Launch of the Canada Performing Arts Workers Resilience Fund – Question Period Card, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Quebec Lieutenant
Issue
Launch of the Canada Performing Arts Workers Resilience Fund
Update
February 3, 2022
Source
News release
Synopsis
The Department of Canadian Heritage launched the Canada Performing Arts Workers Resilience Fund on February 1, 2022. This new temporary funding program will provide $60 million to help workers in the live performance sector. It will finance initiatives led and delivered by organizations in the sector to directly support independent and self-employed workers (gig workers) in the live performance sector.
Recommended response
Our government recognizes that the live performing arts sector remains disproportionately and negatively affected by the pandemic.
We are standing by the artists and other workers in this sector through these challenging times.
Canadian Heritage is investing $60 million in a new temporary Canada Performing Arts Workers Resilience Fund in 2022–23. We will work with recipient organizations to ensure that these funds benefit as many affected workers as possible.
Background
Economic recovery in the live performance sector is lagging behind other areas of the cultural sector and the broader economy.
Gross domestic product (GDP) for culture recorded its fourth consecutive increase in the second quarter of 2021 and is at 94% of pre-pandemic level. However, live performance GDP lags significantly and sits at 36% of its Q4 2019 levels. While jobs in the overall culture domain in Q2 2021 were at 89% of their Q4 2019 levels, live performance jobs remain at 36,500, which is 50% of pre-pandemic levels.
Pre-pandemic, the labour force of independent artists and performers was approximately 70,000. That number has been in decline, particularly in recent months. It is estimated that up to 30,000 independent and self-employed cultural workers are seeking to remain in the sector or re-enter it.
The Economic and Fiscal Update 2021, released on December 14, included a commitment to: “To support workers in Canada’s live performance industry, the government proposes $60 million in 2022-23 to establish the new Canada Performing Arts Workers Resilience Fund. This temporary program will aim to fund new or enhanced sector-led and -delivered initiatives that improve the economic, career, and personal circumstances of individual Canadian workers in the live performance sector. The government will provide Canadian Heritage with $2.3 million to administer the fund.”
The Minister of Canadian Heritage’s mandate letter includes a commitment to: “Support artists and the cultural sector to recover from the impacts of the pandemic by… Implementing a COVID-19 transitional support program to provide emergency relief to artists and cultural workers.”
The Department of Canadian Heritage was tasked to develop a transition program and held discussions with key representatives in the live performance sector during the development phase of the program.
The Canada Performing Arts Workers Resilience Fund launched on February 1, 2022.
Key program parameters are:
The Canada Performing Arts Workers Resilience Fund will fund initiatives that provide short-term financial assistance to those experiencing economic hardship and requiring emergency support; and/or provide workers with guidance, information, and professional development opportunities in areas such as financial management, mental health and well-being, and career transition.
Eligible applicants to the Canada Performing Arts Workers Resilience Fund are artist unions, guilds, associations, service organizations, benevolent foundations, or Indigenous organizations that are mandated to represent the interests of cultural workers in live performance occupations, including musicians, actors, directors, choreographers, designers, and technicians.
Eligible activities include programs and services that contribute to career resilience and help retain workers in the sector. This can include the provision of direct financial support to workers for emergency or hardship relief of up to $2,500 per worker.
Organizations receiving funding will be responsible to undertake and design their own initiatives, which may include enhancements to existing programs and activities, as well as new initiatives that align with the funding program’s policy objective.
