On behalf of Ontario’s orchestras, Orchestras Canada submitted a brief to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs’ 2024 pre-budget consultations. We recommended that the province of Ontario:
- Invest an additional $5 million dollars per year in the arts through the Ontario Arts Council starting in 2024-25.
- Invest $25 million over 5 years to relaunch the Ontario Arts Endowment Fund at the Ontario Arts Foundation.
- Study, pilot, then scale an adaptation of the highly successful “Soutien aux sorties scolaires en milieu culturel” launched in Quebec in 2019.
On January 24, 2024, OC hosted a webinar titled A Lunch and Learn for Ontario Orchestras: Making Friends with your Member of Provincial Parliament, presented by OC’s Executive Director, Katherine Carleton, providing:
- An overview of this year’s pre-budget submission and recommendations
- Tips and tools for sharing the pre-budget brief with your MPP
- Strategies for clearly communicating your orchestra’s impact in their riding
You can see a recording of the webinar here: