Over the past two years, the Canada Council has engaged extensively with the arts community to ensure its work remains responsive and impactful. This engagement included meetings with the Director and CEO and senior leadership, virtual and in-person discussions, outreach sessions, sector-wide gatherings and a national survey on the state of the arts.
Building on this sustained engagement, in February and March 2026, the Canada Council invited the arts community and the wider public to help shape its next strategic plan (2026–31). Through a series of engagement activities, the Canada Council sought to ground the plan in the realities, pressures and possibilities shaping the arts across Canada at a time of significant social, economic, technological, and geopolitical change.
