Join the Viral Campaign: Fund Dance, Connect Communities — Make Your Voice Heard By November 19th!

🧾 It’s Pre-Budget time. MPs are going to vote on the federal budget soon!

🎯 Lack of funding is holding back artists, organizations, and communities. The precarity in the dance sector is vivid, yet dance artists, dance organizations, workers, and supporters have demonstrated incredible resilience over the last four challenging years. It’s about creating more inclusive and thriving communities for everyone.

💞Let’s collectively call the Canadian government to permanently allocate at least 1% of its overall spending towards arts, culture, and heritage annually.

To achieve this for the 2025-26 fiscal year, the Government should increase its allocations by $270 million, specifically:

– An increase of $140 million to the Canada Council for the Arts;

–  An increase of $130 million to the Department of Canadian Heritage.

➡️ Here is a Guide to support your participation in this collective effort.

Advocacy Call To Action

 

THE ASKS : 

The Canadian Coalition for the Arts estimates that the Government of Canada will spend approximately 0.94% of its expenditures on arts, culture, and heritage in 2024-2025. 

We ask that the Government of Canada permanently allocate at least 1% of its spending towards arts, culture, and heritage. To achieve this for the 2025-26 fiscal year, the Government should increase its allocations by $270 million via: 

  1. An increase of $140 million to the Canada Council for the Arts for core funding, touring fund, funding for individual artists with equity and access lens; 
  2. An increase of $130 million to the Department of Canadian Heritage.

A guide to support you in making the case for dance this fall! 

 

MEET WITH YOUR MP

Dance artists and dance organizations need to spend time with both Members of Parliament and prospective candidates to allow them to get to know us and hear that what we do is vital to the economic, social, and cultural health of our communities. 

Here is a guide so you can quickly welcome your local politicians to get to know you, learn why the arts matter nationally, and understand that culture is essential to every constituency. If you find out about political teas or social events in your constituency, please attend and ensure that you also send board members or other advocates to these kinds of events. Regardless of your role in Canada’s dance community, whether working in an arts organization, as an independent artist, or as a collective, you can be an essential part of telling the dance story in Canada. 

Together, if we each speak with our candidates as neighbors, we can help political hopefuls in every riding from coast to coast to coast understand the role that artists and dance organizations play in every single community of Canada. Let’s make these moments matter. 

 

Follow our five steps to make it happen! 

Step 1 

Look up your MPs here (www.ourcommons.ca/members/en) and candidates for all parties if possible. Not all parties will have a candidate listed for every ride right now, but this list will continue to grow this fall.

Step 2 

Invite your MPs to your dance studio, venue, performances, and events. If you have a facility, invite artists to come to events where your candidates will be so they can be part of this movement. 

If you are an independent artist and feel shy about doing this alone, you can contact a dance venue or dance presenter and ask if you can do something together.

Step 3 

  1. Tell them why dance matters to you and how you make it happen. Use the facts sheet to give you some national perspective, but also tell your story – for example: 
    1. How long have you lived in the riding, 
    2. Do your kids go to school there, 
    3. How do you make your work as an independent artist or 
    4. How your organization operates – 
    5. How many people are employed doing different important jobs, 
    6. What economic impact does it have on local businesses and in your neighborhood if applicable

 

  1. Pick one story of impact – something meaningful to you that you can share that connects dance to community in a local way. 

 

  1. Deliver the message. Make it short, clear, and memorable. The candidate will be waiting for you to get to the point of what you would like them to do (support increase for Canada Council for the Arts and Heritage Canada).  

 

  1. Explain how the lack of funding is negatively impacting your capacity to create dance work, hire artists and cultural workers, to do Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Access work, and meet your local public and communities, national and abroad public. Tell the story of the urgent crisis you face in your own words, in your context. 
  2. Point out that your story is repeated in unique and powerful ways in every constituency across the country – that dance matters and requires meaningful federal investment. 

 

Step 4

If they consent, take a photo and post about their visit on Social Media and tag CDA on IG @cdaacd Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/cdaacd or Linkedln.

Step 5

Be grateful. Thank them for coming out and talking with you, and ask them to keep coming to dance events. 

 

(Thank you to the Canadian Coalition for the Arts for this 5 step model.)

 

WRITE A LETTER “Fund Dance, Connect Communities”

 

Step 1 

Look up your MPs HERE. Candidates for all parties, if possible. Not all parties will have candidates for every riding, but this work will continue in the fall.

 

Step 2

Write them a letter. Find a template HERE

VIRAL CAMPAIGN – Fund Dance, Connect Communities

CDA and other art organizations will meet with MPs on Art Day on the Hill on November 19th in Ottawa. Until then, let’s make noise and help the message go through! Tell your story in 1 minute max – Film video in vertical orientation

  1. Post it on Instagram
  2. Tag CDA @cdaacd 
  3. TAG CCA @canada.council 
  4. Tag your MP

IN THE POST SAY :

  • Your name
  • Your position-role
  • Your organization if applicable
  • The city you live in 
  • What is the crisis you face because of the lack of government funding? Make it relevant for your MP, for your audience, for your community, and society.

Use These Hashtags:
#FundDanceFundCommunities
#DanceinCanada
#cdaacd
#canadianartcoalition

Let’s make some noise!  ✊

#FundDanceConnectCommunities #FundDanceInCanada #cdaacd #canadianartcoalition

Visit us here to learn more: https://www.cda-acd.ca/resources/advocacy-calltoaction/