What to know
- Art Toronto director Emily-Jean Alexander says increased grant funding and stronger city partnerships could help support Toronto’s arts sector.
- Toronto’s 10-year Culture Connects plan aims to increase the Toronto Arts Council’s budget by $2 million annually between 2025 and 2035.
- Alexander says affordable studios and greater financial support for artists could help retain creative talent in Toronto.
- Making art more accessible also means addressing the cost of living so residents have more money to spend on cultural events.
- Art Toronto’s 27th edition runs from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, featuring 105 galleries.
A prominent Toronto art professional is speaking up on how City Hall can support the art industry days after Olivia Chow secured re-election as mayor.
Chow secured her second term as mayor, after defeating former city councillor Brad Bradford in the latest municipal election earlier this week.
Read More
As Art Toronto, one of Canada’s most significant art events, kicks off on Thursday, the event’s director Emily-Jean Alexander is speaking out about what the re-elect mayor can do to support the creative industry.
“It’s really so great that our mayor has been involved in arts and culture in the past. She’s often out at different events around the city and really promoting the cultural sector in Toronto. We’re happy that [the] mayor is elected, who we know will also continue that support,” Alexander told Now Toronto.
How can City Hall support the arts?
Creative arts and events are a significant part of Toronto’s economy and culture. According to the Toronto Art Foundation, the culture economy generates about $11.4 billion in GDP, and attracts about 4.3 million visitors to the city annually.
But in order to keep this industry operating, Alexander says it’s critical that all levels of government cooperate, including City Hall.
“Having a strong mandate at a municipal level to be providing grant funding for different organizations, both profit and nonprofit, as well as our arts events that are across the city, will help to be growing more people who are engaged with the arts and help to make the art economy here sustainable,” she explained.
Back in November 2024, City Council adopted an ambitious 10-year plan, proposed by Chow, to increase investments in arts and culture across the city. “Culture Connects: An Action Plan for Culture in Toronto” aims to increase Toronto Arts Council budget by $2 million per year between 2025-2035 to support creative industries and events across the city.
Since it was implemented, the City of Toronto says over 82 per cent of the work described in the plan have been put in motion. This includes the $2 million Toronto Arts Council budget increase, another $379,000 increase for Local Arts Service Organizations, and a 2.5 per cent inflationary increase for arts and culture grants.
Over the next four years, Alexander said she hopes to see growth in the city’s support to the art sector, including more funding.
“I would definitely love to see an increase in grant funding that’s being offered to both artists as well as galleries in order to be mounting important works, either for artists who are living here in the city or bringing in international artists here to exhibit in Canada, as well as some more funding and partnership opportunities with the city,” she said.
In addition to funding, Alexander said more partnerships with the city to bring in more awareness and grow art events like Art Toronto would also be welcome. According to her, partnerships with the city’s tourism department, for instance, could drive more visitors to major artistic events in the city.
Making art spaces more accessible
Increasing support for the creative sector could also mean making sure residents are financially able to attend cultural events and support the arts industry.
With affordability at the centre of discussion topics in this year’s municipal elections, Alexander said making arts more accessible might mean not only making artistic events cheaper to attend, but also bringing everyday costs down so that residents have money left at the end of the month to invest in the arts and enjoy their leisure time.
“It’s more so about thinking about how we can bring down the cost of living for people so that they have more discretionary funding. And then it’s really on arts organizations to be able to communicate how they are accessible and entry points into art,” Alexander said.
“It’s not just [for the] elite, or that you have to have tens of thousands of dollars to be able to afford art,” she added, saying residents can build a closer connection with the arts by starting with pieces and events at lower price points as they increase their arts literacy and collecting.
In addition, she says offering more financial support for creatives in Toronto would help the city keep creative talent from leaving, and consequently support the growth of this industry.
“It really comes down to providing more grant money for artists who are creating, providing more spaces dedicated to studios that are at low cost. As well as working with land people who are land developers to make sure that art is being thought of in spaces around the city,” she added.
Art Toronto is one of Canada’s biggest annual art events, focused on modern and contemporary art. 2026 marks the 27th edition of the event, which is bringing 105 galleries together from coast to coast to exhibit hundreds of artworks over the course of four days.
The event is taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1. Tickets are available at the door or on the event’s website.
