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Enacted in 1993 and brought into force in 1995, the Status of the Artist Act (1995) officially recognises the contributions artists make to Canadian cultural, social, economic and political life and establishes a policy on the professional status of the artist. It also recognises rights of freedom of association and expression of artists and producers, as well as the right of artists' associations to be recognised in law and to promote the socio-economic well being of those whom they represent. Although Part I of the Act (1995) established the Canadian Council on the Status of the Artist, which was intended... read more →

Public funding is allocated on the basis of the Federal Budget and the Public Accounts, which list policy and programme spending for the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Federal Cultural Portfolio.

Canada's Constitution Act (1982) contains several provisions that relate indirectly to culture and directly to citizenship in Canada: Part I - Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part II - Rights of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada, Part III - Equalisation and Regional Disparities, Part IV - Constitutional Conference(s), Part V - Procedure for Amending the Constitution of Canada, and Part VI - a general statement that the Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of Canada, and law that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution is, to the extent of the inconsistency, of no force or effect.... read more →

Trade in culture: consists of imports and exports of goods and services involving Canada's cultural industries as well as the arts and heritage and is manifested, inter alia, in touring and international exhibitions. Exports of Canadian cultural goods in 2006 totalled CAD 2.1 billion, down 12.7% from 2005. Although the Statistics Canada data collected on cultural services is roughly two years behind those pertaining to cultural goods, cultural service exports totalled CAD 3.049 billion in 2004, an increase of 40.8 % from 2003. Film and television production and distribution services (including revived foreign location shooting in Canada of feature films... read more →

While Canada has always been at the vanguard of developing and accessing new technologies such as cable and satellite, their rapid succession and use in creating, transmitting and receiving cultural content is both destabilising and invigorating at the same time. New technologies allow new players to enter the cultural marketplace, increase competition among traditional players and expose vast amounts of digital content to interested consumers. In order to remain competitive, cultural industries face the challenge of using new technologies to develop new products and accessible platforms to maintain overall corporate market shares in both traditional and new media modes. The... read more →

Status of Women Canada (SWC) is a federal agency, established thirty years ago, that promotes gender equality in Canada and the full participation of women in the economic, social, cultural and political life of the country. SWC reports to the Minister of State (Status of Women). Its mandate includes a gender-based analysis of legislation, policies and programmes throughout the federal government including the Heritage Portfolio. SWC operates a Policy Research Fund that supports gender-based research and acts as a knowledge broker on gender equality, a centre of expertise and a catalyst for network building. The following priority areas have been... read more →

Social cohesion is defined by the Council of Europe as "the capacity of a society to ensure the welfare of all its members, minimising disparities and avoiding polarisation." A cohesive society is "a mutually supportive community of free individuals pursuing these common goals by democratic means" (European Committee for Social Cohesion 2004). In Canada, considerable work has been undertaken by government departments, agencies and research institutes such as the Policy Research Initiative (PRI) in respect to social cohesion and its infrastructure of social capital especially networking (Policy Research Initiative 2005). Culture is recognised as a core component of social cohesion... read more →

The early history of cultural policy in Canada used to focus primarily on broadcasting, the "high arts" and heritage in which the federal government has been and remains actively involved for many years. With the rapid growth of the cultural industries, particularly evident over the last forty years, federal intervention in the cultural sector was broadened considerably. Individual components of the cultural sector including the media received support given their perceived importance in producing and distributing Canadian cultural content. While the precise nature of federal cultural support programmes and regulatory regimes varies considerably, the trend in cultural policy in Canada... read more →

Language issues in Canada refer primarily to the country's two official languages, English and French. Pursuant to recommendations of the Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1969), Parliament adopted the first Official Languages Act (1969), which extended to all federal institutions. The current official languages policy is reflected in the: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982): Under Section 16, English and French are proclaimed official languages of Canada and of the province of New Brunswick. Official bilingualism applies to legislative debates and proceedings, statutes, records and journals in federal and New Brunswick courts, and the provision... read more →

Cultural minorities in Canada are diverse in scope and definition. In Canada, the term, "cultural minorities" applies to ethno-cultural, official languages, ethno-racial, religious and demographic populations, including immigrants. "Visible minorities" are yet another definition with populations totalling over 4 million in 2001. One-half of the population in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada's largest and third largest cities, respectively, will soon be comprised of visible minorities according to current and projected immigration trends. Immigrants already constitute 44% of Toronto's population and 38% of Vancouver's population. In 1950, when the landmark Massey-Lévesque Commission linked cultural diversity and Canadian identity, 92% of Canada's population... read more →