Ontario is launching its first Culture Strategy, which establishes goals and actions to promote participation in arts and culture, build on the sector's economic impact in communities across the province and help Ontarians tell their stories and express themselves.
Eleanor McMahon, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, was in Toronto today at the Art Gallery of Ontario to make the announcement. The strategy reflects the input of nearly 3,000 people who provided feedback last fall during
Culture Talks -- a three-month public engagement process on the value of culture in people's lives. Key actions include:
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Supporting the use of more Canadian authors' content in schools
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Helping to conserve heritage buildings with energy efficiency improvements through Ontario's Climate Change Action Plan
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Enhancing technical and business skills training for workers in the culture sector
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Developing a new fund to support cultural activities in Indigenous communities and supporting youth cultural camps that build leadership and promote awareness of traditional knowledge.
Engagement in arts and culture is a catalyst for creative thinking and innovation. Communities where arts and culture thrive attract creative, talented and skilled people to live and work there. These are essential qualities in the knowledge economy and vital to Ontario's future growth and prosperity.
Supporting arts and culture is part of the government's economic plan to build Ontario up and deliver on its number-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs. The four-part plan includes helping more people get and create the jobs of the future by expanding access to high-quality college and university education. The plan is making the largest infrastructure investment in hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and transit in Ontario's history and is investing in a low-carbon economy driven by innovative, high-growth, export-oriented businesses. The plan is also helping working Ontarians achieve a more secure retirement.
QUICK FACTS
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The culture sector adds more than $25 billion to Ontario’s economy, supporting approximately 280,000 jobs, including editors, publishers and cultural industry production workers; archaeologists, museum and built heritage staff; public librarians; and artists and arts administrators.
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Ontario has more than 58,000 artists, nearly twice as many as any other province.
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A thriving culture sector brings significant individual, social and economic benefits such as enhancing well-being and creating community identity.
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Participating in cultural and leisure activities is one of the indicators in the Canadian Index of Wellbeing that measures quality of life.
Read the Culture Strategy
For more information, read the
News Release of July 20, 2016.