What's New > Federal Budget 2025 - PACT & CAPACOA Responses
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PACT Advocacy Alert - Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Today, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne presented the government’s first budget under Prime Minister Carney. Titled "Canada Strong”, which was the Liberal Party’s central campaign slogan, the budget marks a new approach that shifts the federal budget cycle from spring to fall. In the 568 days since the last budget, the economy, Parliament, and the broader world have all changed, each shaping the context in which this new fiscal and budgetary plan is presented. The budget documents are more than 493 pages — a more fulsome and comprehensive detail of policy programs, fiscal and economic indicators, and debt management objectives than has been seen in some time, giving weight to the political moment the country faces in a challenging geopolitical context. The budget’s annexes include detailed expenditure reviews broken down by departments and agencies, various tax measures, and impact reports, which assess how various fiscal and policy programs will affect Canada’s demographics, which is a different approach from previous budgets.
Despite warnings of significant cuts to cultural funding in Canada, Budget 2025 makes modest investments in specific programs within the Department of Canadian Heritage and Canada Council for the Arts. The investments made were largely related to programs which had top-ups that were to sunset at the end of the current fiscal year.
While the Department of Canadian Heritage is expected to receive reductions as part of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, the Canada Council is not.
Key Items of Relevance to Arts and Culture
• $48 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to Canadian Heritage for the Canada Music Fund to enhance the careers of Canadian artists while strengthening the competitiveness and stability of the Canadian music sector;
• $21 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to Canadian Heritage for the Building Communities through Arts and Heritage Program to support local festivals, community anniversaries, and community-initiated capital projects;
• $46.5 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to Canadian Heritage for the Canada Arts Presentation Fund to support professionally presented arts festivals or performing arts series;
• $150 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to Telefilm Canada to support Canada’s vibrant film industry;
• $127.5 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to Canadian Heritage for the Canada Media Fund to support Canada’s audio-visual content creators;
• $26.1 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to the National Film Board to produce and share Canadian content with the world;
• $150 million in 2025-26 for CBC/Radio-Canada to strengthen its mandate to serve the public and to better reflect the needs of Canadians. The Government will explore modernizing CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate to strengthen independence, and is working with CBC/Radio Canada to explore participation in Eurovision;
• $6 million over three years, starting in 2026-27 for the Canada Council for the Arts to support professional artists and arts organizations;
• $20 million over four years, starting in 2026-27, to Canadian Heritage for the Celebration and Commemoration Program to support Canada Day celebrations;
• $4 million over four years, starting in 2026-27, to Canadian Heritage for the Celebration and Commemoration Program to support National Acadian Day; and
• $6 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to Canadian Heritage to support the purchase of Canadian content for the TV5MONDEplus platform.
View comprehensive list of measures
PAA and PACT are reviewing the budget in detail to assess its impact on our members and identify opportunities for continued advocacy. PACT will be issuing its response to the 2025 Federal Budget in the days ahead.
CAPACOA - Live Performance Funding Holds Steady in Budget 2025
Supplementary funds for performing arts presenters and festivals have been renewed in the 2025 federal budget.
The 2025 federal budget invests $769 million dollars over five years in arts and culture programs, agencies, and special initiatives, starting in 2025-2026. Of this amount, $67.5 million over three years are invested in programs supporting live presentation activities, and another $54 million to support creators via the Canada Music Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Consistency in Short-Term Funding
For several years, CAPACOA and its partner associations have asked the government for predictable funding for the domestic touring and presenting market (see our most recent prebudgetary submission). The 2025 budget extends supplementary funding for the Canadian Arts Presenting Fund (CAPF) and Building Communities through Arts and Heritage (BCAH), this time over three years.
“The federal budget provides a huge relief for workers in the touring and presenting sectors. With this three-year commitment, it is now possible to plan upcoming festivals and fall/winter seasons with greater confidence. That being said, the sector remains in a situation of time-limited funding, even though touring activities require long-term planning.”
– Glenn Brown, Chair of the Board of Directors, CAPACOA
This is the fourth renewal of supplementary funding granted to these two programs that support organizations that present festivals or performance seasons. These supplementary funds were first announced in the 2019 budget, to the tune of $15 million per year over two years. They were renewed in the 2020 fall budgetary statement, the 2021 budget, the 2023 budget (BCAH only), and the 2024 budget (CAPF only) each time for periods of 2-3 years at most. In 2024, the budget also provided an additional $7.5 million in supplemental funding to CAPF. Supplementary funds for both programs were set to expire on March 31, 2025, which had raised concerns within the live performance community.