Trudeau Commits $500M to Arts, Culture & Sports

The funding will go towards artists and organizations struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic

As Canada continues to move forward with the new coronavirus pandemic economic reality, various levels of governments are moving as fast as they can with financial lifelines that are being thrown to both individuals and businesses.

Now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced $500 million will go directly to support Canadians who work in the arts, culture and sports sectors.

The announcement came this morning during Trudeau’s daily briefing, with the prime minister saying the money would directly impact artists, as well as various organizations, directly affected by the ongoing pandemic

At this point, though, the specifics on how the aid money will be rolled out is unclear. It’s also unclear when the funds will be made available.

As previously reported, the Canadian arts community has been hit hard by the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, the entire Canadian Music Echo System and all of its stakeholders and struggling to stay afloat.

Not only has the live music sector suffered from countless tour and festival cancellations, but multiple now live Music Venues are starting to close for good under the weight of financial debts accumulating.  Canadian record stores have voiced their concern on the truly devastating impact the pandemic is having on their business. Record labels have also been faced with the tough decision of whether it’s financially feasible to release new albums during these troubling times.

In addition to the heritage funding, Trudeau announced this morning that aid money could go towards aiding the environment, with a total of $1.7 billion dedicated to cleaning up orphan wells in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, as well as aiding the arts and culture sectors and helping those in rural Canada.

“Our goal is to create immediate jobs in these provinces while helping companies avoid bankruptcy, and supporting our environmental targets,” he said.

In addition to the $500 million for arts, culture, and sport, the government will establish a $750 million emissions reduction fund to help both create jobs and reduce pollution. Another $75 million funds will help the offshore industry cut emissions specifically in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In addition, $962 million will go to regional development agencies to help the smaller employers in more rural areas, while $270 million will go to entrepreneurial and industrial research.