OTTAWA — The final components of the federal government’s $500-million Covid-19 relief fund for the cultural and sports industries were announced Tuesday by Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault.
The cultural industry has been waiting on the announcement, which helps to address some of the gaps identified since the fund was first implemented. Phase one of the funding included $88.8 million for the Canada Media Fund and $27 million for Telefilm Canada. Some phase two components were announced in June, but they did not include additional details of funding for broadcasters and the audiovisual sector, for example.
With yesterday’s announcement, the federal government is providing emergency support to many organizations which do not normally receive funding from Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm Canada or the Canada Media Fund.
The final components of phase two of the Covid-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations will be distributed as follows:
- $45 million through the Canada Periodical Fund to assist free magazines and weekly newspapers, including those that serve official-language minority or ethnocultural communities
- $25 million distributed through partners to help independent news and community radio broadcasters
- $20 million to help presenters in the live music industry through the Canada Music Fund (via Musicaction and FACTOR)
- $2.5 million to support producers of content in a language other than English or French through the Canada Media Fund
- $52.1 million to various arts and culture organizations that do not usually receive funding from Canadian Heritage programs and/or did not receive funding in phase one. This amount wil
l be provided as follows:
- $8.2 million for the arts sector;
- $27.8 million for the audiovisual and digital media sector;
- $5 million for the music industry;
- $10 million for the publishing sector; and
- $1 million for arts and culture organizations that serve official-language communities.
The breakdown for the $27.8 million in funding for the audiovisual and digital media sector is as follows:
- $1 million for audiovisual training and development partners (to be funded through Telefilm Canada);
- $1 million for independent groups producing access programming for community television (via a partner organization);
- $12 million for audiovisual producers making Canadian content that did not receive funding in phase one (via the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada);
- $10 million for interactive digital media companies (via the Canada Media Fund);
- $1.74 million for Indigenous radio and television broadcasters (current recipients of the Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting Program);
- $1.76 million for movie theatres that show Canadian films (via Telefilm Canada); and
- $345,000 for TV5 (current recipient).
“Our government continues to support cultural, heritage, and sport organizations through the final phase of our Covid-19 Emergency Support Fund. In working with the industry’s feedback, this final phase provides greater access to support for organizations that may not normally receive funding, and organizations that represent a broader diversity of communities. Most importantly, this fund will help to maintain jobs and support business continuity for organizations that have been so greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Guilbeault, in the news release.
