After securing extended funding for the presenting sector in the last federal budget, CAPACOA’s advocacy efforts take on a new focus: the Artsdata knowledge graph.
CAPACOA submitted its submission to the Standing Committee on Finance on May 1, 2026 as part of the pre-budget consultations in advance of the federal budget.
Titled “Data Infrastructure for Humans and AI”, this submission requests a five-year, $5 million federal investment to preserve and expand Artsdata, a national knowledge graph for the arts. The submission warns that a lack of structured data makes Canadian arts invisible to artificial intelligence and modern search engines, leading to significant revenue losses. Without ongoing support, this vital public data infrastructure risks dissolving just as audiences shift toward AI-driven event discovery. The document emphasizes that maintaining sector-owned data is essential for cultural sovereignty and ensuring Canadian artists remain discoverable in a digital-first economy.
The Artsdata project found that 4 in 5 performing arts organizations do not have event structured data on their website. This data gap is estimated to cost $9 million per year in missed admission revenues. Based on this data, the arts sector appears to be lacking data literacy competencies – and the actual data – to remain visible in the age of AI.
Additionally, CAPACOA’s submission endorses the Canadian Arts Coalition’s pre-budget recommendations, which call for more funding for the Canada Council for the Arts, dedicated infrastructure funding, and legal protections regarding the use of creative works in generative AI training.
