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1.5 billion to support the arts, culture and sport sectors 

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1.5 billion to support the arts, culture and sport sectors
April 20, 2021

The Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unveiled yesterday a stimulus budget "focused on jobs, growth and resilience". It includes more than $1.5 billion in support for the arts, culture and sport sectors, which have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic. Here is a summary of the measures that will benefit our community:

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Cultural recovery:

  • Creation of a two-year $300 million arts, culture, heritage and sport recovery fund administered by Canadian Heritage to promote the recovery of these sectors from the pandemic. Further details on how these funds will be allocated will follow shortly.

Festivals and performing arts:

  • An investment of $200 million to support local festivals, events and community cultural organizations through Canadian Heritage.
  • An investment of $200 million to support Canada's world-class arts and cultural festivals that attract millions of visitors to Canada from around the world. These funds will be administered by the regional development agencies.
  • 15 million in funding through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund to help arts and heritage institutions upgrade their facilities to meet public health guidelines.
  • Performing arts festivals, celebrations and community cultural events will be eligible for an additional $49.6 million. The funds will be allocated as follows:
    • Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage Program: $14 million over two years, beginning in 2022-2023;
    • Canada Arts Presentation Fund: $16 million over two years, beginning in 2022-2023;
    • Celebrations and Commemorations Program: $19.6 million over three years, beginning in 2021-2022.

Employment :

  • Extension of the Wage Subsidy, Rent Subsidy, and Containment Support Measure through September 25, 2021.
  • Introduced legislation that will establish a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour and increase with inflation.
  • Committing to amendments to the Canada Labour Code to better protect the work of gig workers.

For more details on measures to support the tourism, arts and culture sectors, see the federal government's backgrounder. You can also view the full Budget 2021 by clicking here.

En Piste welcomes these measures and looks forward to the program details. We hope that concrete measures specific to the circus arts will be announced later.

Read the article published in The Globe and Mail.

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