The Canadian Artists Network has made four recommendations for the coming federal budget:
CAN recommends that the government:
1: (Re)Introduce a four-year income back-averaging system to ensure tax fairness for all gig workers.
2: Provide a 15% Refundable Tax Credit for the first $10,000 of professional artistic income.
3: Update the Copyright Act to, among other objectives, improve the financial situation of professional artists.
4: Provide $25 million annually to the Canada Council for the Arts to be directed specifically to older professional artists, including those from Indigenous, racialized, disabled, and other equity-deserving communities.
Click the button to read CAN’s full submission.
The Canada Council profiles CAN’s Artist to Artist Mentoring Program in its Spotlight web page.
Read the article here.
CAN Artistic Advisor and mentor Guy Maddin talks to The Globe and Mail’s Barry Hertz about his career and participation in CAN’s Artist to Artist Mentoring Program
CAN Board member Daniel Lyon and UofT Business Law Professor Benjamin Alarie advocate in the Globe and Mail for a permanent extension to allow tax donations to apply to the previous tax year:
Globe & Mail reporter Josh O’Kane reports on CAN’s budget recommendations
CAN Executive Director Scott Walker, mentor Guy Maddin, and mentee Sonia Gemmiti talk about CAN, why artists don’t retire, and our Artist to Artist Mentoring Program with host Mark Franklin on Career Buzz. Click here to listen.
In June of 2023, The Canadian Artists Network posted a submission to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in support of the Commission’s statement that funds raised through the act should be reserved for works that promote older creatives. Click the button to read the submission.
Published May 19th, 2023
Re “Film, TV and music funds to be modernized, with new ones created, after Bill C-11 approval” (May 17): The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission believes that funds should “support programs that serve the needs and interests” of several equity-deserving communities. We were gratified to read that the list includes Canadians of diverse ages.
Ageism has been called “the last acceptable form of prejudice” and nowhere is it more prominent than in media and the arts. As the voice of Canada’s seasoned professional artists, we know the obstacles older creatives face in their careers, even though our research shows they are at the height of their creative abilities.
This policy opens the door to telling more stories by, and for, older Canadians. We look forward to working with the CRTC to welcome this new era.
Scott Walker Executive director, Canadian Artists Network
The Canadian Artists Network joins with many artists and their organizations, in Canada and around the world, in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All are united in expressing solidarity with artists in Ukraine affected personally by this unjust war, those in Russia jailed for trying to tell the truth, and all artists facing aggression, violent conflict and censorship.
To find out more, we invite you to contact one of the many groups, which span all artistic disciplines: CARFAC, L’Union des artistes, TWUC, Canadian Actors’ Equity and others in Canada; CISAC, International Music Council, International Council of Museums, Fédération Internationale des Acteurs and many more globally.
