TAC Releases Report with City "Creating Value with Increased Investment in the Arts"

Toronto Arts Council Releases the City of Toronto/TAC Report Creating Value with Increased Investment in the Arts

Toronto, May 16, 2013 

Today Toronto Arts Council released the City of Toronto/Toronto Arts Council report Creating Value with Increased Investment in the Arts, which identifies and targets immediate arts funding principles and priorities and longer term programs and goals. This report was created following the City of Toronto’s unanimous vote (April 4, 2013) to allocate a $6 million increase to arts and culture funding, from revenues generated through the Billboard tax, $4 million of which is directed to Toronto Arts Council’s grants program. This is an important first step towards realizing the City's commitment to $25 per capita arts funding.

The consultations were held in collaboration with Toronto Cultural Services, Beautifulcity.ca, and the Creative Capital Advisory Committee. Between April 5 and 18, more than 300 people attended 9 consultation sessions held in locations throughout the city. Click here to access the full report Creating Value with Increased Investment in the Arts.

"I was impressed by the strong turnout throughout the consultation process and by the quality of the ideas that people brought forward," said Councillor Michael Thompson, Chair of Toronto's Economic Development and Culture Committee. "The success of this initiative certainly validates the City's commitment to public consultation, especially in sectors like the arts which are so vital to our economic and cultural vitality."

Participants in the consultations encouraged the City and TAC to create conditions where the arts and artists can thrive in Toronto and to use increased investment to expand support to the full spectrum of the arts and heritage community. The consultations endorsed Toronto Arts Council’s Priorities for New Funding while offering many suggestions for improved public access to the arts and new funding programs. Some of the highlights include:

Artist centred: “Making Toronto a better place to be an artist should be the ultimate focus of investment in the arts”

Collaboration: “Encourage cooperation and partnership”

Diversity: “The arts and heritage sectors should celebrate and promote Toronto’s diverse communities and their histories”

Equity: “All Torontonians, regardless of age, gender, socio-economic status, language, where they live in the city, ... should have equal opportunity to engage with the arts”

Innovation: “Dare to invest in new ideas and unproven people and concepts”


“The Board of Directors of Toronto Arts Council is delighted that so many members of the arts community participated in the consultations and offered such thoughtful advice and support,” said John D. McKellar, Chair, Toronto Arts Council. “We on the Board of the Council look forward to implementing many of these ideas in the coming months and years.”

Toronto Arts Council, an arm’s length body of the City of Toronto, funds artists and arts organizations across the city through its grants programs. In 2012, approximately $10.3 million was disbursed to 419 arts organizations and 272 individual artists following assessment of 1562 applications. Toronto Arts Council’s grant budget will increase to $14.3 million in 2013.

Click here for TAC’s Priorities for New Funding, 2013 – 2016.