Canadian Artistic Institutions Are In Crisis

As our artistic institutions crumble, what does the future of the Arts in Canada look like?

Canada is home to many large art institutions, yet over the past few years, many of these institutions have begun to crumble. These cultural organisations, which many Canadian artists rely on, have been forced to permanently close or drastically cut programming, and the reason is always the same: executives with inflated salaries are transforming these vital artistic spaces into unwieldy corporate ventures.

For reference, last year, The Canada Council for the Arts, the largest national arts funding agency in Canada, announced widespread cuts as a response to the Federal government’s Refocusing Government Spending initiative. The agency was forced to lower its current spending incrementally over three years: $3.63 million in 2024–25, $7.33 million in 2025–26, and $9.88 million in 2026–27 and going forward. This lack of funding is a trend among many struggling art institutions.

Since COVID we’ve seen many arts organizations and artist spaces in Toronto forced to permanently shutter or drastically cut programming with some of our biggest festivals struggling to go on. In the last year alone, the Toronto International Film Festival (which not only helps to build the next generation of Canadian and international film artists but annually brings in 400,000 people and millions of dollars into Toronto's economy), lost its largest sponsor, Bell; Artscape, which offers space for artists to work, was forced into receivership; Toronto Fringe and the Luminato Festival had to undergo major programming cuts; Scotiabank dropped its lead sponsorship of the Contact Photography Festival; Hot Docs programmers quit en masse over financial difficutlites; the Art Gallery of Ontario workers went on strike for better hours and liveable wages. And that’s just what’s happening in Toronto, which has the privilege of being one of the largest creative hubs in the country.

Imagine what’s happening to the arts and culture in other cities and smaller towns across our country.

To quote Soraya Roberts who wrote a wonderful piece in the Local about Toronto’s crumbling Arts Institutions, “I sometimes think that Canada is the worst place in the world to be an artist. I sometimes think that this country might actually be anti-art.”

The artistic institutions in Canada are in crisis and it’s up to all of us to save them.

At See You Next Tuesday we play just a small part in the artistic and creative ecosystem of Canada, but we’re fighting to not only bring this crisis to light but to work with local officials and the institutions who are struggling most to urge Canadians, and our government, to take the arts and culture seriously.

Artists deserve fair wages. Artists deserve spaces to create. Artists deserve a government that believes in the work they’re doing.

We sat down at the ‪Registry Theatre, a longtime community and performing arts theatre in Kitchener, Ontario, to chat with their team and Aislinn Clancy, MPP for Kitchener Centre about the Registry Theatre's commitment to being a haven for artists, the city's role in supporting the arts, and what the future looks like for these institutions.