$8M federal funding cut could hurt performing arts presenters on P.E.I.

A federal cut to a fund that supports performance arts organizations across Canada has some Island festival organizers worried about potential impacts here on P.E.I. 

As of this March, the federal government is eliminating a $8 million top-up to the Canada Arts Presentation Fund (CAPF), which started giving cash to performance organizations after it was unveiled in the 2019 federal budget. 

Though the Trudeau government said back then that the fund top-up was a time-limited measure, Ottawa renewed the funding in 2020 and again in 2021.  

Under the Spire, a music festival based in a historic church near Kensington, P.E.I., has received funding from the fund for the past several years, said executive director Lindsay Connolly. 

"One hundred per cent of the funding that we receive from the CAPF program goes directly to paying our artist fees," she told CBC on Thursday. 

"We've got an amazing season coming out and I really hope that [the cut] won't have any bearing on what the season is going to come and bring." 

Though Connolly doesn't yet know the direct impact on Under the Spire, she's been speaking to colleagues in the industry who say they could lose anywhere from 15 to 50 per cent of the funding they have been receiving from the program. 

"Less funding [of] the arts means less access to arts, which at the end of the day can be really devastating," she said. 

In a statement, the federal Department of Canadian Heritage said the fund has delivered "a number of temporary relief measures to assist this sector, which was hard hit by the pandemic." 

It adds: "We will continue to support our artists and cultural organizations through existing programs."   

The fund supports about 680 professional arts festivals and performing arts series across Canada. 

A national group representing arts presenters says a region like P.E.I. could be more deeply affected if the fund is not topped up than some others. 

"The smaller the market, the higher the impact because a smaller market is less able to generate ticket revenues and sponsorship than larger ones," said Frédéric Julien, director of research and development at the Canadian Association for the Performing Arts. 

He said theatre, circus and dance will likely be more affected since the scope and cost of productions can be larger than for simpler musical performances.