Ontario Budget 2007

March 26, 2007

Excerpted from the Government of Ontario Budget 2007 Backgrounder on the Government of Ontario website

Entertainment and Creative Cluster
Ontario’s vibrant artistic and cultural industries contribute to the economic health of the province and the quality of life of Ontarians.  In the 2007 Budget, the government is proposing to enhance certain entertainment industry tax credits, and to introduce the Status of Ontario’s Artists Act, 2007, to recognize the contributions of artists to Ontario’s economy and quality of life.  Proposed new investments in support of the cultural sector and the entertainment and creative cluster include:  

• $20 million increase in annual funding by 2009-10 to the Ontario Trillium Foundation;  
• $15 million increase in annual funding by 2009-10 to the Ontario Arts Council;  
• $5 million in 2006-07 for Ontario public libraries;  
• $2.3 million to increase annual funding of the Community Museum Operating Grants program, starting in 2007-08;  
• $5 million in additional funding for the Ontario Media Development Corporation, which promotes and leverages investment, jobs and content creation in Ontario’s cultural media cluster;  
• $5.5 million to Luminato - Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity; and  
• An additional $12.5 million in 2006-07 to support the Toronto International Film Festival