Open Letter to Finance and Cultural Minister on arts funding

October 28, 2025

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne
Minister of Finance
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Via email: [email protected]

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault
Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Via email: [email protected]

Dear Minister Champagne and Minister Guilbeault,

Open letter: re: Protect and enhance funding for arts, culture and heritage

As Member of Parliament for Vancouver East, I have recently been made aware of the deep cuts planned
for festivals and events. I’m in a riding that has one of the highest concentration of artists and cultural
workers in the country.

The main programs that benefit important performing arts presenters, namely the Canada Arts
Presentation Fund (CAPF) and Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage (BCAH), could lose
$22.5M of the approximately $73M they have had for the past two years, or nearly one third of their
total envelope, as of April 1, 2026. This would effectively reduce funding for these programs to 2007
levels, representing a decrease of nearly 50% in constant dollars.

I hereby endorse the requests of the associations and coalitions working on behalf of performing arts
presenters, such as Festivals and Major Events Canada (FAME), and I invite you to renew, in the next
budget, the amounts that have been added to the base budgets of these programs since 2019 for a
minimum of four years. I also invite you to consider an upward adjustment that would account for the
larger number of clients, inflation and the sharp increase in operating costs over the past few years, as
well as the integration into the base budgets of these additions made over the past six years,
announced for one or two years at a time, in order to provide greater predictability for the sector and to
put an end to a near-perpetual state of representation in the sector.

In Vancouver, I have heard directly from organizations negatively affected by high inflation in the post-
COVID context. Funding has not kept up with costs at the current budgets. Cutting budgets to these
funding streams would be existential for many organizations. In Vancouver, we are also impacted by the
World Cup dates that are forcing the change of dates for festivals, adding risk and variability into
planning for 2026 in what is already a volatile economic climate for sponsorship and philanthropy.

I am also hearing from constituents alarmed that austerity measures, cloaked as “deficit reduction”
could also threaten Canada Council for the Arts funding with cuts upward of $50 million which will make
life less affordable for artists by as their grants and those of the organizations which employ, engage, or
present them shrink. Many of them are calling on your government to support the calls of the Canadian
Arts Coalition to permanently allocate “1% for the Arts”
.
This continuity of funding would allow for the stabilization of arts organizations that contribute so much
culturally, economically and socially to the life of the city and the country, showcasing the original work
of Canadian artists.

Thank you for your attention to this vital issue.

Sincerely,
Jenny Kwan
Member of Parliament for Vancouver East

Latest posts

Toronto Star: Mark Carney’s Liberals welcome MP who crossed the floor as the hunt for budget support continues

But two New Democrats from the NDP’s seven-member caucus — which could play a critical role in helping or blocking the budget’s passage — suggested Wednesday they would be hard-pressed to support the document, even as interim leader Don Davies told the Star his party needs more time to make a decision. Others in his caucus played coy about their plans to decide the future of the Carney government.

Speaking to the Star before the NDP caucus meeting Wednesday, Winnipeg’s Leah Gazan and Vancouver’s Jenny Kwan said they have ruled out abstaining, but did not commit to voting against the budget.

“We’re elected here to make a point, to take a position,” Kwan said. “I’ve always done that in all my entire political life and I will represent my constituents.”

Click link to read the news story - https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/mark-carneys-liberals-welcome-mp-who-crossed-the-floor-as-the-hunt-for-budget-support/article_481bea0e-cee0-41fb-8b3d-e22aea01a68d.html

Globe & Mail: Federal budget 2025: Foreigners living in Canada will get permanent residence priority, Immigration Minister says

On Tuesday the federal government announced a dramatic cut in the number of temporary residents – halving admissions of international students to Canada in the next three years, while stabilizing the number of permanent residents.

Ms. Diab was unavailable for comment. Unusually, the annual levels plan was unveiled in the budget and is being spearheaded by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, rather than the Immigration Minister.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the government’s plan “represents a disappointing retreat from Canada’s historical role as a welcoming, progressive and inclusive country for immigrants, refugees, international students and temporary foreign workers.”

She said the decision to slash international student numbers, coming on top of previous reductions, will “further devastate colleges and universities and the communities that rely on them, while causing job losses across the country.”

Click link to read the news story - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-permanent-residence-freeze-canada-diab-federal-budget-2025/

iPOLITICS: Liberals, NDP delete proposed changes to birthright citizenship from ‘lost Canadians’ bill

The federal Liberals have helped pass an NDP motion that removes proposed restrictions to birthright citizenship from the government’s ‘Lost Canadians’ bill, despite the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois voting in opposition.

On Monday, MPs voted on report stage amendments to Bill C-3 initiated by NDP MP Jenny Kwan that sought to reverse previously adopted changes that would require people eligible for birthright citizenship under the proposed law to fulfill residency and security requirements — similar to prospective immigrants.

The bill now proceeds to third reading, where it is expected to pass, before it moves on to the Senate. If codified, the ‘Lost Canadians’ bill would restore citizenship to people born in a foreign country to Canadian parents who were also born outside Canada.

But Conservative and Bloc MPs passed amendments that would introduce additional criteria for ‘lost Canadians’ to receive citizenship during an immigration committee meeting last month. The amendments would require those eligible to demonstrate, among other things, proficiency in either English or French, as well as a basic knowledge of Canadian history.

Though the Liberals opposed the changes, the amendments passed because the NDP no longer have a seat on committees after failing to keep official party status in this past year’s federal election.

During a recent interview, Kwan told iPolitics that the Tory-proposed changes conflate the rights of immigrants with ‘lost Canadians,’ which she said was “sneaky” and “unCanadian.”

“To me, it is absolutely disgraceful… [so] I’m looking to restore the bill to its original form,” she said.

Kwan’s motion passed by a margin of 170 to 163.

Following the vote, she called the result a “victory for every family who refused to give up, for every Canadian denied their birthright, and for the principle that citizenship belongs to the people — not to politicians.”

Click link to read the news story - https://www.ipolitics.ca/2025/11/03/liberals-ndp-delete-proposed-changes-to-birthright-citizenship-from-lost-canadians-bill/