Festivals across Canada receive historic boost in Budget 2024
News release
WHITEHORSE, May 16, 2024
Performing arts and vibrant festivals in communities across the country help artists develop and grow, attract tourists, and make life more enjoyable for Canadians. It is also a major economic driver for the creative sector, which represented over $56 billion alone of Canada’s GDP in 2023–2024.
The Government of Canada is committed to supporting the vitality of this country’s artists and arts organizations. Budget 2024 will provide the Canada Arts Presentation Fund with an additional $31 million over two years, starting in 2024–2025, to mitigate the impacts of inflation, help stabilize the recovery of the live presentation sector and bring our communities together to celebrate talented Canadians. Through the Fund, Canadians have access to a variety of professional artistic experiences in their communities.
Today, the Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced an investment in the Yukon Arts Centre through the Canada Arts Presentation Fund. Over the span of four years, the Centre will receive $326,000, plus additional funding announced in Budget 2024. Minister St-Onge shared this news during a visit to Whitehorse, highlighting the crucial role the Centre plays in Yukon’s cultural landscape. The investment will support the Centre’s diverse programming of dance, theatre, music and family-oriented events. Highlights include the Midnight Sun Moppets Children’s Festival and the Hanging Sky Tour, which visits remote communities in Yukon.
Through arts and culture, Canadians unite through our common, cultural touchstones and also through celebrating our differences that make us stronger collectively.
Quotes
“Festivals across Canada are still recovering from the pandemic in many cases, and our recent Budget saw the need to answer the call for extra support. These milestones in our lives, and for our communities, are fundamental. And we see it showcased perfectly in places like the Yukon Arts Centre. For the last three decades, the Yukon Arts Centre has been a hub in their community, supporting emerging and established performers in a range of art forms. By giving talented Canadians a stage to shine on and audiences a place to come together, the Centre enriches the lives of people in Whitehorse and across the North, contributing to more vibrant and connected communities. Across Canada, I look forward to a summer full of successful festivals!”
—The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage
“We are grateful for the continued support of the Department of Canadian Heritage, which helps support a diverse array of essential presentation and outreach programs that benefit communities throughout Yukon, continuing to make art a vital part of the Northern experience.”
—Casey Prescott, CEO, Yukon Arts Centre
Quick facts
-
The Yukon Arts Centre is a multidisciplinary presenter that operates Whitehorse’s largest venue for performing and visual arts. Their programs cover visual arts, performing arts, presenting, training, residencies and community outreach to foster an inclusive, vibrant and creative North.
-
The Centre supports community arts organizations in Whitehorse and across Yukon. Partners include Jazz Yukon, the Dawson City Music Festival, the Adäka Cultural Festival, Gwaandak Theatre, the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre and the Chinese Canadian Association of Yukon.
-
The Canada Arts Presentation Fund provides financial assistance to organizations that professionally present arts festivals or performing arts series and organizations that offer support to arts presenters. Each year, the Fund supports approximately 800 professional arts festivals and performing arts series in more than 270 cities and towns across the country.
Associated links
Contacts
For more information (media only), please contact:
Ariane Joazard-Bélizaire
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
ariane.joazard-belizaire@pch.gc.ca
Media Relations
Canadian Heritage
1-819-994-9101
1-866-569-6155
media@pch.gc.ca
Page details
- Date modified: