Canada’s dance community calls on federal government to increase funding to the arts
As part of the Canadian Arts Coalition’s national call to action, the Canadian Dance Assembly has launched an advocacy campaign
OURO Collective performing 7y98D. Photo by Elias Djemil-Matassov
THE CANADIAN DANCE Assembly has launched an advocacy call to action as part of a national collective effort to communicate with federal politicians about the need to increase funding to the arts.
“This is important right now because the sector is in crisis,” Karla Etienne, executive director of the Canadian Dance Assembly, says in an interview with Stir. “People want to show their work but really lack the funding to do it. The budget of Canada Council [for the Arts] doesn’t reach the needs of the sector and we really think that it’s very important to do because the sector is vital. There’s a lot of creation going on and dance has a big role to play in social cohesion and in building communities.”
Etienne notes that dance productions are economic drivers, employing scores of people behind the scenes. “It’s like an ecosystem with economic and artistic elements that are essential to the social fabric,” Etienne says. “When we do a premiere we do three or four shows locally but it’s important that we can meet our public in different areas of Canada.”
As estimated by the Canadian Arts Coalition, the government will allocate approximately 0.94 percent of its expenditures on arts, culture, and heritage in 2024-25. This means it will distribute $1,862,357,369 to the Department of Canadian Heritage and $365,758,160 to Canada Council for the Arts during that time period. As part of a national movement launched by the Canadian Arts Coalition, the Canadian Dance Assembly is calling for the federal government to permanently allocate at least one percent of its overall spending toward arts, culture, and heritage every year.
To achieve this for the 2025-26 fiscal year, the government should increase its allocations by $270 million; specifically an increase of $140 million to the Canada Council for the Arts, and an increase of $130 million to the Department of Canadian Heritage, according to the Canadian Arts Coalition.
The $140-million rise in funding to the Canada Council for the Arts would allow for bolstered creation and production grants to individual dance artists and would also provide meaningful support for touring, which often serves as a core revenue stream necessary to sustain essential production activities that keep companies active and cultural workers and artists employed.
“What we do is vital to the economic, social, and cultural health of our communities,” Etienne says.
Charlotte Newman. Photo by Carla Alcántara
Vancouver’s Charlotte Newman, general manager of New Works and the CDA’s service and support standing council chair, notes that time is of the essence.
“The Canadian Dance Assembly is calling dance artists, arts workers, and audiences to action to urgently share their impact stories of the arts funding crisis now because pre-budget consultations are underway,” Newman tells Stir. “With a federal election around the corner, the funding levels that are set this year are positioned to have a significant and lasting impact on federal arts funding for years to come. As the dance community moves out of the shadow of the pandemic we have emerged into a landscape of higher financial precarity, stagnant and decreased funding, and increased risk.
“From organizations to freelance artists, the Canadian dance sector is in crisis; there is no funding stability upon which to exist, let alone grow,” Newman adds. “These realities mean artists and organizations, including New Works, are not only shifting and decreasing activities now, but shrinking our vision of what the future could be. Funding right now, or lack thereof, impacts both dance being created today and the potential of dance to be created into the future.”
Newman echoes Etienne’s thoughts on the power of dance to connect communities.
“Dance has the power to reach across culture, language, and community to offer up collective shared experience,” Newman says. “It invites us to witness and engage in stories and experiences beyond our own lived realities. From gathering in the studio to gathering in the audience, dance brings us together to experience the intangible and value art as a necessity for a rich, thriving, and empathetic society.” 
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