For nearly 50 years, Orchestras Canada has gathered financial and audience data, culminating in the annual Comparative Report. This vital resource, summarized by budget and region, offers a clear picture of the Canadian orchestra landscape. Over the past few months, we gratefully accepted data from 69 participating orchestras out of Orchestras Canada’s 146 members, providing […]
On 26 February 2026, and in partnership with TRG Arts, we hosted a webinar titled Orchestra Benchmark Webinar: What Holiday 2025 Tells Us About the Year Ahead. The session took a clear, data-led look back at holiday season performance in 2025, examining what happened across ticket sales, donations, and audience behaviour, and what those results suggest for the year […]
Welcome to the OC Local Advocacy Toolkit Advocacy is essential for the long-term health and vibrancy of Canadian orchestras. Whether you are seeking funding, building community connections, or ensuring your musicians and members are part of important conversations, strategic advocacy activity ensures that decision-makers see your orchestra as relevant, resilient, and impactful. Decisions made at […]
As part of the Re-imagining Customer Relationships project, Orchestras Canada (OC), CAPACOA, the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT), and the Association for Opera in Canada (AOC) are pleased to partner with WolfBrown, a U.S.-based research and consulting firm, to offer free participation in the new Loyalty Labs program to all organizational members of these arts service organizations. Loyalty […]
Orchestras Canada, in partnership with Julie’s Bicycle, has released two essential resources designed to support environmental sustainability within the Canadian orchestral sector: the Environmental Sustainability Guide for Canadian Orchestras: Practical Action Guide and the Environmental Sustainability Charter for Canadian Orchestras. You can watch a recording of the launch webinar here. These resources, available in English […]
On 9 October 2025, this webinar, hosted by TRG Arts, revisited the 2024-25 season using data from over 40 North American orchestras and insights into single tickets, subscriptions, and individual donations. It explored the state of recovery since the start of the pandemic and analyzed the impacts of inflation in recent years. Through the data […]
Halifax, Canada (25/9/2025) – Yvonne DeRoller, long-time Symphony Nova Scotia violist, educator and musician advocate, is the winner of the Orchestras Canada Betty Webster Award for 2025. 🎥 Watch the Award Announcement Video on YouTube! Yvonne DeRoller was nominated by former Symphony Nova Scotia Music Director Holly Mathieson. The award celebrates Yvonne’s contribution to Canadian […]
By Boran Zaza, Director of Communications & Development at Orchestras Canada. During my (ongoing!) master’s in management studies at HEC Montréal, I learned about the “Baumol cost disease.” – Sounds scary, I know…! The core idea is that in certain sectors, like live music, productivity gains are inherently limited. You can’t exactly speed up a […]
Each year, Orchestras Canada’s federal budget submission reflects our unwavering commitment to advocating for Canadian orchestras, putting a spotlight on your contributions, potential, and challenges, and recommending actions and investments by government that will help unlock the creative, social and economic value that orchestras bring to our communities. In 2025, the Government of Canada […]
By Boran Zaza, Director of Communications & Development at Orchestras Canada. I’m not going to lie: I am a big fan of AI, and of all the ways it has streamlined my workflow as a one-person Communications and Development Department. From tailoring social media copy for different platforms to extracting complex donor data from spreadsheets, AI […]