The Canada Council: investment and performance highlights

The Canada Council is proud of its many achievements since 1957. As the primary vehicle of federal government support to professional artists and arts organizations, the Council has assisted many of the talented individuals and organizations that are now impressing audiences throughout Canada and around the world.

The Canada Council has helped foster a dynamic and internationally renowned arts scene by making investments in creative people with artistic dreams. These investments are paying off – by making Canadian communities better places to live and by generating greater awareness Canadian perspectives worldwide.

“Imagine, for a moment, a Canada without plays, paintings, dancers or musicians. Think about how we would record our stories without Michel Tremblay, Robert Lepage, Thomson Highway, Alex Colville, Karen Kain, Ben Heppner or the thousands of other Canadian artists past and present. It would be a bleak vista — devoid of the colour, life and excitement that our artists bring to our country. Our Arts help to interpret the world from a Canadian point of view and provide a forum for Canadian ideas.

Across the country, Canadian creators in the arts have produced a rich tapestry that reflects our diverse backgrounds by telling our stories, showcasing our achievements and sharing our point of view. We have a vibrant artistic community in Canada and a receptive audience both here and abroad. …

Who makes up this artistic community? Creators — playwrights, actors and producers, painters, sculptors and curators, dancers and choreographers, composers and musicians, and innovators in multimedia. Their work has been assisted by community arts and culture organizations and by federal, provincial and municipal governments. …

There are many benefits to a rich artistic community. It keeps our imaginations active, it encourages us to express ourselves, it helps develop our self-esteem and pride, it teaches our children not only our stories but how they can become part of the story, and it creates a sense of community. …

One of the driving forces behind the arts is the Canada Council for the Arts.”

Culture & Heritage: Making Room for Canada’s Voices
Department of Canadian Heritage
http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/mindep/misc/culture/htm/6.htm

The Canada Council is a Crown Corporation that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. The Council prepares an annual report and its financial accounts have always received a favourable “unqualified opinion” from the Auditor General of Canada.

A brief overview of the Council’s operations

The Council distributed $120.3 million to arts organizations and $22.1 million to individual professional artists in 2010-11 – a grants budget that represents a cost of $5.31 per Canadian per year. The Council’s administrative costs are roughly 13 per cent, compared to over 20 per cent in the mid-1990s.
The Council is overseen by a federally-appointed Board of eleven Directors, and the by-laws provide the permanent, continuing framework for operations. The Council is also bound by government legislation and policies concerning Canada’s official languages, human rights, employment equity and other matters.
The Council was a finalist for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation’s 2001 Award of Excellence, and was profiled in the 12^th Annual Report on the Operations of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act, 1999-2000 for its impressive cultural equity work. In the words of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council’s “Equity Office and the Advisory Committee for Racial Equality in the Arts have been a transformative force, building committee partnerships between culturally diverse communities, the staff and senior management, and the Board of Directors.”
While the Council is not required to prepare a Corporate Plan, it has voluntarily done so since 1999. It has also established a Board Governance Policy, including Ethical Conduct. The Secretary-Treasurer prepares annual budgets for the approval of the Board, and the grants budget is informed by the priorities of the Corporate Plan.
The Investment Committee recommends policies regarding investments and sees to the deposit and safekeeping of securities of the Council.
The Council’s workforce reflects the nation’s cultural diversity (e.g., 11.2 per cent of the Council’s workforce is comprised of people from visible minority groups). Visible minorities now represent 15 per cent of peer assessment committees – the cornerstone for Council support to artists and arts organizations in Canada – and between 15 to 18 per cent of the Council’s funding is distributed to culturally diverse artists.
For more information, link to the Council’s annual reports and performance highlights.

Investments in communities

The Council’s mandate is to foster and promote the arts in Canada – throughout the whole of Canada, not just in major metropolitan areas. The Council reaches far beyond large cities to ensure that Canadians have access to indigenous artistic and cultural offerings. These communities are also where many artists live and work. A Canada Council study in 2000-01 found that of the $104 million in grants to artists and arts organizations, $96 million was distributed in communities with more than 25,000 people. Funding in communities with less than 5,000 people totaled $3.4 million, or 3.3 per cent of total Council funding. In addition, between 1998-99 and 2000-01, the Council funded projects in 825 communities – 351 of which (43 per cent) were to communities with less than 5,000 people, and 101 (12 per cent) were to communities with 5,000 to 10,000 people.
Recent academic research indicates that the quality of life in cities is a critically important factor in enhancing national and international competitiveness because creative, dynamic communities are places where talented, skilled workers prefer to live. Council support to artists and arts organizations in cities, therefore, helps create better places to live and is an important aspect of community economic development. (http://www.creativeclass.org/)
The majority of artistic activity takes place in large cities throughout Canada where nearly 74 per cent of Canada’s artists live. Canada’s cities also house many of the nation’s largest arts organizations and institutions – the world renowned orchestras, ballet companies, theatre organizations, dance companies, opera companies, concert halls, museums and galleries.

Investments in individuals

The Council’s primary function is to invest in people – Canada’s artists and creators, both individually and through professional arts organizations. A total of 2,118 individual artists across Canada benefited from Council funding in 2010-11 . Funding to individual artists, totaling $22.1 million, accounts for 14 per cent of total Council funding.
A Council study on the career impact of grants to individual artists in 2000 found that grants have a profound and far-reaching impact on the creative lives and careers of artists. Artists use words such as seminal, crucial, extremely valuable, profound and vitally important to describe the impact the grants have had on their careers – even though 56 per cent of the grants are $5,000 or less and over 70 per cent are $10,000 or less.
By investing in research, creation and production of the arts through the provision of grants and services, the Council promotes excellence, innovation and cultural diversity in the creative process and creates career opportunities for Canadian artists in Canada and around the world.

Investments in youth

The Council provided about $9.8 million in funding to young audience-related activities in 2010-11. Each year, the Council supports roughly 46 young audience theatres in the country, 22 children’s book and magazine publishers and a variety of children’s festivals.
Arts education, including works for young audiences, is a priority for many Canadian arts institutions and organizations. Council support for these programs is primarily provided through non-dedicated programs to organizations, most notably to theatre companies, orchestras and public art galleries and museums. Support is also provided to individuals who give performances for young audiences, exhibit to young audiences, have education programs that target young audiences or who create work for young audiences. Activities include school tours to galleries and museums, outreach activities to schools and on-site resource tools for students. Each year, nearly one million school children are given tours in public art galleries funded by the Council.
Several Council prizes are targeted to emerging artists, including: the Sylva Gelber Foundation Award, the Robert Fleming Prize, the Virginia Parker Award, the Eckardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, the Canada Council for the Arts Grand Prize for the CBC Young Composers Competition, the Galexie Rising Stars Awards for Young Composers, the Peter Dwyer Scholarships, the Ronald J. Thom Award for Early Design and the Musical Instrument Bank. For more information on Council awards and prizes, please link to: /prizes/

Investments in Aboriginal arts

The Council has identified Aboriginal arts to be one of the three strategic population groups for support. The emphasis on Aboriginal arts was increased significantly beginning in 1998-99 with additional funding for dedicated programs in media arts, dance, visual arts and the Aboriginal Arts Secretariat. In 2010-11, 105 Aboriginal arts organizations received Council support. For more information, please link to the Aboriginal Arts Secretariat at: /aboriginal/
In 2010-11, the Council awarded $6.7 million in grants through either dedicated Aboriginal arts programs or regular granting programs.

Fostering and promoting cultural diversity

The Council has identified the culturally diverse community as a strategic funding priority. In 2010-11, the Council distributed about $10.9 million in direct and indirect funding to culturally diverse artists and arts organizations . This support is increasingly important since it is estimated that by 2020, immigration will account for Canada’s total population growth.
The Council offers three dedicated programs to support culturally diverse communities: the Capacity-Building Initiative: Multi-Year Grants; Capacity-Building Initiative: Project Grants; and Capacity-Building Initiative: Travel Grants. All Council programs, however, are available to culturally diverse communities.
The Council, in partnership with Capacity-Building participants and the Department of Canadian Heritage, launched the Stand Firm initiative in 2001 to encourage peer-networking and continuous learning.
As recognized by the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Council has “been a transformative force, building partnerships between culturally diverse communities, the staff and senior management, and the Board of Directors.” In addition, 11 per cent of the Council’s workforce is comprised of visible minorities, compared to 8 per cent of the Canadian workforce. The Council was a finalist for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation’s 2001 Award of Excellence, and the 12^th Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act, 1999-00 stated that: “There is much to learn from the Canada Council’s work.”

Strengthening cooperative efforts and working relationships

The Canada Council cooperates with a variety of federal government departments and agencies to foster and promote the arts in Canada, including: Canadian Heritage, Foreign Affairs, International Trade, the National Arts Centre, the CBC/Radio-Canada, the National Gallery, the National Film Board, Telefilm Canada, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the National Library and the National Archives.
The Council is eagerly working to establish new working relationships with arts funders across Canada, including: departments, agencies and arts councils within the three levels of government; foundations; private and corporate sectors; and individual philanthropists. These collaborations include regional tri-levels and national meetings of federal, provincial and territorial funders.
The federal and provincial/territorial arts councils and funders have created a Secretariat to coordinate their working relationship – known as Canadian Public Arts Funders (CPAF). The Council is providing this support with both staff and financial resources.
The Council and other funders are working with the Council for Business in the Arts (CBAC) to develop a national organization to incorporate all public and private arts funders in Canada. For more information on the CBAC, please link to: http://www.businessforarts.org/default.asp

Taking Canadian art to the world

An important part of the Canada Council’s legislated mandate is to “exchange with other countries or organizations or persons therein knowledge and information respecting the arts” and to “arrange for representation and interpretation of Canadian arts in other countries.” In 2010-11, the Council provided $12.7 million in funding to international activities and promotion, representing 8.9 per cent of total Council funding.
In 2002, the Council formed an agreement with the Department of Foreign Affairs to promote collaborations, exchanges and dissemination of Canadian artists on the international scene and foreign artists in Canada. (/news/releases/2002/kr127239261417343750.htm)
With other partners, the Council has organized and funded the Canadian participation in various international events, such as the Venice Biennale in Architecture, the Venice Biennale in Visual Arts, the Cervantino (theatre) Festival in Mexico, the Beijing Book Fair, the Cannes Film Festival and international dance productions – among many others.
The Council organized the first World Summit on the Arts and Culture in 2000 and was instrumental in the creation of the International Federation of Arts Council’s and Culture Agencies (IFACCA). The Council’s then-Director, Dr. Shirley Thomson, was IFACCA’s first chair. (/news/releases/2000/zm127241063401406250.htm)

Canada Council investments support federal government priorities

The federal government’s priorities, as outlined in the Throne Speech, generally concern investments in Canadians and in Canadian communities in order to prepare the country for the 21^st century global economy. Specific attention is given to Canada’s Aboriginal population and to Canada’s youth. These are priorities for the Council as well, and its investments are clearly helping Canada achieve its national objectives. For more information on the priorities of the federal government, visit: http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/sft-ddt.asp

For more information: