The head of the Canadian Live Music Association says the new federal budget means good things for Ottawa’s live music economy, but more needs to be done.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government released its 2025 budget Tuesday. It included $21 million over three years for the Building Communities through Arts and Heritage program to support local festivals, community anniversaries and community-initiated capital projects; $46.5 million over three years for the Canada Arts Presentation Fund to support professionally presented arts festivals or performing arts series; and $48 million over three years for the Canada Music Fund to enhance the careers of Canadian artists while strengthening the competitiveness and stability of the Canadian music sector.
Erin Benjamin, the president and CEO of the Canadian Live Music Association who is based in Ottawa, told OBJ on Wednesday that the CLMA is relieved to see the budget’s commitments to Canada’s cultural sector.
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“We were not sure how culture would be treated in the budget and there was speculation that it could have been significantly worse,” Benjamin said.
“What we’re seeing is a status quo renewal over three years of our most important programs that service the broader live music ecosystem. We’re happy and looking forward to continuing the work with the government, not only to make these programs permanent … but to ensure there’s a good balance of policy that applies itself to the spectrum of live music activity.”
Benjamin added that the commitments are welcome news for Ottawa’s growing live music economy.
“It’s great news for Ottawa in terms of both the not-for-profit side and commercial side. The integral programs remain, they’re going to be re-upped and a range of stakeholders will be able to apply for and hopefully access some of the money announced in the budget to continue building momentum here in Ottawa,” she said, adding that the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition and Ottawa Festival Network will benefit.
She said success in Ottawa’s live music sector will have ripple effects. “It’s great news for the local economy, especially in tourism. Indirectly, it’ll be great for Ottawa Tourism, Invest Ottawa, the Ottawa Board of Trade, because when live music thrives, the city thrives.”
Continued investment from all levels of government means the city can continue the momentum it’s been seeing with new projects such as the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and History Ottawa, a 2,000-person capacity venue coming to Rideau Street next year, Benjamin added.
“There was a concern that (momentum in) Ottawa and many other cities that are working on ramping up their live music assets would have been quelled to a certain extent if there had been nothing in the budget … We need a strong, thriving local community to support those city-building initiatives and that’s what we’ve got in the budget,” Benjamin said.
While the initial outlook is positive, Benjamin added that there are some things missing in the budget.
“One of the things that we were recommending in our budget submission was to ensure that the commercial side of the live music industry was entrenched in policy. We did not see that, but we’re optimistic we can continue to work with some of the agencies in the space to deliver programs that will help incentivize growth in Canadian concert activity,” she said.
In a statement released late Tuesday, the CLMA noted the exclusion of a “live performing arts tax credit,” which it said would “help attract private investment, create jobs and strengthen the infrastructure that supports live performance across Canada.”
“The opportunity to harness the commercial concert sector in Canada is still viable. We still need to do that,” Benjamin said.
While the CLMA and other industry stakeholders believe live music can help boost Canada’s economy, Benjamin said they understand the current socio-economic climate.
“It’s hard to say we’re disappointed … We really do understand the competing priorities and the time in which we’re living in history right now. It is difficult for people who are outside the sector to understand the economic value that live music brings to the Canadian economy. Our government recognizes that in the budget, so it’s hard to be disappointed,” Benjamin said.
Still, Benjamin said that there is still work to be done to ensure that these investments continue.
“Three years is good. It’s a starting place. This is short-term stability and we welcome that. But in the longer term we really do need to make a permanent commitment to this sector to ensure that we can continue to leverage and harness the value it represents economically, culturally and socially for Canadians, artists and audiences.”
It’s up to stakeholders to ensure that the Ottawa community and all communities across the country are holding the government’s feet to the fire and ensuring that money is used to incentivize growth in the industry, Benjamin said.
