Creative Capital Gains

Creative Capital Gains
An Action Plan for Toronto

Report prepared for

City of Toronto Economic Development Committee and Toronto City Council | May 2011
message from Councillor Thompson
As Chair of the City of Toronto’s Economic Development Committee, I
invited Robert Foster, Karen Kain and Jim Prentice to assemble and co-chair
an advisory council tasked with updating the City’s Culture Plan. I asked the
members of the Creative Capital Advisory Council to work with City staff, and
to consult Toronto’s arts and business communities to determine the best
way forward as we confront our present and future economic challenges.
Councillor Michael Thompson Toronto is an undisputed Canadian creative capital, home to more artists and
cultural workers than anywhere else in Canada. These workers drive growth,
create wealth, and make Toronto a desirable place to live and invest. The
City’s investments in cultural enterprises leverage additional capital from the
private sector and other levels of government. Culture is an economic catalyst
we can and must maximize for the benefit of all our communities.
I am pleased to table this report on behalf of Toronto’s Creative Capital
Advisory Council. We believe that the recommendations and action plan
it contains can help strengthen Toronto’s economy and enhance our
competitive advantage on the world stage.
Councillor Michael Thompson

Chair, Economic Development Committee
Councillor, Scarborough Centre
Ward 37
On the cover:
Breaking at Manifesto Festival of
Community & Culture 2010;
Photo courtesy Manifesto
Documentation Team
Table of Contents
Letter From the Co-Chairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The Creative Capital Advisory Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Taking Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Human Capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Funding Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Toronto’s Cultural Policy Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Cultural Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Post-Cultural Renaissance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Next Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Affordable Spaces for Cultural Industries and Community Arts . . . . . . . . 16
Civic Theatres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Recommendation 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Access and Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Supporting Youth Engagement and Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Local Arts Service Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Cultural Hotspot of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Recommendation 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Cultural Scenes and Creative Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Toronto’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Digital Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Cultural Entrepreneurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Recommendation 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Positioning Toronto as a Creative Capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Raising Our Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Major Cultural Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Sharing Our History, Building Our Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Events Portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Toronto: City of Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Recommendation 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
The City’s Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Convening Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Cultural Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Recommendation 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Finance and Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Recommendation 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Table of Recommendations, Actions and Key Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Appendix 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Appendix 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Appendix 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
An Action Plan for Toronto 1

Dear Councillor Thompson and Members of the Economic Development

Committee,
Please find attached our report, Creative Capital Gains: An Action Plan
for Toronto. Our work has been guided by our belief in the concept of the
Robert J. Foster Creative City as the economic engine that will ensure a strong future for
Toronto. We believe in the need for creative capital, the competitive nature of
cities, and the high mobility of the best and brightest talent.
In developing this report, we brought together the cultural and business
sectors to strategize about Toronto’s future as a leading Creative City.
Participants engaged in passionate conversations and the volume of
innovative ideas that arose is a testament to the widespread commitment to
and belief in the arts, culture and creativity in this city. We listened carefully,
and we heard clear messages, which are reflected in our concrete plan of
action.
We recognize that the City will be making some tough decisions in the months
ahead. We table our recommendations not just for the next few months or
even years, but to ensure the future prosperity of our city.
The competition for talent, tourism and investment is great; the stakes
Karen Kain are high. All major cities clearly understand this. We cannot afford to lose
ground. To win and become a strong, economically successful city, we must
take hold of the creative capital concept and drive it forward aggressively.
We are convinced that Toronto has everything it needs to stake out a strong
and successful future as one of the world’s most liveable, creative and
competitive cities. We must commit to the bold moves required to make it
happen.
Robert J. Foster Karen Kain Jim Prentice

Co-Chair Co-Chair Co-Chair
CEO, Capital Canada Artistic Director, Vice-Chair, CIBC
National Ballet of Canada
Jim Prentice
2 Creative Capital Gains

The Creative Capital Advisory Council
The Creative Capital Advisory Council, co-chaired by Robert Foster, Karen
Kain and Jim Prentice, was established in January 2011. We wish to express our
sincere appreciation to our exceptional team of advisors. All of the following
leaders in business, the creative industries, not-for-profit arts, community arts,
and cultural policy volunteered their time and valuable expertise:
Nichole Anderson President and CEO, Business for the Arts
Cameron Bailey Co-Director, Toronto International Film Festival Group
Claire Hopkinson Executive Director, Toronto Arts Council
Che Kothari Executive Director, Manifesto Community Projects/
Manifesto Festival of Community & Culture
Gail Lord Co-President, Lord Cultural Resources
We were joined by special advisors:
Richard Florida Author and Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute
Kevin Stolarick Research Director, Martin Prosperity Institute
Jeff Melanson Executive Director and Co-CEO, Canada’s National Ballet
School; and Special Advisor to the Mayor - Arts & Culture
We commenced our work by evaluating progress the City had made on its
previous goals and benchmarks. We conducted research; we consulted widely;
we listened and we heard. Our process involved:
• An assessment of the progress on the 63 recommendations in the 2003
Culture Plan for the Creative City
• 13artsfocus groups and consultations for industry leaders, the community
sector and the public, with more than 300 participants (listed in
Appendix 1)
• Meducation,
eetings to obtain expert advice from partners in business, tourism,
planning, affordable housing, libraries, community
development and other City staff
• Literature review of other major policy and planning documents
• Online summaries of our focus groups and consultations for the public to
follow and comment on, posted on livewithculture.ca
Councillor Michael Thompson addresses the first industry focus group at St. Lawrence Hall,
February 3, 2011. Photo by Jose San Juan

Preface
Culture animates a city. Whether it’s the big showy downtown event, a
neighbourhood festival or a Tai Chi group meeting in a suburban park, culture
infuses life into every corner of the city. Why? Because everyone who lives or works
in our city has the potential to be creative—and culture stimulates that creativity,
leading to a better and stronger Toronto. That’s why culture is more than just “nice
to have”: it creates real competitive advantage.
Toronto’s cultural and creative capital creates businesses, attracts new residents
from around the world, draws in tourists, increases quality of life for its current
Scene from The Nightingale and Other Short residents, and gives commuters from the suburbs a reason to stay in the city after
Fables; Photo courtesy Canadian Opera office hours. But this position is tenuous. Although Toronto has a reputation for
Unternehmen
world-class cultural events and facilities, cities around the world are working hard
to better leverage their cultural and creative capital. Toronto must do more to retain
and enhance its competitive position.
Yes, Toronto must do more. But that does not mean the responsibility rests
solely with the City. The business community, not-for-profit foundations and
organizations, individuals and the cultural community must all play their roles if
Toronto is truly to become one of the world’s creative capitals.
This report makes a set of recommendations to the City of Toronto. While all
these other actors have their parts to play, for now they can wait in the wings and
rehearse their lines. What should be the City’s part in our cultural production? Is
the City the star? A supporting character? Or maybe just playing a walk-on cameo
(to thunderous applause)? Many within the cultural community believe that the City
should be a producer (just pay the bills) and a silent partner. It is our core belief
that the cultural competitive advantage of Toronto is most enhanced when the
City focuses its attention, effort, and resources on providing the best service to all
residents and by doing those things that only the City can do well.
There are three broad overarching themes that fit this framework:
1. Focusing on service
2. Using the City’s convening power
3. Making cultural investments where only the City can
Service
City on the Move: A Festival of Young Artists in
Transit; Photo by C. Jones In a great city, cultural “customers” are both consumers and producers. Every
consumer is a potential producer, and every producer is a potential consumer.
The city’s customers for cultural goods and services are varied and diverse. They
include tourists, residents, commuters and kids, as well as individual artists and
arts organizations. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to addressing the customer
service issues that were raised during the consultations and other research. However,
one consistent theme emerged: working with the City can be a real challenge. At
present, the City of Toronto’s enormous creative capital is constrained because
it necessarily forms part of different City departments, agencies, boards and
commissions. For example, art, heritage and public art are in the Culture Section;
tourism lives in Economic Development alongside fashion and design, while film is
separate again. Parks, planning, housing, transportation, public works, the TTC,

and other public entities increasingly need to engage with designers, artists and the
creative economy.
We urge the Mayor to convene a Creative Capital Working Group to coordinate all these
creative resources. The Working Group would join all the arts and creative disciplines
in the City administrations, working with those in the private sector, the province
and the federal government to improve Toronto’s creative capital, to provide better
creative services to all Torontonians and to strategize on acquiring non-conventional
funding from the private sector and other levels of government.
Convening Power
The City of Toronto is so alive with culture that organizations and institutions often
get focused solely on their own endeavours. Opportunities for coordination, which
could greatly magnify the impact of events and exhibitions, are frequently lost.
Further, the business community noted that greater awareness of the City’s plans
and priorities would help them with their funding decisions. With several major
events happening over the next five years—peaking with the Pan/Parapan American
Games in 2015—greater coordination would help to dramatically improve the city’s
competitiveness on the world stage. Awareness of opportunities and coordination of
efforts could be accomplished without requiring any additional funding.
We invite the Mayor to convene periodic Mayor’s Breakfasts for Toronto’s cultural
attraction and business leaders to discuss upcoming opportunities and events, to
support tourism and to facilitate greater information and knowledge exchange.
Cultural Investments Summer camp at Scarborough Historical

Museum; Photo courtesy City of Toronto
The City’s investment achieves greater leverage when the City provides support
that would otherwise go wanting. The City is in the best position to understand,
evaluate, and facilitate support for a myriad of events and organizations across
the entire city. The City’s investment can also be the initiator for a whole stream of
additional funding from a wide variety of other sources. Often, the City’s support
can come via in-kind services or the waiving of fees or other charges. Although
highly leveraged by funding from other sources, the City’s investment in culture is
tremendously important. To maintain and build significant competitive advantage,
the City needs to bring its commitment to culture to be more in line with that of
other global creative capitals.
We recommend that the City keep pace with international competitors by making a
firm commitment to sustain Toronto’s cultural sector and to position Toronto as a
leading, globally competitive Creative Capital.
We care deeply about the future of our city. We recognize that in a time of necessary
fiscal restraint, the City must think carefully about its investments in order to ensure
they are working for the good of all taxpayers. This report details how targeted
investments in the cultural economy can generate significant returns for the people
who live and work here, and come to visit our great city. Toronto can create jobs
and wealth, attract and retain talent, build stronger neighbourhoods, and build a
prosperous city through culture. We have an opportunity to capitalize on our strong
economic position relative to many of our competitors by recognizing that culture is
the fundamental driver of Toronto’s future prosperity. The stage is set. The curtain
has gone up. We must act now.

Executive summary
“Whenever and wherever societies have flourished and prospered rather than
stagnated and decayed, creative and workable cities have been at the core of the
phenomenon. Decaying cities, declining economies, and mounting social troubles travel
together. The combination is not coincidental.”—Jane Jacobs
Toronto is recognized internationally as one of the world’s most liveable cities,

with safe and healthy neighbourhoods, a competitive business climate, and a
vibrant culture.1 Toronto has a wealth of creative capital to exploit—from its
training centres, skilled workers, and great cultural institutions and festivals,
to its unrivalled diversity and exciting cultural scenes. It is because of the
potential these assets have to benefit the city, to improve quality of life, and
to build a stronger knowledge economy, that we need an action plan.
The city’s cultural sector helps us to attract and retain talent from around the
world. Toronto’s cultural economy contributes more than $9 billion annually
to Toronto’s GDP and employs more than 130,000 people.2 The culture
sector in Toronto employs six times more workers than Ontario’s aerospace
industry3 and is roughly equivalent to the 135,000 people employed in
Ontario’s automotive sector.4
Toronto’s investment in the cultural economy must not stall. It creates jobs,
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010, Just because wealth, innovation, social cohesion, civic identity and makes the city desirable
you can feel it, doesn’t mean it’s there by Ryan to visitors and businesses. The cultural economy is a potent mix of for-profit
Gander; Photo courtesy City of Toronto
cultural industries, not-for-profit arts organizations, individual artists and
cultural workers, and public and private funders. Realizing our potential as a
Creative Capital means assessing the challenges the sector faces, and investing
in future growth.
The challenges include: access to affordable and sustainable space for
cultural organizations in many neighbourhoods; space and infrastructure
for start-up cultural entrepreneurs; the equitable distribution of cultural
services throughout the city and to all segments of the population; ongoing
sufficient and stable core operating funding to the not-for-profit arts sector;
the recognition and support of cultural clusters to amplify the work of our
cultural industries; and the need for much greater collaboration to promote
cultural tourism and Toronto’s identity as a Creative Capital. Unaddressed,
these issues threaten the health of Toronto’s cultural sector and will ultimately
hamper our city’s liveability and prosperity.
Although the actions required to overcome these challenges and advance
Toronto’s position will involve many players, the City must play a key role in
1
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2010 Cities of Opportunity report ranks Toronto first in liveability.
2
Deloitte & Touche LLP and Affiliated Entities, Economic Contribution of Toronto’s Culture Sector, (2005)
3
22,000 people employed in Ontario’s aerospace industry – Source: Ontario Aerospace Council, Ontario
Aerospace Industry Overview, (March 2011).
4
Invest in Canada. AUTOMOTIVE: Key Clusters – Ontario, (August 2008). <http://investincanada.gc.ca/
eng/publications/automotive.aspx#ft2b>

providing leadership. To this end, we urge the Mayor to champion Toronto
as a Creative Capital and to use the City’s convening power to coordinate
efforts.
As a group of individuals who care deeply about the future of our city, we
recognize that in a time of fiscal restraint, the City must think carefully about
its investments and ensure that they are working for the good of all citizens.
This report details how targeted investments in the cultural economy can
generate significant returns for the people who live and work here, and visit
our great city.
WE RECOMMEND THAT THE CITY:

Ensure a supply of affordable, sustainable cultural space.
Ensure access and opportunity for cultural participation to
all citizens regardless of age, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation,
geography, or socioeconomic status. Manifesto Festival of Community & Culture
2010; Photo courtesy Manifesto
Support the development of creative clusters and emerging cultural Documentation Team
scenes to capitalize on their potential as generators of jobs and
economic growth.
Promote its cultural institutions, festivals and other assets to
enhance its position as a Creative City regionally, nationally, and
internationally.
Keep pace with international competitors by making a firm
commitment to sustain Toronto’s cultural sector and position
Toronto as a leading, globally competitive Creative Capital.
WE RECOMMEND THAT THE MAYOR take a leadership role in
Toronto’s creative capital strategy.
To realize its potential and position itself as a city where people want to live
and work, businesses want to invest, and to which visitors want to return
again and again, Toronto needs to act strategically and invest wisely in its
cultural sector. It needs resources to carry out these recommendations.
Meeting the goal of $25 per capita expenditures on culture, first approved in
the 2003 Culture Plan and reaffirmed by City Council in August of 2010, must
be a priority of this administration. This increased expenditure will have the
greatest impact if it takes the form of direct investment in artists and arts
organizations, which in turn leverage each municipal dollar into almost $20
of earned revenues and additional public and private sector investment.
This report of the Creative Capital Advisory Council is the first of many
necessary steps to ‘put creativity to work’ and to fulfil the potential of the city.
The benefits belong to all citizens. This will enhance the long-term prosperity Young students play sheep in the National
of our city and Toronto will truly be able to capitalize on its creative capital Ballet of Canada’s Nutcracker;
gains. Photo by C. Jones

Taking Stock
“What we are doing is very important. Cities in North America and around the world
are working hard to leverage their creative capital, the only real capital we have,
actually. This report can provide a siren call for Toronto to take a leadership position
in this area. If we want to build a truly great global city, we must.”— Richard Florida
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010, HAUNTINGS
I by Guy Maddin; Photo courtesy TIFF
Toronto is internationally recognized as one of the world’s most liveable
cities.5 This recognition is based on our competitive business climate;
our highly educated and diverse labour pool; our safe and vibrant
neighbourhoods where people of more than 200 nationalities live together;6
and of course, our culture. Ambitious and alive, Toronto is continuously
shaped and reshaped by the creative forces at work here. This is what creates
a sense of place, a feeling of belonging and it is what makes the city so
attractive to visitors, citizens, and to the businesses that employ them.
The UK Department of Culture,
Media and Sport (DCMS) defines Toronto’s unique identity is rooted in diversity and a rich array of cultural
the creative sector as “those assets worth developing and sustaining: more than 70 film festivals; 200
industries which have their origin in professional performing arts organizations; countless commercial and not-
for-profit galleries and museums; internationally recognized symphony, ballet
individual creativity, skill and talent
and opera companies—and so much more.
and which have a potential for wealth
and job creation through the Our creative sector draws talent because workers in the knowledge economy
generation and exploitation of value a thriving arts and culture scene. There is a direct correlation between
intellectual property.” 9 education and cultural consumption,7 and Toronto’s workforce is one of the
most educated in Canada: more than 55% of Toronto residents over the age
of 15 hold post-secondary degrees or certifications.8
While Toronto’s cultural richness contributes immeasurably to its liveability,
its creative sector is also big business, generating more than $9 billion of
Toronto’s GDP.10 Creative industries are growing faster than financial services,
the medical and biotechnology industries, and the food and beverage
industry;11 creative occupations12 are growing more than twice as quickly as
the overall labour force.13 The sector currently employs more than 130,000
people, or 5% of the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area’s workforce.14 The
impact of their work resonates well beyond the sector itself.
Ensuring that Torontonians in every neighbourhood have full and
5
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2010 Cities of Opportunity report ranks Toronto first in liveability.
6
MPI, Strength in Diversity: The Different Facets of Toronto’s Key Strength, (2010).
7
Jacques Ewoudou, Understanding Culture Consumption in Canada, (Statistics Canada. Culture,
Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics Division: 2005). <http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/
collection_2008/statcan/81-595-M/81-595-MIE2008066.pdf>
8
City of Toronto, “Demographics: Educational Attainment”, Invest in Toronto, (Source: Statistics Canada,
2006 Census Data). <http://www.toronto.ca/invest-in-toronto/labour_force_education.htm>
9
Creative Industries Task Force, The Creative Industries Mapping Document 2001, (Department of
Culture, Media and Sport: 2001) p5.
10
Deloitte & Touche LLP and Affiliated Entities, Economic Contribution of Toronto’s Culture Sector, (2005).
11
Vindorai, Tara, 2010 update to Imagine a Toronto… Strategies for a Creative City, (2006), based on Statistics
Canada, Labour Force Survey, 1991-2009 [special tabulations].
12
In this report, creative occupations refer to a narrowly defined set of 19 occupations found in Appendix 2.
Note: This figure does not capture those employed in the creative industries, regardless of their particular
occupation, e.g. an accountant working at a film company.
13
Vindorai, 2010 update to Imagine a Toronto…, based on Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 1991-
2007 [special tabulations].
14
Ibid.

participatory access to culture is not only important for economic
development, but also for quality of life. There is no shortage of clear links
between culture and well-being. Participatory arts programs for older adults
have been shown to aid in health promotion and disease prevention;15 young Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of
people who engage in cultural activities develop lifelong skills, perform better
Music: a model of Music Education
academically, feel connected to society, and learn to express their aspirations
Excellence
as citizens and future leaders.16
One of the most prestigious concert
Human Capital halls in the United States, Carnegie
Hall, is taking a cue from the Royal
When it comes to creative talent, Toronto is blessed with deep bench strength:
Conservatory of Music’s (RCM)
• 66% more artists than any other city in Canada 17
internationally renowned music
• 1 in every 4 creative industry jobs in Canada (Toronto CMA) 18 curriculum and examination system.
• 1 in 3 of the province’s cultural workers (while Toronto has 1 in 5 of all In partnership with Carnegie Hall,
the RCM will work to expand its
Ontario workers) 19
world-class system to music students
This critical mass of cultural workers and artists is the foundation of our in the US. More than 100,000
creative economy and acts as a magnet which attracts talent both in and out students participate in Royal
of the cultural sector.
Conservatory exams across Canada
Toronto also has a wealth of renowned educational institutions, such as and over 4,000 students participate
Canada’s National Ballet School, the Canadian Film Centre, and the Royal in the RCM’s community school
Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School, which provide world-class across the GTA.
training, as well as a number of high-quality post-secondary institutions,
including OCAD University, North America’s fourth-largest school of art,
the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University, Centennial
College, George Brown College, Humber College, Seneca College, and
Sheridan College. All contribute to the development of Toronto’s cultural
workforce and encourage the research and development that fuels our
creative economy. These talented graduates have an important role to play
in Toronto’s future prosperity; the challenge is to retain them, and to attract
them back if they have settled elsewhere.
In addition, a vital and energetic community arts sector contributes to the
training and development of talent in every neighbourhood. Community
groups across the city teach, create and perform everything from landscape
painting to hip hop, photography and filmmaking, to crafts and choirs.
Greta Hodgkinson and Aleksandar Antonijevic
The Funding Mix in Emergence; Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann,
courtesy National Ballet of Canada
Toronto’s cultural community depends on both the private and the public
sectors working together to fund it. Private sector support for arts and
15
Gene D. Cohen, The Creativity and Aging Study: The Impact of Professionally Conducted Cultural
Programs on Older Adults, (The Center on Aging, Health & Humanities - George Washington University, and
National Endowment for the Arts: April 2006)
16
For a compendium of many research studies that confirm these and other positive effect of the arts, see
Creative City Network of Canada, Making the Case for Culture, Personal and Social Development of Children and
Youth, (2005).
17
Kelly Hill, Mapping Artists and Cultural workers in Canada’s Large Cities, (Hill Strategies Research: Oct. 2009)
p42.
18
Meric Gertler, Lori Tesolin, and Sara Weinstock, Imagine a Toronto...Strategies for a Creative City, (2006) p2.
19
Hill, Mapping Artists. p42.

Night It Up! Night Market; Photo courtesy Harbourfront Centre
Deborah Bowes instructs young ballet students; Photo courtesy Canada’s National Ballet School

“Big business in Toronto cares about
the arts and wants to see it support-
ed by the City” —Thomas Bogart,
Executive VP, Corporate Develop-
cultural events and cultural institutions is five and a half times that of ment & General Counsel, Sun Life
municipal support, and almost equals public sector investment from all three
Financial and Chair, Culture Days
levels of government. In 2009, the private sector provided $91 million in
Council of Corporate Champions
support of City-funded cultural organizations through private foundations,
corporate philanthropy, corporate sponsorships, and individual donations;20
this is in operating dollars alone. This figure does not even capture the
underwriting of loans and gifts of in-kind goods and services, including
high-level pro bono legal, accounting, and management consulting services.
In addition, over the past decade, private sector capital campaigns for
Toronto’s Cultural Renaissance projects (e.g. ROM Michael Lee-Chin Crystal,
Transformation AGO, etc.) raised more than $1 billion.
Every charitable and not-for-profit organization depends on funds it raises
from the private sector and relationships with donors and sponsors. Almost
all for-profit cultural industries (publishing, music, film and television
production, broadcasting and fashion) benefit from tax incentives and
government investment.
Private sector support cannot replace public investment, however. Generally,
in Canada, private sector funding follows public sector investment. Through
the arts granting system, artists and cultural organizations receive their crucial Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010, Later That
Night At the Drive-In by Daniel Lanois; Photo
first investments as they build the foundations of their practices. Due to the courtesy City of Toronto
emphasis on excellence, peer assessment, governance and accountability,
public funding confers credibility on emerging artists and organizations,
especially those seeking to create new and innovative work. For example,
Michael Ondaatje, Atom Egoyan, and K’naan, all built commercial success
and monetized their creative work after initial modest investments from the
public sector.
While private sector funding is directed towards cultural programming, all
One way of looking at public
three levels of government provide stable and irreplaceable core operating
investment in the arts is to consider
funds for not-for-profit arts organizations. The public and private sectors may
support the same organizations, but they are often unaware of each other’s the effect it has on accessibility and
priorities and processes. Investments in the cultural sector may be maximized ticket prices. Public funding enables
by creating formal mechanisms for public and private sector funders to share cultural organizations to offer free
information, policy directions, and economic forecasts. Given that culture events and keep ticket prices low.
is an intrinsic part of Toronto’s economic development agenda, the City In absence of any public funding,
should provide leadership to convene cultural and business leaders to develop a $60 ticket price for a cultural
strategies together. performance would increase by 87%,
The City has limited resources and restricted or shared jurisdiction in many costing $112.21
areas of vital importance to culture. Toronto spends only about 1% of its
net operating budget on culture, yet this small investment yields big results,
particularly when channelled through grants to artists and arts organizations.
As the government closest to the ground, the City is often first in, providing
the credibility that triggers the participation of federal and provincial
governments, private sector sponsors and donors. Without municipal
investment, other partners are less likely to come to the table.
20
Source: aggregated 2009 annual audited financial statements, CADAC (Canadian Arts Data/ Données sur
les arts au Canada).
21
Using aggregate data from CADAC, a hypothetical ticket price was increased by the percentage increase
required in earned revenues to break even when all public funding was removed.

Since 1957 the City has provided grants to arts organizations. These grants
subsidize cultural performances and products, making them more affordable
and accessible to the public. In 2009, for every dollar the city put on the table,
cultural organizations were able to leverage a total of $17.75—a remarkable
return on investment:22
$1 in City funding generates:
$5.15
Other levels of government
$5.48
Other levels of government
Manifesto Festival of Community & Culture Private sector
2010; Photo courtesy Manifesto
Documentation Team $7.12
Earned revenues
(ticket sales, program fees, venue rentals, bar and gift shop sales, etc.)
$17.75 TOTAL
Since 1990, however, Toronto’s investment in culture has not kept pace
with other sources of funding, inflation and population growth. In fact,
the percentage of municipal funding received by City-funded cultural
organizations has dropped by half. Figure 1 below, illustrates how much
municipal investment lags behind growth in other sources of funding.
Figure 1
Cumulative Growth Rates of Revenue Sources

City-funded Cultural Organizations
260%
210%
Cumulative Growth Rate
160%
110%
60%
10%
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008
-40%
Municipal Private Fed/Prov Total Revenue Inflation
Summer camp at Scarborough Historical Source: City of Toronto; CADAC Audited Financial Statements
Museum; Photo courtesy City of Toronto
Toronto’s Cultural Policy Legacy
Toronto has a history of proactive cultural policy development dating back to
the establishment of the Toronto Arts Council in 1974. In 2003, City Council
adopted the 10-year Culture Plan for a Creative City, which recognized the
essential role of Toronto’s arts, culture and heritage assets in the city’s future,
and in the quality of life of its residents. The good news is that the City has
already implemented or is currently addressing more than 87% of the Culture
Plan’s 63 recommendations.
Source: aggregate 2009 annual audited financial statements, CADAC (Canadian Arts Data/ Don-
22
nées sur les arts au Canada)

The Culture Plan showed that major creative cities are fuelled by leadership
and investment at the local level. It used municipal per capita expenditures
on culture (including operating, grants and capital) as a way to benchmark
Toronto’s leadership and investment against competitor cities. In addition to
the per capita input measure, the Culture Plan also tracked five cultural output
measures, such as funds leveraged by City investment, and five economic
impact measures, such as the number of culture sector jobs. Together, these
11 metrics give an indication of local commitment to culture, measure
the results of the investment, and provide a way to gauge the health of the
Creative City.
NBS students in studio B; Photo courtesy
Inputs Outputs Impacts Canada’s National Ballet School
Per capita Funds leveraged by increased Number of culture sector jobs in
investment in City investment in arts and Toronto
culture culture grants
Number of and attendance at Impact of the culture sector in
City-funded cultural events Toronto on GDP
Number of and attendance Toronto’s ranking on Florida’s
at City-funded cultural Creativity Index
programs for youth
Number of new arts Number of location permits
organizations funded issued for film and television
productions
Number of designated and Number of visitors to
listed heritage properties Toronto
The Culture Plan showed that Toronto’s investment in culture—at that time,
$14 per capita—was 46% less than Montréal’s per capita investment of $26. Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010, Aurora by
The Plan called for the City to increase its per capita investment to $25 by Phillip Beesley; Photo courtesy City of Toronto
2008—by which time Montréal had increased to $33 per capita. By 2010,
Toronto’s investment in culture stood at $18 per capita, still well short of
the $25 goal originally set for 2008. In August 2010, City Council adopted “A healthy arts and cultural
the staff report Strategies for Arts and Culture Funding, and recommitted to the
community is vital to the overall
previously approved Culture Plan goal of $25 per capita by 2013.
economic climate in Chicago. Our
Toronto is currently part of a study with four other Canadian municipalities Department of Cultural Affairs
(Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, and Montréal) to ensure that common needs a renewed mission and new
elements are included in all per capita measures to enable valid comparison investment. As Mayor, my first
across jurisdictions. Results of this report are expected later in 2011, but action in this area will be to order
preliminary findings reveal that our competitors’ investments have continued
the creation of a new cultural plan
to grow since 2008. Looking to our US competitors, 2009 per capita figures
for Chicago . . . From this process the
show Chicago at $26,23 New York at $74,24 and San Francisco at $87.25
Department of Cultural
Now is not the time for Toronto to lose sight of its goal to be a Creative Affairs can create new strategies that
Capital; now is not the time for Toronto’s investment to stall: we risk lost promote vibrant arts and cultural
opportunities to capitalize on investments already made in the city. hubs in every community and help
to anchor economic growth on every
23
Figures expressed in Canadian dollars; data from Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Mayor’s
Office of Special Events and Chicago Park District. side of the city.”–Rahm Emanuel,
24
Figures expressed in Canadian dollars; data from NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. Mayor of Chicago
25
Figures expressed in Canadian dollars; data from City and County of San Francisco, Culture &
Recreation Department.

Cultural Space
“There is no question that we now live in the age of the knowledge economy, when
economic growth is more likely to emerge in places with the infrastructure that makes
development, sharing and commercialization of creative ideas faster and more produc-
tive. A talented and diverse citizenry requires physical spaces that encourage the kinds
Frank Gehry’s extension to the AGO above The of interactions that lead to learning and development of new ideas.”
Grange; Photo by C. Jones
—Martin Prosperity Institute – Toronto in the Creative Age
Post-Cultural Renaissance
Between 2003 and 2010 Toronto’s successful Cultural Renaissance saw our
city’s architectural portfolio enhanced with newly built or expanded iconic
cultural buildings, including the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery
of Ontario, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the Gardiner
Museum, the Royal Conservatory of Music with its stunning Koerner Hall,
Canada’s National Ballet School, and the Toronto International Film
Festival’s Bell Lightbox. The capital campaigns of these major cultural
organizations attracted $338 million in federal and provincial grants, and
more than $1 billion in matching funds and in-kind donations from the
Lining up for art; Photo courtesy Art Gallery of private sector.26
Ontario
However, the City now faces the challenge of enhancing the surrounding
public spaces to match the quality and significance of these cultural
attractions. Visitors and residents alike will benefit from an integrated way-
finding system.
Section 37 of the Planning Act The Next Priorities

permits the City to authorize Most of Toronto’s cultural organizations, many of them long-established,
increases in permitted height work in repurposed heritage and industrial buildings that desperately need
and/or density in private new roofs, windows, boilers, ducts, plumbing, and energy-efficient heating
development in return for community and cooling systems. Simply meeting basic building code requirements and
benefits in the form of capital ensuring public safety in these buildings will require $30 million of investment
facilities. The Official Plan lists 13 over the next five years.27 The City should investigate the possibility of funding
potential community benefits some of these projects through one-time Section 37 agreements.28
including: The City’s Culture Build Investment Program provided one source of funding
- not-for-profit arts and cultural for capital repairs. Between 2002 and 2008, Culture Build provided 62
facilities; grants totalling $1.9 million and leveraged $5.6 million from other levels of
- public art; government and the private sector to realize $7.5 million worth of state of
- streetscape improvements; and good repair projects in non-City owned cultural facilities. Through Culture
- the conservation of heritage Build, cultural organizations were able to make necessary improvements,
renovations and retrofits to address health and safety issues; replace
resources.
aging equipment; conduct major repairs to basements, brickwork and
roofs; improve environmental systems such as ventilation, heating and air
conditioning; and upgrade seating, lobbies, and box offices to improve
accessibility, capacity and audience experience. The program was consistently
oversubscribed and should be reinstated.
26
Source: Ministry of Culture, Province of Ontario.
27
Estimates from Creative Trust and City of Toronto, Cultural Services.
28
For more information about Section 37, see < http://www.toronto.ca/planning/section37.htm>.

Inside Corus Quay, building by Diamond+Schmitt Architects; Photo by C. Jones

Affordable Spaces for Cultural Industries and Community Arts
The cultural industries and community arts sectors suffer from the lack of
access to affordable space in Toronto’s neighbourhoods. This infrastructure
gap makes it difficult to ensure all Torontonians have access to cultural
programming where they live.
Since massive cultural infrastructure investment is currently unrealistic, we
have to maximize existing space. For community arts, taking a fresh look
through a cultural lens at parks, schools, libraries, community centres, and
other real estate portfolios, to determine if and how these spaces could be
used for culture, would have a major impact.
For the cultural industries, as new development accelerates in the city,
Shoal, 2010 by Troika, art installation at
Corus Quay; Photo by C. Jones industrial and commercial spaces that film companies and digital animation
houses rely upon as affordable work spaces are being lost. To maintain a
thriving entertainment and creative cluster, these spaces must be protected
through stronger policies in the City’s Official Plan, as well as during the
review of site-specific re-zoning applications.
To secure space for the arts from the ground up, members of the cultural
sector must become more aware and more proactive, identifying potential
partners in health, social services or sports when they are in the planning
stages of projects such as community hubs and recreation centres. The
City has a role to play in this process as well. By working together, Cultural
Services and Planning must ensure that all City Councillors are fully aware
of the priorities for cultural infrastructure in their wards. In every part of the
city, urban planners, engineers, librarians and elected officials need to include
cultural services in their frameworks.
The United Way of Toronto’s eight community hubs in priority
neighbourhoods are a good example. The Victoria Village Hub feasibility
study noted that “arts organizations that will be involved in program delivery
have to be part of the Hub development process from Day 1. . . during
the community needs and market assessment. The spatial and technical
requirements of the arts space are very different to traditional office space
and should inform the site and building selection.”29 Culture must be at the
table from the start.
Civic Theatres
The City owns a series of large-scale civic theatres in order to ensure ongoing
production rental opportunities for cultural producers. The Toronto Centre
for the Arts includes the Main Stage (1,727 seats); Weston Recital Hall (1,036
seats) and Studio Theatre (200 seats). The St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
includes the Bluma Appel Theatre (876 seats) and the Jane Mallett Theatre
(496 seats). The Sony Centre for the Performing Arts has 3,167 seats and the
Queen Elizabeth Theatre at Exhibition Place has 1,370 seats. The assortment
of large theatres owned by the City provides producers and presenters with
an impressive choice of venue sizes. The City does not assume the risks
29
Ginder Consulting, Victoria Village Cultural Space Feasibility Study, (Commissioned by Toronto Arts
Foundation and Working Women Community Centre: April 2010) p6.

associated with theatrical production but it does strive to maintain the
theatre seat capacity that is required by a growing sector. The cost to use the
civic theatres is based on the needs and expectations of commercial theatre
producers. These spaces are expensive to use and their high cost makes the
theatres unaffordable for most community cultural organizations. The City
must find ways to maximize the benefits of these facilities, increase operating Sirius Satellite Radio Stage at Harbourfront
Centre; Photo by Mark Bradshaw
efficiencies and make them affordable for community use.
In order to create maximum potential wealth and liveability in the city,
artists and cultural organizations must have affordable quality space in
which to make, teach, perform, exhibit, operate their organizations, and
sell their products.
Recommendation
1. We recommend that the City ensure a supply of affordable,
sustainable cultural space.
ACTIONS
1.1 Reinstate the Culture Build program to address the state of good
repair in cultural facilities.
1.2 Integrate culture and Toronto’s cultural institutions into the City’s
Pedestrian Way-finding System strategy for both visitors and
residents.
1.3 Direct Cultural Services to work with other agencies (Libraries,
Parks, Forestry and Recreation, the Toronto District School Board,
etc.), and Toronto’s City-owned museums to create an inventory of
spaces across the city and promote the use of these existing spaces
for community cultural use.
1.4 Protect industrial and commercial space for cultural industries
by developing stronger policies during the review of the City’s
Official Plan as well as during the review of site-specific re-zoning
applications.
1.5 Provide City Councillors with a ward-by-ward community cultural
infrastructure priority list to guide their Section 37 funding
allocations. This will require updating the cultural spaces inventory
and collaboration with City Planning.
1.6 Find ways to increase efficiencies and make the Civic Theatres The Power Plant; Photo courtesy
Harbourfront Centre
affordable for community cultural use.

Access and Diversity
Encourage barrier-free arts and culture activities through support and promotion of
performing artists, productions, festivals and venues. A good example is the annual
“Through my exposure to the arts,
Luminato festival, which provides many free, accessible events, ‘accidental encounters
I became a stronger student who was
with art’, and incorporates Toronto’s cultural diversity in its programming. 30
more excited to attend classes and
I became more confident, A large body of research shows that cultural participation during childhood
well-rounded, critical, resourceful, and youth is the best predictor of future cultural participation, as well as
social and passionate. Working at countless other benefits.31 In Finland, for example, the national Parliamentary
Manifesto has been the most Commission on the Future drives the country’s innovation strategy, which
fulfilling job I’ve had in over a requires that schools teach all children from 6 to 16 to sing, play a musical
instrument, and write music at their level. Results include better math skills,
decade.” —Seema Jethalal,
creativity, left/right brain connections, self-esteem and teamwork.32
Managing Director, Manifesto
Cultural participation is also beneficial in the later years of life. Studies show
that older adults who participate in arts programs report better health, fewer
doctor visits, and less medication usage; more positive responses on mental
health measures; and more involvement in overall life activities.33
The Toronto Arts Council estimates that 80% of the organizations it funds are
active in arts education, arts outreach and some form of public engagement.
However, engaging newcomers and reaching out to new audiences in the
inner suburbs and in priority neighbourhoods are complex and resource-
intensive activities.
Supporting Youth Engagement and Leadership

Young people are the most entrepreneurial and technologically literate
members of our society. Many understand the interdependence between the
not-for-profit and for-profit sectors and devise innovative ways to create;
nevertheless, enthusiasm and ‘sweat equity’ rarely suffice to sustain fledgling
Lakeshore Arts, Shazaam! Grade 8 youth-led cultural enterprises. Sustained funding is essential to their growth
Self-Portrait Exhibition at the Smith Zone; and development.
Photo by Kathleen Burke
Young people want to participate in youth-led cultural activities as creators,
consumers, audiences and leaders. The City already supports a significant
number of community arts initiatives across its various divisions, but they are
“I am working at the Musik unconnected and uncoordinated. City divisions such as Cultural Services,
Gymnasium in Rheinland-Pfalz, Affordable Housing, Social Development, Parks Forestry and Recreation, and
Germany. Music will always be a agencies such as the Toronto Arts Council and the Toronto Public Library,
large part of my life, and I am glad could do a much better job of coordinating resources and connecting groups
that the Regent Park School of Music across the city.
is still offering many children the Encouraging Toronto’s emerging and diverse artists, organizations, and
chance to develop the same level of entrepreneurs to join a broader network of local initiatives, such as the
love for music that was fostered in me 30
Recommendation of the Canadian Index of Well-Being (CIW), Caught in the Time Crunch: Time Use, Leisure
when I was there.”—Wendy Ma and Culture in Canada, Chaired by the Hon. Roy Romanow, (June, 2010).
31
Creative City Network of Canada, Making the Case for Culture, Personal and Social Development of Children and
Youth, (2005).
32
Glen Milne, “The Internal War on Innovation”, Canadian Government Executive, (March 4, 2011). <http://
cge.itincanada.ca/index.php?id=13975&cid=313>
33
Gene D. Cohen, The Creativity and Aging Study: The Impact of Professionally Conducted Cultural Programs on Older
Adults, (The Center on Aging, Health & Humanities - George Washington University, and National Endow-
ment for the Arts: April 2006).

Manifesto Festival of Community & Culture 2010; Photo courtesy Manifesto Documentation Team

Toronto Arts Council’s Neighbourhood Arts Network, will help them pool
resources, share knowledge, coordinate advocacy, and ensure better access to
the City’s cultural programming and services. The City should take leadership
in convening its divisions and agencies with community arts leaders on a
regular basis to solve common problems, generate peer-to-peer knowledge
exchange, and help to build capacity in the sector.
One issue identified by community groups is the need to streamline the
permitting process. Red tape gets in the way of events intended for the public
in parks, streets, the waterfront and other public places; it stifles the creative
Toronto Arts Services in action; Photo courtesy activity in the city.
City of Toronto
City-wide youth consultations spoke overwhelmingly of the need for
Access Programs mentorships and partnerships with existing institutions. While needing to
Many performing arts organizations maintain their autonomy and authenticity, youth want partnership opportunities
are trying to fill the gap that schools with established cultural organizations, successful creative businesses,
have left in arts programming. The and experienced artists, producers, and managers. These will enable skills
city’s major cultural institutions also development and provide access to resources. Relatively minor investments in
offer a variety of youth discounts, incentives for mentorships, partnerships and collaboration can result in major
and the City currently invests in a increases in organizational capacity and resource development for young people.
number of access programs. For
Local Arts Service Organizations
example:
• The Toronto Public Library’s Local arts service organizations (LASOs) play an essential role in connecting
Museum Access Pass program young people to programming, spaces, mentors, and funding. They also help
market and advertise events and opportunities for creators, practitioners,
provides families and young people
educators, and volunteer-led organizations. LASOs work with other
with free access to the city’s community organizations such as local Business Improvement Associations
museums. (BIAs), on joint projects.
• The Institute for Canadian The City of Toronto currently supports two LASOs in the former city of
Citizenship’s Cultural Access
Etobicoke (Lakeshore Arts and Arts Etobicoke), one LASO in the former city
Program (CAP), provides new of Scarborough (Scarborough Arts), and one in the former York (Urban Arts
citizens and their families with Community Arts Council). There is a demonstrated need for LASOs in North
access to a wide range of cultural York and the former East York. Toronto should work with partner agencies to
institutions for one year after they establish two more LASOs in those areas.
obtain their citizenship. While Toronto’s existing cultural organizations and institutions are highly
Participating institutions in motivated to reach out to young people and to new audiences, many of their
Toronto include the AGO, the efforts take place in silos, and there is often duplication. Organizations want
Bata Shoe Museum, Fort York, the City to intervene and connect them; to encourage innovative partnerships
the Gardiner Museum, the ROM, and novel collaborations between established and grassroots organizations;
Colborne Lodge, Spadina House, to use its convening power to help devise new, more efficient and effective
Mackenzie House, Gibson House solutions for audience development, marketing, production or community
involvement. Many would like to see the involvement of the TTC, as the cost of
and many smaller museums and
transportation is a barrier for some young people. The Toronto Arts Council
galleries. is well positioned to support a new program for outreach, accessibility,
• Youth 15-29 can buy $5 HipTIX audience development and engagement by encouraging new collaborations
theatre tickets online or at the and partnerships between downtown arts organizations and arts, cultural
T.O.Tix booth at Dundas Square. and community associations in other parts of the city. Through the Creative
• See Appendix 3 for additional City: Block by Block initiative, the Toronto Arts Foundation is partnering with
examples. the private sector to increase access to arts activities across the entire city.
The City’s promotion of this initiative would facilitate new partnerships and
increase its chances of success.

Cultural Hotspot of the Year
Toronto is a city of neighbourhoods and within each of them is a wealth of
existing cultural activity that deserves to be highlighted and celebrated.34
We need to shine a spotlight on the community arts that make each
neighbourhood a vibrant place to live; to identify existing networks of creative
people, cultural organizations and facilities; to strengthen ties to culture-
friendly businesses; to encourage novel partnerships and innovative models
Kou Chou Ching; Photo courtesy Harbourfront
for participation in the arts. A City-designated Cultural Hotspot of the Year Centre
program would provide funding for a community to organize a series of events
to celebrate local culture. This program would rotate through the quadrants of
the city with a new neighbourhood receiving the Hotspot designation each year.
Preparing for the Cultural Hotspot designation would generate significant cultural, Launched in 2006, artsVest is a
social and economic benefits for the neighbourhood; help to foster urban
matching incentive program designed
regeneration; raise the community’s profile; highlight the richness and diversity of
to stimulate business investment in
Toronto’s cultures; and raise awareness of our common values as Torontonians.
the arts, while providing sponsorship
The City could act by allocating resources, fostering collaboration across its training to cultural organizations.
different services and agencies, and leveraging partnerships in the private Since the program’s inception, more
sector to maximize each community’s turn in the spotlight. This dedicated
than 200 Ontario organizations have
annual celebration provides the ideal setting for a pilot project with Business
received a total of $2.2M in match-
for the Arts’ artsVest matching investment program.
ing funds from an initial public sector
Greater access to arts and culture will build social cohesion, civic investment of $785K.
engagement, and safer, healthier neighbourhoods. By highlighting local
culture and fostering new partnerships across Toronto, the City can also
help to drive demand and build new audiences.
Recommendation
2. We recommend that the City ensure access and opportunity for
cultural participation to all citizens regardless of age, ethnicity,
ability, sexual orientation, geography, or socioeconomic status.
ACTIONS
2.1 Establish regular quarterly meetings with youth arts organizations
and City of Toronto divisions and agencies in each part of the city,
East, West, North, and South Toronto.
2.2 Review the existing permit process to explore ways to streamline
the process and make it more user-friendly for arts organizations,
notably those that are youth-led.
2.3 Establish Local Arts Services Organizations in North York and East York.
2.4 Establish a program to support mentorships and partnerships cross-
sectorally between established organizations and emerging cultural
organizations, especially youth-led organizations, all across the city.
2.5 Develop a rotating Cultural Hotspot of the Year program to celebrate
cultural activity in Toronto’s neighbourhoods.
34
Christopher Hume, “We define ourselves by our neighbourhoods”, Toronto Star, Sunday,
August 30, 2009.

Cultural Scenes and Creative Clusters
“Although cultural maps help to locate clusters of artists and cultural organizations,
it is important to also consider what lies behind the map–the ongoing, day-to-day
activities of artists and cultural participants: creation, expression, criticism, discussion,
performance, appreciation and enjoyment. Places where these occur in sufficient
density, depth, and intensity acquire special qualities. They become scenes. Vibrant
scenes bring tremendous social and economic benefits to Toronto. They need to be
preserved and grown”.—Daniel Silver, Assistant Professor, Department of
Sociology, University of Toronto
The next time you see a movie shot in Toronto, a performance at Toronto
Dance Theatre or attend a concert at Massey Hall or Air Canada Centre,
Fashion Hsu; Photo courtesy Harbourfront stop to think about where the stage hands, set designers, lighting technicians
Centre and artists behind these productions learned their skills. Every professional
cultural venture depends on local arts organizations and arts educators
who engage talented youth and train professional performers. More than
any other, the cultural sector relies on a virtuous circle of interdependence
between the commercial and not-for-profit worlds. Creative clusters,
comprised of intellectual, creative and financial capital, emerge from this
sharing of resources and talent.
Successful city-regions understand and promote the industry clusters that
drive their prosperity. The City of Toronto’s Economic Development and
Culture Division has identified 11 key sectors for Toronto, of which three—
Film, Television and Digital Media, Fashion and Design, and Tourism—are
firmly rooted in the cultural economy. In addition, thousands of cultural
workers, such as graphic designers and webmasters, work in other key
industry clusters such as Business and Professional Services, which rely on
creative labour to invent new products and processes. For example, some of
the tools used today in visual effects, such as Maya and Houdini software,
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010;
Photo courtesy City of Toronto were invented here. Now, we have become a hub for mobile applications and
increasingly, for innovative multi-platform productions.
To maximize the potential of the cultural economy, Toronto needs to nurture
grassroots cultural activity and pay special attention to areas where there
are particularly dense clusters of cultural workers and businesses residing
in the downtown core. Work has already begun in this area. With funding
from the Government of Ontario’s Creative Communities Prosperity Fund,
the City has undertaken a project to create a new visualization model to
map and study areas where cultural workers live and work. With the findings
of this report, the City will have evidence-based data to craft policies and
by-laws that protect and cultivate existing scenes, and identify and highlight
emerging scenes, while maximizing their potential for growth, neighbourhood
regeneration and economic return. There are also many areas of cultural activity
outside the downtown core. The proposed Weston Mount Dennis Cultural/
Creative Hub has great potential to revitalize the surrounding neighbourhood
and to house community cultural programs like the York Museum.35
Artscape, A Cultural/Creative Hub in Weston Mount Dennis, (Toronto Artscape Inc.: December, 2010).
35

Toronto’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster
Toronto is the centre of the country’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster, a
proven global centre of excellence for film production, post-production, visual
and special effects, animation and gaming. Screen-based production and
digital media industries are two of the three fastest-growing creative industries
in Toronto. They contribute more than $1 billion to the local economy Pinewood Toronto Studios; Photo courtesy
annually36 and directly employ approximately 25,000 people, more than 25% Pinewood
of the national sector.37
Toronto’s film and television industry encompasses established production
houses catering primarily to Hollywood, as well as domestic producers
creating great films and intellectual property that contribute to our identity as
Canadians.
The City’s Film and Television Office should continue to work with industry
partners, focusing attention on the smaller, indigenous sector. This sector is
committed to staying in and generating wealth in Toronto. Further, Toronto-
based producers and production companies—including more than half of
Canada’s small companies in the sector—face restrictions in funding and
disincentives to shoot and produce in Toronto. The City must be proactive
in defending the interests of domestic producers by advocating for the
Toronto-based producers at all levels of government. The now-expired
Toronto Film Board was established for this very purpose. It provided a
mechanism for input and suggestions from the screen-based industry and
industry stakeholders to the Mayor and Council on policy, strategy and
corporate practices to ensure the health, competitiveness and viability of the
Tim Burton Exhibit; Photo courtesy TIFF
sector. There is an expressed need for the current Council to reinstate this
type of proactive advocacy in the form of a Film, Television and Commercial
Production Industry Committee.
Digital Media
The digital media and gaming sector is expanding, raising venture capital and
creating new companies. These activities are fluid and will continue to take place in
Toronto only if conditions are right. Our consultations highlighted that Toronto’s
venture capital community is timid and slow to respond to the needs of this
segment of the screen-based cluster—a potentially serious threat to retaining the
most promising talent and businesses in our increasingly digital world.
Toronto has world-class post-secondary programs where young people
learn and develop skills and incubate new companies and products, such as
Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone, OCAD University’s Mobile Experience
Innovation Centre, York University’s new $1.4 million academic-industry joint
venture to fund 3D Film Innovation, and Sheridan College’s Oscar-winning
animation program. With these post-secondary institutions and professional
training centres such as the Canadian Film Centre, Toronto is ideally
positioned to become a global hub of this emerging industry, particularly for
developers of mobile applications. The Creative Capital Initiative has opened
an opportunity for ongoing engagement with the sector that should be pursued.
36
Invest Toronto, Economic Overview – Film and Television. < http://www.investtoronto.ca/Business-Toronto/
Business-Environment/Economic-Overview.aspx>
37
City of Toronto, Sector Growth and Strategic Development, Economic Development.

Toronto singer Sarah Slean; Photo courtesy Harbourfront Centre

For example, building on Toronto’s strengths in the emerging world of digital
apps, both Economic Development and Culture and the Public Realm Office
should continue to collaborate with Tourism Toronto on mobile strategies to
attract visitors. Such apps could help visitors plan their visits here, orient them
on arrival and support their spontaneous experience of the city during their
time with us.
Beats Breaks & DJ School; Photo courtesy Off
Music Centre DJ School
Toronto is home to Canada’s largest and most diverse music economy,38 a

platform for unique cross-cultural blends (think Jane Bunnett’s Cuban jazz
or the African Guitar Summit) with a strong reputation for developing artists
who go on to global fame. International successes launched in Toronto
include: urban artists Drake, K’naan, Jully Black (a graduate of the Toronto
Arts Council’s Fresh Arts program); pop artists Metric, Barenaked Ladies,
and Broken Social Scene; opera stars Measha Brueggergosman and Russell
Braun; world artists George Gao and Irshad Khan; and top-drawer classical
ensembles such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Tafelmusik Baroque
Orchestra.
Toronto’s music scene is one of the most attractive aspects of its cultural
life. Because of its ability to bridge cultures and engage with other industry
clusters (film, television, gaming, fashion, and web design all rely heavily on
sound tracks), music has the potential to generate real wealth. Ensuring that
musicians have access to affordable live-work space, performance venues,
rapidly changing technologies, and coherent strategies that could maximize
their economic impact, such as a music incubator, bears further study. Peter Oundjian conducts the Toronto
Symphony Orchestra; Photo courtesy TSO.
Cultural Entrepreneurs
To make a living in the cultural economy, cultural workers must develop
entrepreneurial skills. The cultural businesses that they start, such as art
galleries, craft shops, bookstores and entertainment venues, are essential to
the unique character and quality of life in urban neighbourhoods. A 2008
study by the Canadian Conference for the Arts on the characteristics of
creative labour characterizes cultural workers as “a more flexible, multi-skilled
and mobile labour force, which is increasingly self-employed.”39 If Toronto
is to foster and support the cultural economy, it must understand and cater “If the first wave of Cultural Re-
to the needs of this workforce. A recent study by Artscape entitled Advancing naissance helped put ‘creativity on
Toronto’s Centre for Creative Sector Entrepreneurship40 lays out a compelling
display’ in our city, the second wave
argument for the City to foster an environment in which this powerful labour
in contrast needs to be about putting
force can thrive, and its recommendations should be pursued.
‘creativity to work’; to build our city
To keep a competitive edge, we need to identify and study our major and and grow our prosperity.”—Tim
emerging cultural clusters and develop strategies so that they can continue Jones, Artscape
to be magnets for cultural workers and investment.
38
Brian J. Hracs, “Building Ontario’s Music Economies”, MPI Working Paper Series: Ontario in the Creative Age,
(February 2009).
39
Mirjam Gollmitzer and Dr. Catherine Murray, From Economy to Ecology: A Policy Framework for Creative
Labour, (Canadian Conference of the Arts. March, 2008).
40
Artscape, Advancing Toronto’s Centre for Creative Sector Entrepreneurship, (Toronto Artscape Inc: 2011).

Recommendation
3. We recommend that the City support the development of creative
clusters and emerging cultural scenes to capitalize on their potential
as generators of jobs and economic growth.
ACTIONS
3.1 Continue to study and map the cultural districts in Toronto and
recommend policy tools to foster and protect the existing cultural
clusters.
3.2 Support the development of the Cultural/Creative Hub in Weston
Mount Dennis and use it to showcase the community’s history.
3.3 Promote and foster Toronto’s screen-based cluster by:
a. Reinstating the Toronto Film, Television and Commercial
Inside the TIFF Bell Lightbox; Photo courtesy
Production Industry Committee;
Toronto International Film Festival
b. Working with the Ontario Media Development Corporation, the
Government of Ontario and the production community to develop
a mechanism to support the creation of more sustainable spaces
for small and medium-sized productions, which would otherwise
go to competing jurisdictions;
c. Directing the City’s Film and Television Office and Strategic Growth
and Sector Development units to devise a strategy to expand the
availability of capital for domestic production;
d. Taking a more active role in policy discussions to proactively and
consistently defend the interests of Toronto-based artists and
companies in provincial and national funding and tax policies.
3.4 Promote and foster Toronto’s digital media cluster by:
a. Branding Toronto as a global hub of digital media;
b. Working with OCAD University’s Digital Media Lab, Ryerson
University’s Digital Media Zone, and the Canadian Film Centre’s
Habitat New Media Lab, and others to connect emerging digital/
mobile media artists and businesses and to create opportunities for
showcasing their accomplishments.
c. Working with the Public Realm Office and Tourism Toronto to
incorporate Toronto culture in strategies for mobile apps and
digital way-finding.
3.5 Conduct a study to investigate Toronto’s music industry and its
economic impact, and develop a strategy to promote and foster
Toronto’s music cluster.
3.6 Support the development of Artscape’s proposed Creative
Entrepreneurship Centre.

Positioning Toronto as a Creative Capital
“Long considered the business, banking and entertainment hub of Canada, the city
also has a plethora of stylish shops, bars, restaurants, and cultural happenings. All
that, combined with a solid embrace of multiculturalism and an enlightened stance
toward the environment should be enough to put the ‘Tdot’ on any style-setter’s Caribana Parade; Photo courtesy City of
Toronto
radar.”—Sandra Ballentine, New YorkTimes, August 22, 2010.
In 2009, 30% of Toronto’s overnight visitors engaged in a cultural activity

during their stay;41 this includes attending a performance, festival, historic
site, museum or art gallery. As Figure 2 illustrates, cultural activities attracted
approximately four times as many tourists as professional sports events, for
example.
Figure 2
Reasons Why Overnight Visitors Came To Toronto in 2009

3,500
3,000 2.9M
2,500
Thousands
2,000
1,500
1.12M
1,000
685K
540K
500 421K 341K
0
Cultural Nat'l, Prov. or Sports Event Zoo, Theme or Casino
Activity Nature Park Aquarium, or Amusement
Botanical Park
Garden
Source: Tourism Toronto; Statistics Canada, International Travel Survey and Travel Survey of Residents of
Canada
Tourists are increasingly drawn to Toronto’s cultural attractions, iconic
architecture, and the unique cultural scenes that define our neighbourhoods.
Cultural tourism generates jobs in paid accommodation, meals, and
transportation. Visitors bring hard currency, perspective and buzz. Through
the eyes of visitors, Toronto transforms the way it sees itself.
As home to Canada’s largest population of artists, Toronto can define itself
through creativity and offer its varied experiences to the world. Cultural Capoeira Camar; Photo courtesy
festivals like Caribana, Masala Mehndi Masti, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Harbourfront Centre
Toronto Ukrainian Festival, and Hispanic Fiesta contribute to Toronto’s
worldwide reputation as a vibrant and diverse destination.
Raising Our Game

Toronto’s reputation as a Creative City did not develop by accident. Sustained
public investment, matching private investment, and the determination and
creativity of its artists and cultural organizations have allowed culture to
grow and thrive. Toronto’s cultural sector will continue to grow with the
Tourism Toronto based on Statistics Canada, International Travel Survey and Travel Survey of Residents of
41
Canada, (2009).

consequent economic benefits of job and wealth creation, as long as its core
base of artists and organizations is stable and adequately funded. Support
by the City for this base is not growing at a level relative to other competitor
cities. Toronto must raise its investment to keep its edge.
Canada’s ‘Own the Podium’ program provides an interesting model for
a concerted effort to ‘raise Toronto’s game’ internationally. Founded in
2005, Own the Podium is a national collaborative initiative that links all
the Olympic sports organizations and major funders with the objective
of achieving excellence in high performance sports. It does this through
recommendations of resource allocations, constant monitoring of results
and interventions when necessary. We saw the results in Vancouver—higher
Singer Jully Black at Luminato Festival 2010; OIympic medal counts for Canadian athletes. The program has now been
Photo courtesy Luminato extended to both summer and winter Olympics.
To achieve the objective of raising Toronto’s status as a Creative Capital, an
‘Own the Podium’ strategy would require a concerted effort to benchmark
our strengths and potential, and to direct funding and attention to the areas
most likely to succeed.
Major Cultural Events

The City’s hugely successful Scotiabank Nuit Blanche all-night art event
sprang from an initial municipal investment of approximately $600,000.
According to an Ontario Ministry of Tourism study,42 Scotiabank Nuit
Blanche 2010 brought an estimated 138,583 visitors to the city; generated
$34.7 million of GDP in Toronto (direct, indirect and induced), $48.4 million
in direct spending (visitor and operational spending); and created 611 new
jobs. Furthermore, the event has a positive civic impact. As a free event, it not
only allows everyone to participate in cutting-edge contemporary art, but
also brings out young people and families to public spaces, and sets the city
buzzing with creative energy.
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is another major economic and
tourism catalyst. In 1976, when it began with seed funding from the Toronto
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010, Auto Lamp by Arts Council, many ridiculed the idea that people would come to Toronto for
Kim Adams; Photo courtesy City of Toronto an international film festival. In 2008-09, TIFF generated a total economic
impact of $131.7 million of GDP in Ontario, including $30.8 million with
the construction of its new home, the Bell Lightbox.43 TIFF’s activities created
2,365 jobs, $90.7 million in associated labour income and $1.8 million in
municipal taxes.44 Operating with an annual budget of approximately $23
million, TIFF is now North America’s largest film festival and one of the
world’s top three. In its wake, more than 70 others have followed, including
Cinéfranco, InsideOut, ReelAsian, ImagineNATIVE, the Toronto Jewish Film
Festival and Worldwide Shorts, to name just a few.
Major cultural events, along with Toronto’s other large festivals—Caribana,
Pride and Luminato, for example—help to position Toronto internationally
42
Ontario Ministry of Tourism, TREIM Model, The Economic Impact of Nuit Blanche 2010 in Toronto in 2010,
(Nov. 2010).
43
TCI Management Consultants, Economic Activity Associated with the 1008-1009 Operations of TIFF, (February
2010).
44
Ibid.

Sampradaya Dance Creations; Photo by Praveen d Rao

as a Creative Capital. Over the next few years, in addition to these annual
celebrations, Toronto will be hosting significant one-time events, including
the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in June, the War of 1812
Bicentennial next year, World Pride 2014 and the Pan/Parapan American Games
in 2015. These events will bring regional, national and international visitors to
the city. There is no advertising better than word-of-mouth recommendations:
Toronto has a unique opportunity to get visitors singing the city’s praises to the
world. Maximizing our vibrant and exciting cultural sector must be a priority over
the next four years during these special, one-time events.
In addition, better information sharing, planning and joint marketing
initiatives would help the cultural economy to run more efficiently and have
History comes to life at Fort York National
Historic Site; Photo courtesy of City of Toronto greater impact. Successful programs such as Winterlicious and Summerlicious
can be leveraged to benefit more than just the restaurants involved, and
provide an interesting potential model for the promotion of cultural events.
One idea for further exploration is a biennial exhibition of contemporary
Canadian and international art, architecture, urban planning, design
and technology. Biennials promote international dialogue among artists,
designers, media, and the commercial cultural sector. A Toronto Biennial
focused on the city itself would have the potential to launch Toronto’s already
successful art, design and technology sector to its next stage of growth in the
international sphere. It would be the only venue for a large-scale exhibition
of Toronto’s emerging talent that would contextualize urban arts and design
in the setting of one of the world’s most multicultural cities. A Biennial
Artist rendering of new Fort York Visitor exhibition would have the potential to draw tourists and serve as a hub for
Centre; Photo Courtesy Patkau Architects Inc.,
and Kearns Mancini Architects Inc. learning about dynamic, diverse, and creative cities.
Sharing Our History, Building Our Future

In 2012 and 2013, the City of Toronto will be commemorating the
Bicentennial of the War of 1812, a seminal event in the history of North
America. The City is planning events with regional partners from Niagara to
Kingston and must make this a priority for support.
Fort York is a National Historic Site and the birthplace of Toronto. However,
unlike Halifax’s Citadel or Quebec City’s Plains of Abraham battlefield, this
cornerstone of Canada’s national history and military heritage is neither
adequately serviced nor celebrated. To address this, a new Visitor Centre
will be built at Fort York as a major legacy of the Bicentennial of the War of
1812. The 22,000-square-foot facility will be a central point of connection
and exchange, carefully designed and sited to complement the Fort’s historic
buildings. The new building will include multimedia presentations, dramatic
displays of iconic artefacts and enhanced public amenities.
The question of how to create a sense of belonging, civic cohesion and
shared identity is a challenge for many cities around the world. Interactive,
provocative, and participatory, the Toronto Museum project aspires to
express the city’s history in all its dimensions. Visitors and residents will learn
how they and their children belong both to the past and to the ever-changing
present and future. The Toronto Museum will engage local and international
visitors in the city’s many stories from 11,000 years ago to the present, with a
strong emphasis on the 20th century and themes of arrival.

Events Portal
Special Events, in partnership with more than 12 other City divisions,
agencies, boards and commissions, is developing an online portal for the
City’s special events-related permits and support services. This portal will
create an applicant-focused ‘one-window’ system that will streamline the
permitting process for event organizers by consolidating all of the City’s
special events-related services and permit processes. This will advance the
City’s customer service vision: local government, anywhere, anytime for Toronto International Film Festival 2009;
Photo by Georg Agener
everyone.
Toronto: City of Film

Torontonians are among the world’s greatest film lovers. We patiently
accommodate street closures for the sake of film shoots and we boast a wider
selection of local film festivals than anywhere else on the planet. Collectively,
Toronto’s smaller film festivals draw increasing numbers of cultural
tourists and contribute more than $11 million dollars to the local economy
annually.45
Combined with the annual Toronto International Film Festival and
Bell Lightbox, Hot Docs, the Canadian Film Centre, and other training
institutions, Toronto’s strength in film makes the city an ideal candidate for
membership in UNESCO’s Creative City Network as a City of Film. This would
leverage our film brand internationally.
Toronto’s cultural activity defines our identity, generates civic pride and
attracts visitors, tourists and business. By coordinating efforts, the City of
Toronto could amplify the benefits of cultural tourism and put Toronto on
the map as a Creative Capital.
Recommendation
4. We recommend that the City promote its cultural institutions,

festivals and other assets to enhance its position as a Creative City
regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Luminato Festival 2009, Red Ball Project;
Photo courtesy Luminato
ACTIONS
4.1 Work with Tourism Toronto, Waterfront Toronto, and the local
restaurant and hospitality industry to position and market Toronto
internationally as a cultural destination and to define its creative
image through large festivals such as the Toronto International Film
Festival, Luminato, Caribana, NXNE, and upcoming major events
(World Pride 2014, Pan/Parapan American Games 2015).
4.2 Make the upcoming commemoration of the Bicentennial of the War
of 1812 and its legacy project, the Fort York Visitor Centre, a priority
for the next two years.
4.3 Continue to develop plans for the Toronto Museum Project at Old
City Hall.
City of Toronto Film Office, 2010 Survey.

45

4.4 Leverage existing City assets like Winterlicious and Summerlicious,
or use the model to create new programs to benefit the cultural
community and creative sector.
4.5 Undertake a feasibility study for an Urban Biennial exhibition of
contemporary Canadian and international art, architecture, urban
planning, design, and technology.
4.6 Develop a one-window online portal for event organizers to
streamline the process for permits and services.
4.7 Develop a digital marketing strategy to integrate the branding and
promotion of Toronto’s cultural events.
4.8 Pursue membership in UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network as a City
of Film.
Sightseeing on Bloor Street West;
Photo courtesy City of Toronto

The City’s Leadership
“This city is full of conveners, of civic entrepreneurs, of people who understand in
their collective DNA how to bring all the parts of civil society around a table to solve
problems, seize opportunities, and make great things happen.” —David Pecaut,
Co-founder of Toronto City Summit Alliance and Luminato, December 2009
Toronto must do more to retain and enhance its competitive position, but
the responsibility does not rest solely with the City. The business community,
not-for-profit foundations and organizations, individuals and the cultural
community must all play their role if Toronto is truly to become one of the Manifesto Festival; Photo courtesy Manifesto
world’s Creative Capitals. Documentation Team
However, it is our core belief that Toronto’s cultural competitive advantage

is best enhanced when the City focuses its attention, effort, and resources to
doing those things that only the City can do well: providing the best service to
all residents; using the City’s convening power to effect change; and making
cultural investments where only the City can. These three overarching themes
must be kept in mind as the City moves forward with its cultural strategy.
Service
The City’s varied and diverse customers for cultural goods and services
include tourists, residents, commuters and youth, as well as individual artists
and arts organizations. During our consultations a consistent theme emerged:
working with the City can be a real challenge. Toronto’s enormous creative
capital is constrained because responsibility and decision-making reside in so
many different areas. The lack of a coordinated approach results in delays,
lost opportunities, inefficiencies and wasted efforts. By establishing a working
group and applying a cultural lens to all City services, the City can make it
easier for culture producers, consumers, and the public at large to work with Teaching the steel pans at Harbourfront;
Photo by Carlos Ferguson
their local government.
Convening Power
Greater collaboration and communication was another theme that resonated
across our consultations. The business community has also noted that
greater awareness of the City’s plans and priorities would help with its
funding decisions. With several major events happening over the next five
years, peaking with the Pan/Parapan American Games in 2015, greater
coordination would help dramatically improve the city’s competitiveness on
the world stage. The City can be a broker, convenor and facilitator among
different sectors, both public and private, and between larger and smaller
institutions. Increasing awareness of opportunities and coordinating efforts is
not a matter of additional funding.
Cultural Investments
The City’s investment achieves greater leverage when the City provides
support that would otherwise go wanting. The City is in the best position
to understand, evaluate, and facilitate support for a myriad of events and
organizations across the entire city. The City’s investment can also trigger
a whole stream of additional funding from a wide variety of other sources.

Often, the City’s support can come via in-kind services or the waiving of fees
or other charges. Although highly leveraged by funding from other sources,
the City’s investment in culture is tremendously important. To maintain
and build significant competitive advantage, the City needs to bring its
commitment to culture to be more in line with other global Creative Capitals.
In addition to being a funder, the City has a leadership role to play as a
convenor. For all residents and visitors to experience the best in Toronto’s
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010, 1850 by cultural services, events, programs, and activities, the sector needs a
Sandra Rechico; Photo courtesy City of Toronto champion at City Council to help convene the major players, encourage
collaboration, bust silos, and direct attention to where and how the City’s
investments can effect the greatest change.
Recommendation
5. We recommend that the Mayor take a leadership role in Toronto’s

creative capital strategy.
ACTIONS
5.1 Convene City staff to form a Mayor’s Creative Capital Working
Group to coordinate the City’s activities and resources in a way that
Watertable, public art installation by Lisa
Steele and Kim Tomczak; Photo courtesy City benefits the cultural community and all Torontonians. The Working
of Toronto Group would include staff from all the arts, cultural and creative
disciplines in the City’s administrations, as well as city entities and
enterprises that would benefit from the application of a coordinated
creative lens.
5.2 Convene periodic Mayor’s Breakfasts for Toronto’s cultural attraction
and business leaders to discuss upcoming opportunities and
events, to support tourism and to facilitate greater information and
knowledge exchange.

Finance and Funding
“Arts and culture are not a luxury, they are part of this city’s DNA, its unique selling
point. It is why people want to live and work here and seven out of 10 tourists say it is
a reason for their visit. At a time of recession it is more important than ever to invest
in the arts.” —Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
We live in a time of economic uncertainty, fiscal restraint and careful scrutiny
of government spending. However, we must distinguish where putting
taxpayer dollars to good use is necessary and prudent. Given the need to
maintain and enhance Toronto’s liveability and competitive edge, investing in
its cultural future is an essential public sector requirement. In fact, in a recent
study by Environics, 81% of Ontario taxpayers agreed or strongly agreed that
the government should spend public dollars to support the arts.46
It would be imprudent and irresponsible to ignore the economic and social
returns generated by an investment in culture. We must recognize that private
and public funding are not interchangeable; they are interdependent and
mutually reinforcing. Municipal investment can act as a powerful lever when Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010, Erik Satie’s
Vexations (1893) by Martin Arnold and
used as a challenge to the private sector to provide matching funding. When Micah Lexier; Photo courtesy City of Toronto
wisely invested in the cultural sector, these funds enable organizations to
create enormous value for both the City and all its residents.
Public Support for Funding the Arts47, 48

• 95% of Ontarians said that the arts enrich the quality of our lives
• 89% believe that if their community lost its arts activities, people living
there would lose something of value
• 81% of Ontarians think that the arts are important to their own quality
of life
• 95% of Ontarians believe that the success of Canadian artists (singers,
writers, actors and painters etc.), gives people a sense of pride in
Canadian achievement
• 81% of Ontarians agree that the government should spend public
dollars to support the arts.
• 80% of Torontonians think that the government investment in arts in
public spaces improves the local economy.
In June 2003, Council approved the Culture Plan for the Creative City, which
projected that Toronto would reach its target for cultural investment of
$25 per capita by 2008. The per capita benchmark provides a consolidated
measure of Toronto’s investment in culture through operating, capital and
grants, and allows us to compare this investment to other Canadian and
US cities of varying sizes. In August 2010, Council reiterated its support and
committed to increase investment to the cultural sector to reach the $25 per
capital goal by 2013. We fully support Council’s reiterated goal.
46
Environics Research Group, The Arts and the Quality of Life- The attitudes of Ontarians, (March 2010) p28.
47
Ibid
48
EKOS Research, December 2009 Billboard Tax: Survey of GTA, City of Toronto Results, (November 2009).

The 2003 Culture Plan outlined a series of potential sources of revenue that
would allow the City to meet its cultural investment target without relying
solely on property tax revenues. The cultural community, organized under the
banner of beautifulcity.ca, pushed for the creation of a billboard tax for this
purpose. City Council approved a billboard tax in November 2009, and its
implementation is currently before the courts.
A CASE STUDY: Centre for Social Innovation

With the City of Toronto as a guarantor, the Centre for Social Innovation
(CSI) was able to negotiate a lower interest rate of 4.5% (versus the
posted rate of 5.5%) on the mortgage for its new building at Bloor and
Bathurst. The resulting savings of $2,732 per month, or $32,784 per year,
make a dramatic difference to CSI’s cash-flow planning and ultimately,
its ability to fulfil its mission. The City’s guarantee also made it possible
for CSI to increase its financing from 65% of the value of the building to
75%—a difference of $640,000 in increased financing capacity. The City’s
risk was minimal, since the building serves to guarantee the mortgage.
This kind of non-monetary support can have a powerful effect on the
affordability of space and the feasibility of long-term capital planning for
cultural organizations.
Harbourfront World Café; Photo by Gordon
Hawkins The City must explore all the tools at its disposal. These do not always involve
a direct financial investment. For example, cultural organizations can secure
lower interest rates on mortgages or loans when the City is willing to serve as
guarantor.
The City has created other financial tools to benefit the cultural sector, but
they are not as widely known or used as they could be. For example, Tax
Increment Equivalent Grants (TIEGs) can cover a maximum of 60% of a
significant renovation or new construction project’s tax increment over a
10-year period. These are available for development in value-added economic
sectors such as cultural industries.
The City also has the ability to help cultural facilities obtain access to
provincial funding by advocating for a change to the Development Charges
Act, 1997. This Act excludes cultural facilities from the list of services that
can be funded through development charges. However, with the current
intensification of Toronto’s neighbourhoods, new cultural facilities, like the
Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre, are integral elements of community re-
development. There is a strong argument to fund these facilities, partly or in
whole, from development charges through an amendment of the Act.
The challenges articulated in this report are real, and finding solutions to
them is essential to Toronto’s continued prosperity. We need investment to
improve our cultural infrastructure; to facilitate access and celebrate culture
in all of Toronto’s neighbourhoods; to support youth-led cultural initiatives;
to protect our thriving creative scenes. Investment will spur job creation in
the entertainment and creative cluster and tourism sector, which in turn will
bolster the City’s tax base. Investment will incentivize partnerships between
large, established organizations and grassroots ones; it will set an example for

other funders; and it will signal to competing cities that Toronto is committed
to achieving its destiny as a Creative Capital.
In this climate, Toronto’s culture should not be cast as a luxury, a frill or a
fringe benefit. On the contrary, cultural investments must take centre stage as
the key driver of our competitiveness, prosperity and liveability.
Municipal investment and the creative use of all the tools available to the
City are essential to achieving the goals of this plan. Supporting Toronto’s
creative economy is absolutely necessary to stay in the running as a global
capital.
Recommendation
6. We recommend that the City keep pace with international Toronto Music Garden; Photo by Gera Dillon
competitors by making a firm commitment to sustain Toronto’s
cultural sector and position Toronto as a leading, globally
competitive Creative Capital.
ACTIONS
6.1 Follow through on Council’s previously committed goal of achieving
$25 per capita in expenditures on culture by providing ongoing
support to City-funded cultural organizations and implementing the
recommendations of this report.
6.2 Challenge the private sector to match increased municipal cultural
funding and work with Foundations to secure a pool of funds for
creative capital initiatives.
6.3 Reinstate the Mayor’s Ball for the Arts with funds directed to the
Toronto Arts Foundation.
6.4 Advocate to the Province for the inclusion of growth-related cultural
facilities as eligible recipients of funding from development charges
under the Development Charges Act.
6.5 Leverage the City’s ability to serve as a guarantor to enable cultural
organizations to take advantage of community bond/social financing
models for cultural infrastructure.
6.6 Expand awareness and understanding about existing City financing
tools (Section 37, TIEGs, etc.) to the cultural community.

Fazit
Toronto has made many gains in the last decade. Through the Cultural
Renaissance, we reinvigorated our major cultural institutions and created a
legacy of buildings worthy of a global Creative Capital. Our city is consistently
ranked among the world’s most liveable—and increasingly, as a significant
global player in the financial world.
These gains have yet to be fully exploited. Too many cultural institutions
are working in crumbling facilities that are in desperate need of repair and
upgrading. Many of our citizens cannot gain access to the best we have to
offer, nor can they find adequate space for arts and cultural programming in
their own communities.
If we are serious about attracting the world’s top talent and competing on the
global stage—if we truly want to ‘Own the Podium’—we must also commit the
resources to provide the cultural infrastructure we need. Cultural tourism is an
essential engine of economic development and global branding. We are well
Luminato 2009, The Long Wave by David positioned to attract significant volumes of this business as we enter the next
Rokeby; Photo by Mario Reyes few years, both with large-scale special events and festivals, and a city-wide
effort to showcase our rich cultural experiences.
City Council has recognized that the $25 per capita investment is a priority.
As a group of highly motivated and engaged citizens, we are determined that
our competitors in Montréal, Chicago, San Francisco and New York will not
succeed in widening the gap and that Toronto will not be edged out of the
top ranks of global Creative Capitals.
This report shows how Toronto—our Toronto, this great, lively and
diverse city—can create jobs and wealth, retain talent, and strengthen
neighbourhoods through investments in culture. We have an opportunity
to capitalize on our strong economic position relative to many of our
competitors. Culture is a fundamental driver of our future prosperity; we must
act now.

Ashkenaz Parade, Shadowland Theatre:
Photo courtesy Harbourfront Centre
Pulse Front Luminato 2007; Photo by Stephanie Berger

Table of Recommendations, actions and key metrics
1. We recommend that the City ensure a supply of affordable, sustainable cultural space.
Actions Key Metrics

1.1 Reinstate the Culture Build program to address the state of Funds leveraged from Culture Build
good repair in cultural facilities. investment program
1.2 Integrate culture and Toronto’s cultural institutions into Annual state of good repair backlog in City
the City’s Pedestrian Way-finding System strategy for both and non-City owned cultural facilities
visitors and residents.
1.3 Direct Cultural Services to work with other agencies Total square footage of affordable,
(Libraries, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, the Toronto sustainable, cultural space
District School Board, etc.), and Toronto’s City-owned
museums to create an inventory of spaces across the city
for community cultural use.
1.4 Protect industrial and commercial space for cultural

industries by developing stronger policies during the review
of the City’s Official Plan as well as during the review of
site-specific re-zoning applications.
1.5 Provide City Councillors with a ward-by-ward community

cultural infrastructure priority list to guide their Section 37
funding allocations. This will require updating the cultural
spaces inventory and collaboration with City Planning.
1.6 Find ways to increase efficiencies and make the Civic

Theatres affordable for community cultural use.
2. We recommend the City ensure access and opportunity for cultural participation to all
citizens regardless of age, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientatiom, geography, or
socioeconomic status.
Actions Key Metrics

2.1 Establish regular quarterly meetings with youth arts City-funded cultural programs for youth:
organizations, and City of Toronto divisions and agencies number of programs and attendance
in each part of the city, East, West, North, and South
Toronto.
2.2 Review the existing permit process to explore ways to City-funded cultural events: number of
streamline the process and make it more user-friendly for events and attendance
arts organizations, notably those that are youth-led.
2.3 Establish Local Arts Services Organizations in North York Number of audience members attending
and East York. through discounted ticketing programs

Actions Key Metrics
2.4 Establish a program to support mentorships and
partnerships cross-sectorally between established
organizations and emerging cultural organizations,
especially youth-led organizations, all across the city.
2.5 Develop a rotating Cultural Hotspot of the Year program

to celebrate cultural activity in Toronto’s neighbourhoods.
3. We recommend that the City support the development of creative clusters and emerging
cultural scenes to capitalize on their potential as generators of jobs and economic growth.
Actions Key Metrics

3.1 Continue to study and map the cultural districts in Toronto The number of cultural workers in Toronto
and recommend policy tools to foster and protect the as a percentage of the total Toronto
existing cultural clusters. labour force
3.2 Support the development of the Cultural/Creative Hub The number of cultural businesses and
in Weston Mount Dennis and use it to showcase the enterprises in Toronto
community’s history.
3.3 Promote and foster Toronto’s screen-based cluster by: The total number of businesses and
enterprises in Toronto
a. Reinstating the Toronto Film, Television and
Commercial Production Industry Committee;
b. Working with the Ontario Media Development The number of location permits issued for
Corporation, the Government of Ontario and the film and television productions in Toronto
production community to develop a mechanism to
support the creation of more sustainable spaces for
small and medium-sized productions, which would
otherwise go to competing jurisdictions; The annual production spends of GTA
c. Directing the City’s Film and Television Office and screen-based industries
Strategic Growth and Sector Development units to
devise a strategy to expand the availability of capital for
domestic film production;
d. Taking a more active role in policy discussions to
proactively and consistently defend the interests of
Toronto-based artists and companies in provincial and
national funding and tax policies.

Actions Key Metrics
3.4 Promote and foster Toronto’s digital media cluster by:
a. Branding Toronto as a global hub of digital media;
b. Working with OCAD University’s Digital Media Lab,
Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone, the Canadian
Film Centre’s Habitat New Media Lab, and others to
connect emerging digital/mobile media artists and
businesses and to create opportunities for showcasing
their accomplishments;
c. Working with the Public Realm Office and Tourism
Toronto to incorporate Toronto culture in strategies for
mobile apps and digital way-finding.
3.5 Conduct a study to investigate Toronto’s music industry

and its economic impact, and develop a strategy to
promote and foster Toronto’s music cluster.
3.6 Support the development of Artscape’s proposed Creative

Entrepreneurship Centre.
4. We recommend that the City promote its cultural institutions, festivals and other assets
to enhance its position as a Creative City regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Actions Key Metrics

4.1 Work with Tourism Toronto, Waterfront Toronto, and the The number of visitors to Toronto who
local restaurant and hospitality industry to position and participate in cultural activities as a
market Toronto internationally as a cultural destination, percentage of all visitors
and to define its creative image through large festivals
such as the Toronto International Film Festival, Luminato,
Caribana, NXNE, and upcoming major events (World Pride
2014, Pan/Parapan American Games 2015).
4.2 Make the upcoming commemoration of the Bicentennial of

the War of 1812 and its legacy project, the Fort York Visitor
Centre, a priority for the next two years.
4.3 Continue to develop plans for the Toronto Museum Project

at Old City Hall
4.4 Leverage existing City assets like Winterlicious and

Summerlicious, or use the model to create new programs
to benefit the cultural community and creative sector.
4.5 Undertake a feasibility study for an Urban Biennial

exhibition of contemporary Canadian and international art,
architecture, urban planning, design, and technology.

Actions Key Metrics
4.6 Develop a one-window online portal for event organizers
to streamline the process for permits and services.
4.7 Develop a digital marketing strategy to integrate the

branding and promotion of Toronto’s cultural events.
4.8 Pursue membership in UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network

as a City of Film
5. We recommend that the Mayor take a leadership role in Toronto’s creative capital
strategy.
Actions Key Metrics

5.1 Convene city staff to form a Mayor’s Creative Capital Working
Group to coordinate the City’s activities and resources
in a way that benefits the cultural community and all
Torontonians. The Working Group would include staff from
all the arts, cultural and creative disciplines in the city’s
administrations, as well as city entities and enterprises
that would benefit from the application of a coordinated
creative lens.
5.2 Convene periodic Mayor’s Breakfasts for Toronto’s cultural

attraction and business leaders to discuss upcoming
opportunities and events, to support tourism and to
facilitate greater information and knowledge exchange.
6. We recommend that the City keep pace with international competitors by making a firm
commitment to sustain Toronto’s cultural sector and position Toronto as a leading,
globally competitive Creative Capital.
Actions Key Metrics

6.1 Follow through on Council’s previously committed goal Per capita investment in culture,
of achieving $25 per capita in expenditures on culture comparing Toronto with selected other
by providing ongoing support to City-funded cultural cities
organizations and implementing the recommendations of
this report.
6.2 Challenge the private sector to match increased municipal Funds leveraged by increased City
cultural funding and work with Foundations to secure a investment in arts and culture grants
pool of funds for creative capital initiatives.
6.3 Reinstate the Mayor’s Ball for the Arts with funds directed Percentage growth of private funding vs.
to the Toronto Arts Foundation.. municipal funding

Actions Key Metrics
6.4 Advocate to the Province for the inclusion of growth-
related cultural facilities as eligible recipients of funding
from development charges under the Development Charges
Act.
6.5 Leverage the City’s ability to serve as a guarantor to enable

cultural organizations to take advantage of community
bond/social financing models for cultural infrastructure.
6.6 Expand awareness and understanding about existing City

financing tools (Section 37, TIEGs, etc.) to the cultural
community.

Appendix 1
Consultation Participant List
Philip Akin, Obsidian Theatre; n Linda Albright, Arts Network for Children and Youth; n Elle Alconcel, Independent;
n Alexandra Asher, Independent; n Tricia Baldwin, Tafelmusik; n Shelley Batcules, smART scKOOL; n Gabriella
Berdugo, Independent; n Egerton Blackwood, Shoot with This; n Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, Nathaniel Dett Chorale;
n Alison Boverman, Independent; n William Boyle, Harbourfront Centre; n Daniel Broome, Scarborough Arts
Council; n Jonathan Bunce, The Music Gallery; n Kathleen Burke, Lakeshore Arts; n Amy Butoiske, Canadian Film
Centre; n Floyd Cabretz, Cedar Ridge Studio Gallery; n Amanda Cain, For Youth Initiative; n Amy Capern, Exploring
Creativity in Depth Program; n Bev Carret, Art Gallery of Ontario; n Louanne Chan, Reel Asian International Film
Festival; n Paul Chomik, Independent; n Robin Collyer, Independent; n Caini Csak, Not In My Neighbourhood;
n Brian Current, Independent; n Randy Dalton, Dalton Construction; n Kim Dayman, ArtStarts; n Krista Delbaere,
Independent; n Tahsin Dhirani, Craftycouture; n Magdalena Diaz, n Barrio Nuevo; n Heather Dick, Sirius
Theatrical Company; n Deena Douara, East Scarborough Storefront; n Verity Duc, smART scKOOL; n Joanna
Durante Laudon, Manifesto; n Bohdan Dyczkowsky, Ukrainian Festival; n Jason Eano, Independent; n Karin Eaton,
Mural Routes; n Marco Edelgado, BSG Convergence; n Monica Esteves, Crow’s Theatre; n Paul Farrelly, O’Connor
House; n Scott Ferguson, Inside Out; n Julie Frost, Arts for Children & Youth; n Louise Garfield, Arts Etobicoke;
n Ken Gass, Factory Theatre; n Annie Gibson, Playwrights Canada Press Ltd.; n Danis Goulet, ImagineNative;
n Carole Goyette, LAMP; n Helena Grdadolnik, Principal, Public Workshop; n Nicole Griffith-Reid, COBA;
n Gary Hall, Gallery TPW; n Jane Hargraft, Opera Atelier; n Denise Harris, Etobicoke Historical Society; n
Charmaine Headley, COBA; n Janet Heise, Guild Renaissance Group; n Beth Helmers, Jumblies Theatre; n Sherri
Helwig, Independent; n Denise Herrera Jackson, CEO, Festival Management Committee; n Lynda Hill, Theatre
Direct; n Art Hindle, ACTRA Toronto; n Camilla Holland, Tarragon Theatre; n Jeanne Holmes, Dancemakers; n
Christopher House, Toronto Dance Theatre; n Joy Hughes, Cedar Ridge Studio Gallery; n Eva Hourihan, Assembly
Hall Steering Committee; n Patty Jarvis, Prologue to the Performing Arts; n Seema Jethalal, Manifesto; n Matthew
Jocelyn, Canadian Stage Company; n Tim Jones, Artscape; n Christine Kerr, BaAM Productions; n Heather Keung,
Reel Asian International Film Festival; n Carolyn Kim, Scarborough Arts; n Anthony Kissoon, U for Change St.
Albans; n Mariko Kojima, Independent; n Twyla Kowalenko, Dance Our Way Home; n Robert Lamb, Canadian
Opera Company; n Jade Leehoy, Independent; n Denis Lefebvre, Laidlaw Foundation; n Leslie Lester, Soulpepper
Theatre; n Shira Leuchter, Independent; n Shannon Litzenberger, Toronto Arts Council; n L’Oqenz, U for Change
St.Albans; n Benedict Lopes, Scarborough Arts; n Chris Lorway, Luminato; n Allen MacInnis, Lorraine Kimsa
Theatre for Young People; n Mary Ella Magill, Toronto Chamber Choir; n Lisette Mallet, Le sentier partagé – the
Shared Path; n Frank Horvat, Musician; n Janet McAndrew, Lakeshore Arts; n Nola McConnan, Fine Arts East
York Foundation; n Chris McDonald, Hot Docs; n Scott Miller Berry, Images Festival; n Karen Millyard; Dance
Weavers; n Carol Milroy, Long Branch Historical Society; n Guy Mignault, Théâtre Français de Toronto; n Mirvish
Productions; n Keisha Monique, Independent; n Amy Mushinski, Canadian Opera Company; n Gary Myers,
BaAM Productions; n Susan Nagy, Lakeshore Arts; n Alexander Neef, Canadian Opera Company; n Hugh Neilson,
Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People; n Nancy Newton, Arts Etobicoke; n Phyllis Novak, SKETCH; n Serena
Nudel, St. Alban’s Boys and Girls Club; n Darren O’Donnell, Mammalian Diving Reflex; n Lesley Oduro, BSG
Convergence; n Jesse Ohtake, Manifesto/Limitless; n Denny Young, Toronto Symphony Orchestra; n Michelle
Parson, Toronto Arts Council; n Jim Paterson, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church; n Chris Penrose, Success Beyond
Limits; n Yasser Pervaiz, The Remix Project; n Meredith Potter, TAPA; n Peggy Baker Dance Projects; n Janice Price,
Luminato; n Karl Pruner, ACTRA Toronto; n Ziadh Rabbani, Seed 2 Table; n Tharmila Rajasingam, Independent;
n Brian Reiper, Canadian Stage; n Carole Robitaille, Don Valley Art Club; n James Rolfe, Independent; n Sean
Roman, U for Change St. Albans; n Richard Rose, Tarragon Theatre; n Liz Rucker, Arts4All; n Sonia Sakamoto-
Jog, Reel Asian International Film Festival; n Samantha Sannella, Design Exchange; n Sein Savage, Centennial
College; n Bianca Savch, Independent; n Shahina Sayani, ArtReach Toronto; n Laura Schaffer, Queen Street BIA;
n Devon Scott, SKETCH; n Toronto Symphony Orchestra; n Kathleen Sharpe, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund;
n Lynn Short, Centre for Urban Ecology; n Angela Elster, Royal Conservatory of Music; n Jerry Smith, Lakeshore

Arts; n Wendy Smith, Lakeshore Arts; n Robin Sokoloski, Playwrights Guild; n Mavis Staines, National Ballet
School; n Lisa Steele, V-Tape; n Andrew Suri, Toronto Arts Council; n Sharon Switzer, Toronto Urban Film Festival;
n Naomi Tessler, Branch Out Theatre; n Nayani Thiyagorujah, Manifesto/Limitless; n Barbara Tinsley, Toronto
Public Library; n Imre Toma, smART scKOOL; n Michael Trent, Dancemakers; n Andrea Vagianos, Toronto Dance
Theatre; n Richard Walker, Independent; n Janet Walters, Town of York Historical Society; n Dan Watson, Arts
4All; n Heather Webb, Open Studio; n Tim Whalley, Scarborough Arts; n Alana Wilcox, Coach House Books;
n Joanne Williams, Canadian Stage; n Jaime Wilson, YOUnited; n Susan Wright, Toronto Arts Council; n Sara
Diamond, President, OCAD University; n Jessica Wyman, OCAD University; n Amina Yassin, ArtStarts; n Michael
Koerner, President, Canada Overseas Investments Limited; n George Fierheller, President, Four Halls Inc.; n Sarah
Saso, Director, Community Relations, Manulife Financial; n Don Johnson, Member, Advisory Board, BMO Capital
Markets; n Allan Kimberley, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Investment Banking Real Estate, CIBC World
Markets Inc.; n Beth Horowitz, Trustee, Art Gallery of Ontario; n Eli Taylor, Invesco Trimark; n Charles Cutts,
President, The Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall; n Mark Robert, Founder and Managing
Partner, The Carlu; n Jennifer Kirner, Community Investment Manager, TELUS; n Christine Armstrong, Manager,
Community Relations, Business for the Arts; n Scott Mullin, Vice President, Community Relations, TD; n Leila
Fenc, Director, Corporate Responsibility and Deloitte Foundation, Deloitte & Touche LLP; n Gillian Hewitt Smith,
Executive Director and CEO, Institute for Canadian Citizenship; n Nancy Holland, Private Philanthropist; n Shari
Austin, Vice President and Head, Corporate Citizenship, RBC; n Cheryl Hudson, Philanthropy Projects, Etherington
& Vukets; n Nada Ristich, Director, Corporate Donations, BMO Financial Group; n Paul Smith, CEO, Equity
Financial Holdings; n Peter Kaynert, Vice President Marketing, n Raymond James; n Donna Lindell, Vice President,
Playbook Communications; n Inka Bari, Manager, Donations, KPMG.

Appendix 2
Creative Occupations
Based on Statistics Canada’s 2006 National Occupation Classification for Statistics (NOC-S)
<http://www.statcan.gc.ca/subjects-sujets/standard-norme/soc-cnp/2006/noc2006-cnp2006-eng.htm >
Architects
Landscape Architects
Industrial Designers
Writers
Editors
Producers, Directors, Choreographer and Related Occupations
Conductors, Composers and Arrangers
Musicians and Singers
Dancers
Actors
Painters, Sculptors and Other Visual Artists
Photographers
Announcers and Other Broadcasters
Other Performers
Graphic Designers and Illustrating Artists
Interior Designers
Theatre, Fashion, Exhibition and Other Creative Designers
Artisans and Craftpersons
Patternmakers – Textile, Leather and Fur Product

Appendix 3
Youth Access Program Examples
• free
The Toronto Public Library’s Museum Access Pass (MAP) program provides families and young people with
access to the city’s museums. It is hugely successful and oversubscribed.
• families
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship’s Cultural Access Program (CAP) provides new citizens and their
with access to a wide range of cultural institutions for one year after they obtain their citizenship.
Participating institutions in Toronto include the AGO, the Bata Shoe Museum, Fort York, the Gardiner
Museum, the ROM, Colborne Lodge, Spadina House, Mackenzie House, Gibson House and many smaller
museums and galleries.
• guest
TSOundcheck offers $14 Toronto Symphony Orchestra tickets in best-available seats to 15-35-year-olds and a
of any age.
• DanceBreak members (ages 16 to 29) can purchase $30 tickets to the National Ballet or name their price by
bidding on tickets the day of the performance.
• Youth 15-29 can buy $5 HipTIX theatre tickets online or at the T.O.Tix booth at Dundas Square.
• Canadian
The T.Dot Project for Youth (Toronto - Dance, Opera, Theatre), a partnership among Ballet Creole,
Opera Company, Canadian Stage, The National Ballet of Canada, Soulpepper Theatre Company,
Danceworks, Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People, Native Earth Performing Arts, The Sprockets
Toronto International Film Festival and Tarragon Theatre, gives 25 young people in grades 10-12 the
opportunity to attend six contrasting performing arts productions in Toronto and engage in hands-on
workshops and discussions.
• Factory Theatre offers $20 tickets to audience members under 30.

• Soulpepper offers all remaining unsold tickets to youth 21 and under for $5 (Youth Rush); youth 21 and under
who buy a full-priced student ticket can bring an adult free; and every year, Soulpepper distributes more than
1,000 VIP Cards to youth 21 and under, allowing free and unlimited access to its shows 30 minutes prior to
performances.
• The AGO offers free admission to the general public every Wednesday from 6-8:30 p.m.; to Ontario teachers
with valid ID; and to Ontario high school students with ID Tuesday-Friday from 3-5:30 p.m. When it finds
sponsors (as it has for the Maharajah Exhibit) the AGO also admits all those 25 and under free.
• The Gardiner Museum offers half-price admission to the general public on Fridays after 4 p.m.
• admission
The ROM provides free admission to the general public Wednesdays after 3:30 p.m. and half-price general
on Fridays starting at 4:30 p.m.

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Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto

Report prepared for

Councillor Michael Thompson

An Action Plan for Toronto 1

Dear Councillor Thompson and Members of the Economic Development

Robert J. Foster Karen Kain Jim Prentice

2 Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto 3

4 Creative Capital Gains

Cultural Investments Summer camp at Scarborough Historical

An Action Plan for Toronto 5

Toronto is recognized internationally as one of the world’s most liveable cities,

6 Creative Capital Gains

WE RECOMMEND THAT THE CITY:

An Action Plan for Toronto 7

8 Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto 9

10 Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto 11

$1 in City funding generates:

Cumulative Growth Rates of Revenue Sources

Municipal Private Fed/Prov Total Revenue Inflation

nées sur les arts au Canada)

12 Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto 13

Section 37 of the Planning Act The Next Priorities

14 Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto 15

16 Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto 17

Supporting Youth Engagement and Leadership

18 Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto 19

20 Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto 21

22 Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto 23

24 Creative Capital Gains

Toronto is home to Canada’s largest and most diverse music economy,38 a

An Action Plan for Toronto 25

26 Creative Capital Gains

In 2009, 30% of Toronto’s overnight visitors engaged in a cultural activity

Reasons Why Overnight Visitors Came To Toronto in 2009

Raising Our Game

An Action Plan for Toronto 27

Major Cultural Events

28 Creative Capital Gains

An Action Plan for Toronto 29

Sharing Our History, Building Our Future

30 Creative Capital Gains

Toronto: City of Film

4.  We recommend that the City promote its cultural institutions,

City of Toronto Film Office, 2010 Survey.

An Action Plan for Toronto 31

32 Creative Capital Gains

However, it is our core belief that Toronto’s cultural competitive advantage

An Action Plan for Toronto 33

5. We recommend that the Mayor take a leadership role in Toronto’s

34 Creative Capital Gains

Public Support for Funding the Arts47, 48

An Action Plan for Toronto 35

A CASE STUDY: Centre for Social Innovation

4. We recommend that the City promote its cultural institutions,

5. We recommend that the Mayor take a leadership role in Toronto’s

1.4 Protect industrial and commercial space for cultural

1.5 Provide City Councillors with a ward-by-ward community

1.6 Find ways to increase efficiencies and make the Civic

2.5 Develop a rotating Cultural Hotspot of the Year program

3.5 Conduct a study to investigate Toronto’s music industry

3.6 Support the development of Artscape’s proposed Creative

4.2 Make the upcoming commemoration of the Bicentennial of

4.3 Continue to develop plans for the Toronto Museum Project

4.4 Leverage existing City assets like Winterlicious and

4.5 Undertake a feasibility study for an Urban Biennial

4.7 Develop a digital marketing strategy to integrate the

4.8 Pursue membership in UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network

5.2 Convene periodic Mayor’s Breakfasts for Toronto’s cultural

6.5 Leverage the City’s ability to serve as a guarantor to enable

6.6 Expand awareness and understanding about existing City