Federal Government Support for the Arts and Culture in Official Language Minority Communities

Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Canada, March 2008

The objective of the study was to assess the support provided to official language minority community (OLMC) artists and organizations by the federal institutions that have a mandate related to the arts and culture. Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Arts Centre, the National Film Board and Telefilm Canada are some of the institutions that were studied.

The study attempts to paint a global picture of the role played by these institutions in the promotion of linguistic duality through the arts and culture and its contribution to the vitality of OLMCs, both of which are objectives of the Official Languages

The study concludes that Federal institutions that have a mandate related to the arts and culture have made great strides to take the needs of OLMCs into account: there are more tools, there is more dialogue and there are more systematic consultations. However, these measures are not always effective and the communities do not always see tangible results. More focus must be placed on long-term strategies that are appropriate for arts and culture organizations in the development stage.

The study makes 17 recommendations to the federal government, including that federal institutions must provide a coordinated, coherent response to the request for full participation in and equality of access to their programs as best they can. Where necessary, they should develop new tools and creative approaches: guiding principles, best practices, performance measures, community vitality indicators, accountability measures and new methods of supporting infrastructure and disseminating work. To go beyond the letter of the Act, the arts and culture must be included in a comprehensive action plan, new resources must be injected into the system and strong leadership must be shown.

In French: Soutien des institutions fédérales aux arts et à la culture dans les communautés de langue officielle en situation minoritaire

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