Question Period Note: Increased Funding support for festivals

In Budget 2019, the Government provided increased support for diversity, culture and the arts in part through an additional investment over two years, starting in 2019-20, for the Canada Arts Presentation Fund ($16 million) and the Local Festivals component of the Building Communities through Arts and Heritage Program ($14 million).

• Festivals and performing arts events are important economic drivers that help to develop communities and share our heritage.
• In Budget 2019, we increased support by 16 million dollars to the Canada Arts Presentation Fund and 14 million dollars to the Building Communities through Arts and Heritage Program, over two years.
• This increased support will help bring the talents of Canada's performers to more communities across the country and create a stronger sense of connection between diverse Canadians.
• We support over 1,350 festivals and performing arts events each year, in more than 400 communities across the country.

Canada Arts Presentation Fund
• The Canada Arts Presentation Fund (CAPF) provides financial assistance to not-for-profit organizations that professionally present arts festivals or performing arts series with the aim of giving Canadians access to a variety of professional artistic experiences in their communities. These include performances, audience development and outreach initiatives such as pre- or post-show panel discussions, public lectures and workshops, residencies, demonstrations, public rehearsals, and other forms of community engagement activities.
• The current annual grants and contributions budget for the CAPF’s two main components (Programming and Development) is $29.3 million. Furthermore, the CAPF provides operating funding of $3 million to the Confederation Centre for the Arts through the Fathers of Confederation Buildings Trust, a single-recipient component to support the operations of the Centre to offer visual and performing and heritage programming.
• Budget 2019 provided an additional $16 million for the CAPF over two years ($8 million per year for 2019-20 and 2020-21) to address current and increasing demand from professional arts festivals and performing arts series presenters in all regions of the country, including increased operational support for the Confederation Centre for the Arts in the amount of $500,000 per year.
• For professional arts festivals, the CAPF can fund up to 25 percent of eligible expenses, to a maximum of $100,000 for grants and up to $1 million for contributions (in exceptional circumstances for festivals with budgets over
$5 million). However the program is over-subscribed and the national average of funding support is 12 percent of eligible expenses, and the national average funding amount is $47,000, with more than half of recipients receiving $25,000 or less. In 2017-2018, total requests from applicants exceeded available program resources by approximately 40 percent.
• Each year the program supports over 650 artistic festivals and seasons of performing arts series in more than
250 cities or communities in the country. Examples include: Festival d'été de Québec (Québec City, QC) and Alianait Arts Festival (Iqaluit, NU).
Building Communities through Arts and Heritage Program
• The Local Festivals component of the Building Communities through Arts and Heritage program (BCAH) provides funding to local groups for expenses related to the presentation of work of local artists, artisans or heritage performers in recurring festivals that promote and encourage community engagement, and that actively involve citizens in their local communities through volunteerism, participation with community partners and interaction with artists.
• Budget 2019 provided an additional $14 million for BCAH’s Local Festivals over two years ($7 million per year for 2019-20 and 2020-21), which allowed the Program to better support government priorities related to efforts of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples as well as diversity and inclusion and address unmet demand.
• BCAH supports more than 700 festivals in over 400 communities annually. Examples include: Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (Vancouver, BC) and Trails, Tales and Tunes Festival (Norris Point, NL).
Canada’s Creative Export Strategy
• As part of Canada’s Creative Export Strategy, the CAPF has been provided additional resources of $500,000 annually for five years (2018-2023) to make strategic investments for international arts presenters to participate in Canadian festivals and performing arts events in order to expose them to Canada’s artists, and to support the reciprocal participation of Canadian arts presenters at international events.
• Under the new Creative Export Canada program, Canadian festivals will be able to apply for initiatives that enhance the discoverability of Canadian works in international markets and generate export revenues.

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