The Government of Canada missed a key opportunity to deliver on its mandate to Build Canada Strong by failing to provide meaningful new support for Canada’s live performance sector. While Canadian Actors' Equity Association (Equity) welcomes the Budget’s continued support for the Canadian Council for the Arts and the Canada Arts Presentation Fund, a Live Performing Arts Tax Credit was not included in this year’s budget.
“Live performing arts, which includes theatre, ballet and opera, is the cultural lifeblood of our country and central to what it means to be Canadian”, said Equity’s Executive Director Alex Levine. “At a time when our nation and our culture is being tested by aggressive forces from our southern neighbour, specific, intentional, and new financial support for our live performance sector matters more than ever."
Equity is a founding member of a Creative Industries Coalition advocating to replicate the success of the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit by introducing a similar labour-based tax credit to spur private investment in every region of Canada’s live performing arts sector. Independent analysis from Nordicity confirms such a tax credit would stimulate the creation of tens of thousands of high-quality, sustainable Canadian jobs and inject billions of dollars into communities from coast to coast.
“We have extraordinary homegrown creative talent, world-class theatres, and an enthusiastic audience hungrier than ever for Canadian theatre, opera and dance,” said Levine, “The sector is poised for growth, and there’s an undeniably strong case, both culturally and financially, for a national live performance tax credit. That’s why it’s so disappointing that the program wasn’t taken up in this current budget.”
Equity will work with its creative coalition partners to continue to advocate for the Live Performance Tax Credit and remains optimistic that an upcoming budget will recognize its value – and the vital role live performing arts plays in our economy and Canadian culture. We can “Build Canada Strong” by strengthening the infrastructure that supports our ability to tell our stories, showcase our artistic excellence, and celebrate the people, values, humour, and sensibility that make us uniquely – and proudly – Canadian.
Click here to read the statement on Budget 2025, issued by the Creative Industries Coalition.
Click here to read the French-language version.
For more information, please contact communications@caea.com.