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Stats and Stories 2020-21
Canada Council Funding Overview

Stats and Stories presents a breadth of information about the Canada Council’s funding: detailed breakdowns of funding, five-year trends, open data tables and stories about what artists, groups and arts organizations did with their grants.

Canada Council funding at a glance

Grants in Canada

$310.2M

Grants to arts organizations

$219.5M

Grants to groups

$14.5M

Grants to artists

$80.9M

Grants outside of Canada

$4.7M

Arts organizations supported

2,062

Groups supported

389

Artists supported

3,059

Other programs and activities

$16.2M

First-time grant recipients

1,710

Communities where grants were awarded

726

Artists and arts professionals who served as peer assessors

669

Breakdown of funding

Funded by program or division

Program or division Amount
Explore and Create $105.4M
Engage and Sustain $80.6M
Creating, Knowing and Sharing: The Arts and Cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples $15.4M
Supporting Artistic Practice $37.8M
Arts Across Canada $20.6M
Arts Abroad $6.2M
Prizes $1.7M
Strategic Funds - Digital Strategy Fund $46.1M
Strategic Funds - Other $2.6M
Art Bank $0.0
Canadian Commission for UNESCO $0.0
Public Lending Right $14.8M

Funding by field of practice

Field of practice Amount
Circus Arts $2.3M
Dance $30.0M
Deaf and Disability Arts $4.6M
Digital Arts $3.2M
Indigenous Arts $18.9M
Inter-Arts $6.3M
Literature $36.0M
Media Arts $33.5M
Multidisciplinary Activities $19.2M
Music and Sound $58.1M
Theatre $54.5M
Visual Arts $48.1M
Other Discipline $74.2K

Funding by province and territory

Province/Territory Amount
Newfoundland and Labrador $4.0M
Prince Edward Island $805.6K
Nova Scotia $8.7M
New Brunswick $6.4M
Québec $96.5M
Ontario $103.5M
Manitoba $11.8M
Saskatchewan $5.7M
Alberta $19.0M
British Columbia $48.9M
Yukon Territory $2.3M
Northwest Territories $466.1K
Nunavut Territory $2.1M
Outside Canada $4.7M

5-year trend: grant amounts

Year Amount
2016-17 $184.8M
2017-18 $205.4M
2018-19 $246.0M
2019-20 $270.8M
2020-21 $314.9M
Important note

Opening doors to Canadian arts data

We offer the public detailed statistical data regarding our grant recipients in formatted Excel documents and in a machine readable format (.csv). Data can be sorted by programs, regions (e.g. community and census metropolitan area) and can also be added to other databases on arts and culture activities and organizations in Canada. 

Data Tables
Annual Report 2020-2021

Annual Report

Each year, the Canada Council for the Arts makes its Annual Report available to the public. This document reviews the Council’s commitments from its five-year strategic plan and highlights the year’s major projects while showcasing the work of funded artists and organizations. The Annual Report demonstrates the importance, necessity and impact of public arts funding.

Read the Annual Report

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