Canada Council for the Arts welcomes today’s announcement that the Government of Canada has renewed for five more years the $25 million in annual funding scheduled to sunset at the end of the current fiscal year. This represents total funding of $125 million over the next five years. Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages James Moore made the announcement in Vancouver, and Canada Council Director and CEO Robert Sirman was there to hear the good news.
“This funding confirmation couldn’t come at a better time,” said Mr. Sirman. “It gives the Council a solid base for planning the implementation of the third year of its Strategic Plan 2008-11, and helps stabilize the arts sector during a particularly challenging economic period.”
Today’s announcement recognizes the important role of the arts in Canada and the value which the Council’s support of professional arts practice brings to all Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, there are approximately 600,000 cultural workers in Canada of whom over 140,000 are practising artists. Further, a study by the Conference Board of Canada reported that the economic impact of the culture sector was $46 billion.
Canada Council for the Arts is a federal Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957. The role of the Council is to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. To fulfill this mandate, the Council offers a broad range of grants and services to professional Canadian artists and arts organizations in dance, integrated art, media arts, music, theatre, visual arts, and writing and publishing. It also promotes public awareness of the arts through its communications, research and arts promotion activities.
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