MONTRÉAL, September 24, 2009 - On behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, the Honourable Claude Carignan, Senator (Mille Isles), today announced additional funding for the École nationale de l'humour, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the National Circus School. With this funding, the government is fulfilling a commitment made in Canada's Economic Action Plan.
"Our Government recently increased its funding for programs that aim to train our future artists," said Minister Moore. "We recognize the importance of investing in this field and are proud to support schools that consistently give tomorrow's artists the high-calibre training they need to succeed."
The École nationale de l'humour has provided intensive professional training to comic performers and writers since 1988. An additional $60,000 in funding will be added to the $150,000 in support that the School is already receiving for 2009-2010.
"The École nationale de l'humour--very encouraged by the recognition of our unique mission and of the contributions of our artistic discipline to Canada's cultural life--will use these additional funds to maintain and develop top-quality, cutting-edge training standards," said Louise Richer, Executive Director of the École nationale de l'humour.
The National Theatre School of Canada, established in Montréal in 1960, is one of the few schools that unites all the theatre arts under one roof. An additional $1.2 million in funding will be added to the $3.3 million that the School is already receiving for 2009-2010. Support is being provided over a three-year period from 2009-2010 to 2011-2012, totalling $11.1 million.
"On the eve of the National Theatre School of Canada's 50th anniversary--the celebration year will be launched on the day we turn 50, November 2, 2010--the announcement of $1.2 million in additional support from the Government of Canada has greatly encouraged us to contribute even more to Canada's theatre scene and to the quality of life of Canadians," said Simon Brault, Executive Director of the National Theatre School. "We will invest most of this funding on salaries for our artist-teachers and training support staff to protect the School's competitiveness and ensure the excellence of the training we provide."
The National Circus School provides professional circus arts training. An additional $240,000 in funding will be added to the $600,000 in support that the School is already receiving for 2009-2010. Support is being provided over a three-year period from 2009-2010 to 2011-2012, totalling $2.04 million.
"The increase in the Government of Canada's funding for high-calibre arts teaching institutions shows that it truly recognizes how important these centres of excellence are to developing specific artistic disciplines in Canada; the arts sector as a whole and the next generation of great Canadian artists can take joy in this," said Marc Lalonde, Executive Director of the National Circus School. "This additional funding will enable the National Circus School--the only school of its kind in the country--to make its programs more accessible to young Canadians from all regions of the country."
Canada's Economic Action Plan provides $20 million over the next two years for training in the arts sector, which includes additional funding of $7 million in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, as well as the renewal of $6 million in funding that was coming to an end in 2010-2011. The budget is thus rising from $17.1 million to $24.1 million per year, an increase of 41 percent. The increased funding will be provided on an ongoing basis.
The Canada Arts Training Fund (formerly the National Arts Training Contribution Program), established by Canadian Heritage and Human Resources Development Canada in 1997, offers funding to arts-teaching institutions. With the success they achieve, artists trained in schools that receive support from the Fund provide outstanding leadership.
For more information, contact:
Deirdra McCracken
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of
Canadian Heritage and
Official Languages
819-997-7788
deirdra.mccracken@pch.gc.ca
Media Relations
Canadian Heritage
819-994-9101
1-866-569-6155
media@pch.gc.ca
