The City of Toronto needs your help to update the City’s 2003 Culture Plan for the new term of Council.
Toronto residents define culture as the following elements: great arts and educational institutions, vibrant street life, ethno-cultural and intellectual diversity.
These elements are essentials for the vitality of Toronto because, according to Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37 Scarborough Centre),:
- Toronto’s cultural sector employs nearly 133,000 people,
- annually generates $9 billion in GDP, and
- between 1991 and 2007, creative occupations grew at more than twice the rate of the general labour force.
“Since its adoption, the Culture Plan has successfully shaped the City’s cultural strategy and supported the growth of the cultural sector” as follows:
- about “87 per cent of the Culture Plan’s 63 recommendations have been implemented,
- in August 2010, Council reaffirmed its commitment to the Culture Plan’s cultural investment goal of $25 per capita (currently at $18 per capita).”
Please click here for information about the Culture Plan.
For these reasons, it is imperative that Toronto and Toronto citizens come together for a fresh review and to update the City’s 2003 Culture Plan.
The Creative Capital Initiative is a partnership between the City and the arts and culture community to provide expert advice and recommendations to update the City’s 2003 Culture Plan for the new term of Council.
You may track the progress of the Creative Capital Initiative and provide comments on http://www.livewithculture.ca.
Here are the VIPs involved with the Creative Capital Initiative:
- co-chairing the initiative are three prominent members of Canada’s business and cultural communities: Robert Foster (CEO Capital Canada), Karen Kain (Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada), and former federal Cabinet Minister Jim Prentice (Vice-Chairman, CIBC)
- joined by an Advisory Council that includes Nichole Anderson (President and CEO, Business for the Arts), Cameron Bailey (Co-Director, Toronto International Film Festival Group), Claire Hopkinson (Executive Director, Toronto Arts Council), Che Kothari (Executive Director, Manifesto Community Arts) and Gail Lord (Principal, Lord Cultural Resources)
- advised by Richard Florida (Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute) and Jeff Melanson (Special Advisor to the Mayor – Arts and Culture)
This Creative Capital Initiative will present its recommendations to the Economic Development Committee at the committee’s May 2011 meeting.
You are invited to be part of city-building through culture by participating in one or both consultations as follows:
- March 28 consultation on strategic priorities for the cultural community, 6 to 8:30 p.m., at Council Chamber, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. W.
- April 7 session on strategies specifically related to youth and youth-focused cultural organizations, 6 to 8:30 p.m., Council Chamber, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. W.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Media Advisory
March 24, 2011
Creative Capital Initiative public consultations – March 28 and April 7 at City Hall
The Creative Capital Initiative will host public consultations on March 28 and April 7 at City Hall. All Toronto citizens are welcome to be part of city-building through culture by participating in one or both consultations.
The March 28 consultation will focus on strategic priorities for the cultural community while the April 7 session will consider strategies specifically related to youth and youth-focused cultural organizations.
Date: Monday, March 28 and Thursday, April 7
Time: 6 to 8:30 p.m. both nights
Location: Council Chamber, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. W.
Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37 Scarborough Centre), Chair of the Economic Development Committee, and Creative Capital Initiative Co-Chair Robert Foster will be present at both consultations.
The Creative Capital Initiative, a partnership between the City and the arts and culture community, will provide expert advice and recommendations to update the City’s 2003 Culture Plan for the new term of Council. The initiative will look for ways to enhance Toronto’s role as an international cultural centre, and recommend actions to amplify the sector’s economic and social contributions. The initiative will present its recommendations to the Economic Development Committee at the committee’s May 2011 meeting.
The Creative Capital Initiative has recently completed six weeks of information gathering and discussion with stakeholders. The initiative has hosted nine focus group sessions with over 250 participants in Etobicoke, downtown Toronto, North York and Scarborough. The sessions heard a wide range of ideas, issues, and suggestions from an engaged group of citizens. More information about some of these previous focus group sessions is available at http://www.livewithculture.ca/category/creative-capital-initiative.
Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. Toronto’s government is dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can dial 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.