Question Period Note: Museums Assistance Program and new funding for the Heritage Sector

The Museums Assistance Transfer Payment program is playing a key role in delivering new funding for the heritage sector. Following Budget 2021, it has launched two new funding components: the Reopening Fund for Heritage Organizations and the Digital Access to Heritage fund. The tabling of the Supplementary Estimates (B) will allocate $42.8M in Grants under the Museums Assistance Program, and $1M in contributions.

• Our Government recognizes the many challenges that museums and heritage organizations face today.

• In 2021, the Museums Assistance Program launched two new funding streams to support the heritage sector. The Reopening Fund for Heritage Organizations provides $39.8 million in grants to help organizations as they recover from the pandemic.

• The Digital Access to Heritage fund was created with a budget of $20 million over three years to support the digitization of collections and the creation of original content to enhance the visitor experience. In 2021-2022, the Museums Assistance Program will provide $4 million in grants and contributions.

• In the Main and Supplementary Estimates, the Museums Assistance Transfer Payment Program is a suite of three federal programs which provide support for not-for-profit museums and heritage organizations across Canada: Young Canada Works (YCW) - Heritage, Movable Cultural Property Grants, and the Museums Assistance Program (MAP), with an overall 2021-22 base budget of $15.8 million.
• The program is playing a key role in delivering new funding for the heritage sector:
o Reopening Fund for Heritage Organizations - $39.8 million in grants and contributions in 2021-22 to permit organizations to continue to care for their heritage collections under these exceptional circumstances so that they may remain accessible to Canadians and to support ongoing operating costs in institutions as they seek to recover from the pandemic (announced in Budget 2021). The application deadline is November 29, 2021.
o Digital Access to Heritage Fund - launched October 1, 2021 with $3M in grants and $1M in contributions (total $4M), $7M in 2022-23 and $9M in 2023-24 to support digitization of information and collections by museums and heritage institutions, and to support original content such as educational materials, apps or other virtual activities to enhance the visitor experience (announced in Budget 2021).
o YCW – Heritage - $12 million in supplementary funds in 2021-22 under the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy’s Economic Recovery Fund allocated to the YCW-Heritage program, allowing for the creation of 1,240 additional work opportunities (announced in the Fall Economic Statement 2020).
• In response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 67, $680,948 was provided under MAP to the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) to support, in collaboration with Indigenous peoples, a national review of museum policies and best practices to determine the level of compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to make recommendations. The final report and recommendations are expected by March 31, 2022.
Young Canada Works (YCW) - Heritage
• Objective: Helping young people – students and graduates – to gain the skills, experience and abilities they need to establish careers in heritage and cultural organizations, through two streams: YCW in Heritage Organizations (summer/short-term jobs) and YCW at Building Careers in Heritage (internships).
• YCW-Heritage, delivered by five national professional heritage service organizations including the Canadian Museums Association, is part of the Government of Canada's Youth Employment and Skills Strategy.
• YCW - Heritage has an annual base budget of $7.9 million. Between 2017-18 and 2019-20, the program received annual supplemental funding of $5.5 million to create over 500 additional jobs and internships each year.
• In 2020-21, in the context of COVID-19, an investment of $11 million in supplementary emergency funds was allocated to the YCW-Heritage program, allowing for the creation of 1,055 additional jobs and internships.

Museums Assistance Program (MAP) Gs & Cs
• To stakeholders, MAP refers only to the Museums Assistance Program and not the broader Museums Assistance Transfer Payment Program. The objectives of MAP are to facilitate Canadians’ access to and foster preservation of our cultural heritage, including Indigenous cultural heritage, and to develop professional knowledge, skills and practices related to key museum functions.
• MAP annual budget is $6.7 million with funding allocated based on demand and merit, on a regional basis, through three components: Access to Heritage (which includes the Exhibition Circulation Fund); Indigenous Heritage; and
Collections Management (which includes the Canada-France Agreement).
• In 2020 MAP delivered the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Heritage Organizations. This fund provided financial assistance to organizations to allow for the continuous care of heritage collections and ensure continuity of operations under the financial hardships of the pandemic. 1,238 organizations received a total of $33.7 million.

Movable Cultural Property Grants
• Movable Cultural Property grants provide financial assistance to designated museums, art galleries, libraries, archives or related organizations to purchase important cultural property that has a strong association with our national heritage. The annual budget is $1.2 million.

None