Toronto arts sector troubles: A timeline
AUG. 25, 2023 TIFF loses lead sponsor Bell after nearly threedecade partnership
In a blow to the Toronto International Film Festival, the telecommunications and media giant, a sponsor since 1995, announced it was ending its sponsorship.
AUG. 28, 2023 Artscape, a Toronto non-profit arts space provider, to be placed into receivership
The non-profit organization, perhaps the most important provider of affordable spaces for artists in a city that just keeps getting more expensive, announced it would be placed into receivership and “wind-down” the management of its spaces.
FEB.13, 2024 Harbourfront Centre told to find new income sources amid financial struggles
Harbourfront Centre needs to find new sources of revenue if it is to continue fulfilling its mandate as Toronto’s waterfront desti- nation for arts and culture, according to a federal government report.
MARCH 5, 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival and Luminato Festival reveal programming cuts stemming from financial decline
An exec with the Fringe told the Star that the festival might be forced to slash its 2025 summer program- ming in half. Meanwhile, Luminato, while smaller than it was a decade ago, recently posted an accumulated surplus of nearly half a million dollars.
MARCH 6, 2024 Just for Laughs cancels annual comedy festival Toronto as organization seeks creditor protection
Toronto’s largest comedy festival, which was to take place in September, was cancelled after the organization behind the festival announced it is restructuring its business.
MARCH 8, 2024 Shaw Festival reports largest single-year oper- ating deficit in its history, leading to ‘significant’ cuts
Canada’s second largest repertory theatre company said that it is millions of dollars in the red after recording the largest single- year operating deficit in its history.
MARCH 11, 2024 Open Studio to pause operations due to ‘mounting economic pressures’
The artist-run centre in downtown Toronto, which has provided accessible spaces to support contem- porary printmaking for more than half a century, is pausing operations in June. The organization later shared in April that it had raised the necessary funds to reopen in January 2025.
MARCH 12, 2024 Study finds Canada’s independent cinema chains are ‘in crisis,’ need more funding
The study said 60 per cent of independent cinema operators surveyed between December and February operated at a loss at the end of their most recent fiscal year.
MARCH 14, 2024 Scotiabank to end title sponsorship of Toronto’s Contact Photography Festival
The decision will likely result in a scaling back of both the Contact Festival — one of the largest photogra- phy festivals in the world — and the organization’s year-round programming following this year’s month- long festival, set to take place from May 1 to 31.
MARCH 26, 2024 Hot Docs programmers who resigned en masse describe ‘chaotic, unprofessional and discriminatory environment’
The 10 programmers who resigned en masse from Canada’s largest documen- tary film festival said in a joint statement they stepped down from their roles after being expected to work in a “chaotic, unprofessional and discriminatory environment.”
APRIL 5, 2024 The Star reveals allegations of toxic behaviour tearing apart Hot Docs film festival
The former artistic director of Hot Docs, who abruptly departed in March just months into his tenure, faced multiple allegations of “grave mismanagement” and fostering a “toxic work environment,” according to documents obtained by the Star.