs, according to #FOL. “The funding will have an immediate impact on artists and their representatives whose summer, fall and winter tours were still pending on the confirmation of available funding on the engagers’ end,” it added.

In other arts-related news tabled in the federal budget, the government is proposing $45 million over three years for the National Arts Centre to support artists and shows across the country, and $10 million over three years for the Canada Book Fund to increase support for Canadian authors and book publishers.  

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