Arts, Culture, and Heritage Takeaways from the 2024 Federal Budget Announcement
What you need to know for the arts, culture, and heritage sector.
On April 16, the Government of Canada announced its 2024 budget entitled Fairness for Every Generation. The BCMA, in collaboration with the BC Coalition of Arts, Culture, and Heritage Steering Committee, has reviewed the announcement and has highlighted five important takeaways for the arts, culture, and heritage sector.
Where to Access the 2024 Federal Budget
Relevant Takeaways for Arts, Culture, and Heritage Organizations
#1 – Protection for BC’s Great Bear Sea
The 2024 Budget announces a commitment to expand Canada’s network of national parks and marine conservation areas to better preserve natural heritage today and for generations. The document notes that the Government of Canada and Parks Canada have partnered with the Wuikinuxv, Heiltsuk, Nuxalk, Kitasoo Xai’xais, Gitga’at, and Gitxaala Nations, as well as the province of British Columbia, to advance a new marine conservation area reserve, nestled within the Great Bear Sea, also known as the Northern Shelf Bioregion.
Budget 2024 announces that the government is establishing the new Central Coast National Marine Conservation Area Reserve in British Columbia, and proposes to provide $109.6 million over 11 years, starting in 2025-26, with $57.9 million in remaining amortization, and $10.7 million per year ongoing, for its creation and operation.
#2 – New Resources to Fight Systemic Racism, Discrimination, and Hate
To confront hate in all its forms, Budget 2024 proposes to provide $273.6 million over six years, starting in 2024-25, with $29.3 million ongoing, for Canada’s Action Plan on Combatting Hate to support community outreach and law enforcement reform, tackle the rise in hate crimes, enhance community security, counter radicalization, and increase support for victims. There are a handful of relevant potential synergies with the arts, culture, and heritage sector, including:
- $10 million over three years, starting in 2024-25, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support the Changing Narratives Fund. This builds on previous funding of $5 million provided in Budget 2022;
- $25 million over five years, starting in 2024-25, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support Anti-Hate programming and promote intercultural ties and community-based activities;
- $5 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to support the construction of the new Montréal Holocaust Museum, which will greatly expand the number of people, including schoolchildren, who can learn from its important collections;
- $12 million over five years, starting in 2024-25, to Women and Gender Equality Canada to fund projects aimed at combatting hate against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community;
- $3 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to Women and Gender Equality Canada to support security needs for Pride festivals;
- $1.1 million ongoing, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism.
- $1.1 million ongoing, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support the Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia.
- To create a new National Holocaust Remembrance Program, Budget 2024 proposes to provide $5 million over five years, starting in 2024-25, and $2 million ongoing, to the Department of Canadian Heritage, to support initiatives that seek to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and help improve Canadians’ understanding, awareness towards the Holocaust and antisemitism.
Alongside these supports, the government announced additional funding for Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy, which includes $600,000 in ongoing funding for the Department of Canadian Heritage.
#3 – New Funding to Support Canada’s Music Industry, Fairs, and Performing Arts
On March 24, 2024, the government announced $32 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to the Department of Canadian Heritage for the Canada Music Fund to support the development and promotion of Canadian musicians and Canadian music.
Budget 2024 proposes to provide $31 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to the Department of Canadian Heritage for the Canada Arts Presentation Fund to help support organizations that professionally present arts festivals or performing arts series.
Budget 2024 also proposes to provide $1.8 million in 2024-25, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support the Indus Media Foundation in Surrey, British Columbia, to support the completion of their short film that highlights the shared military heritage of Canadian and Indian soldiers in the First and Second World War.
#4 – Specific Commitments Made for Museums and Cultural Centres
Budget 2024 proposes $11 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to:
- Support the Sikh Arts & Culture Foundation and the Royal Ontario Museum to create a museum space in Toronto dedicated to Sikh arts, culture, and heritage; and,
- Support the operations of the Hellenic Community of Vancouver.
Beyond these funding allocations, the federal government is committed to being a funding partner for a new museum and a new cultural centre in British Columbia. Once further details are announced, the Government of Canada promised to contribute to building a new museum highlighting the histories, cultures, and contributions of Canadians of diverse South Asian heritages, as well as a new Filipino cultural centre that will create a designated space for the Filipino community to come together and celebrate its culture and heritage.
The budget also projects that the Government of Canada will support the building of 11 new museums and cultural centres by 2028/29.
#5 – Other Supports for Arts, Culture, and Heritage
Budget 2024 proposes to provide $10 million over three years, starting in 2024-25, to Canadian Heritage for the Canada Book Fund to elevate Canadian authors and stories both at home and abroad through increased supports for Canadian authors and book publishers.
Budget 2024 proposes to provide $45 million over three years, starting in 2025-26, for the National Arts Centre to ensure continued support for artists and productions across the country.
The budget notes the Government’s commitment to “Doubling the budget of the Canada Council for the Arts between 2016 and 2021, with $1.1 billion in new funding for the Canada Council for the Arts since 2015-16, and $180 million ongoing.”
Final Thoughts – What Is and What Isn’t in the Budget
Compared to past federal budgets, the role and value of the arts, culture, and heritage sector appear noticeably more prominent in the 2024 Budget. At the start of the section about the Government’s support of museums, the document notes that, “Our society is made stronger every day by Canada’s cultural and ethnic diversity. Canada’s rich cultural fabric is full of long and celebrated histories and telling these stories both informs and builds bridges of understanding. The government is committed to preserving the past and supporting the future of Canada’s remarkable diversity.”
However, we do not have clarity on the announced cuts to existing Canadian Heritage and Canada Council for the Arts funding programs. In March, it was announced that certain programs would be targeted for cuts as part of an overall reduction in federal funding. Canadian Heritage pre-emptively announced that the following programs are being targeted for reduction or elimination:
The Department of Canadian Heritage (PCH) announced $64 million in cuts across its Grants and Contribution programs by 2026-27. Changes include:
- Canada Cultural Investment Fund – Strategic Initiatives component: Eliminated
- Canada Cultural Investment Fund – Endowment Incentives component: Reduced
- Canada Cultural Spaces Fund: Reduced
- Museums Assistance Program (MAP) – Digital Access to Heritage component: Reduced
Likewise, Canada Council for the Arts announced that it will lower its current spending incrementally over three years: by $3.63 million in 2024–25, $7.33 million in 2025–26 and $9.88 million in 2026–27 and going forward. These amounts are not cumulative; $9.88 million represents 2.7% of the Council’s current funding from the government.
In a recent meeting with Canadian Heritage and Canada Council for the Arts, a member of the Coalition’s Steering Committee was told that both funders were waiting for the 2024 Budget to be announced before finalizing the extent of the funding and program reductions. Based on this news, it is reasonable to assume that more information will be forthcoming soon.
It is also disappointing that another budget cycle has come and gone without the Government of Canada announcing new funding to action the recommendations of the Canadian Museums Association’s Moved to Action report – money that would support arts, culture, and heritage of Indigenous communities from coast-to-coast-to-coast. The Government of Canada still has not succeeded in modernizing Canada’s National Museum Policy. While work on a modernized policy is still underway, no new funding was announced in the 2024 budget for critical areas like modernizing the Museums Assistance Program (MAP) budget, emergency preparedness for arts, culture, and heritage organizations, supporting repatriation/rematriation, or supporting the creation of new Indigenous museums or cultural centres.
Despite the many new initiatives announced in the 2024 budget, the document does not offer a vision for how Canada’s arts, culture, and heritage sector can contribute to the fight against the existential challenges of our time. Arts, culture, and heritage help Canadians reflect on who we are and imagine who we can be. From building a more sustainable future, to supporting anti-racism in our communities, to contributing to a prosperous society, to being an ally in reconciliation, our sector has critical roles to play in bringing communities together to collectively imagine what this change will be.
We urge everyone in our sector to write to their local, provincial, and federal representatives to let them know that arts, culture, and heritage matter and that we are an ally in building a better Canada.
Additional Resources:
We offer these additional reflections about the federal budget from other organizations across the country:
