Minister Joly and Canada Council for the Arts Announce Important Measures to Promote a Healthy, Respectful and Harassment-free Work Environment in Recipient Organizations

OTTAWA, April 25, 2018

Today, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Simon Brault, Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts announce important measures to promote a healthy, respectful and harassment-free work environment in recipient organizations.

The Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts are pleased to award close to $552,000 to the Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC), which supports workers and employers to build better workplace environments within the cultural sector. The Department of Canadian Heritage is providing $252,000, and the Canada Council for the Arts will be contributing $300,000 to the organization. The funding will be used to support a series of initiatives to equip the cultural sector with the tools, practices and training for building and maintaining respectful workplaces under the title “Respectful Workplaces in the Arts”.

These new tools and resources will be made available to over 1,750 arts organizations across Canada.

In addition to the financial support to the CHRC, Canadian Heritage has made important changes to promote workplace integrity in recipient organizations. We have reviewed our funding instruments to ensure that recipients commit to providing safe and respectful workplaces free from any form of harassment, abuse and discrimination. Specifically, changes will be made to the funding agreements, the application forms, the approval letter and the application guidelines to remind recipients of their commitment to workplace integrity.

Internally, the Government of Canada, both as an employer and as a regulator, is reviewing and updating its approach to dealing with the prevention of sexual violence and sexual harassment in the workplace under the Canada Labour Code (Bill C-65). We are committed to providing a healthy workplace that supports all employees’ dignity, self-esteem and ability to do their job effectively.

On January 5, the Canada Council for the Arts committed to reviewing its operational policies to ensure it could fairly and effectively address situations involving artists or organizations receiving Canada Council funding. That work is complete. Now, when accepting grants, recipients must commit to fostering a workplace free from discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct. Failure to respect this commitment could result in the Council initiating a process to review and potentially reverse a grant decision where there are serious concerns about the recipient, the funded activities, or the soundness of the Council’s investment of public funds.