Letter to send to your MP regarding the federal budget

What follows is a letter to send to your Member of Parliament (MP) and to inform them that certain programs at Canadian Heritage are at risk of losing funding, unless an extension is granted in the fall 2025 federal budget. 

Don’t hesitate to customize this template to make it your own. Add your personal story, talk about the benefits of the performing arts in your community or cite your association’s pre-budget submission, etc. 

The letter should be sent by email to your MP’s constituency office (find their contact information here) along with a list of the grants and contributions you received from the federal government over the last two fiscal years and a copy of CAPACOA’s pre-budget submission. We also prepared a support letter that your MP can send to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture: you may proactively include it in your email.

Please keep campaign organizers informed:
●	Copy the campaign address – capf.bcah@capacoa.ca – on your email;
●	Ask us any questions you may have.

Keep scrolling to see the template on page 2…

[Your organization’s letterhead]

[Date]

BY EMAIL

[Insert MP name]
[Address block]

Subject: Funding at risk for the live performance sector

Dear Mr./Ms. [Your MP’s name],

I am writing to you as [insert your title] of [name of organization or festival] to inform you of a situation that is of concern to our organization and to performing arts organizations across Canada.

The main federal programs that support performing arts presenters and festivals, the Canada Arts Presentation Fund (CAPF) and Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage (BCAH), could lose supplemental funds of $22.5M as of April 1, 2026. This represents nearly a third of the $72.4M envelope they have had for the past two years. This would effectively reduce funding for these programs to levels set in 2007, representing a decrease of nearly 50% in constant dollars.

These supplemental funds have been added to the base budgets of these programs since 2019, but always on a short-term basis, which creates continued uncertainty for organizations like ours. After several one or two-year extensions, we feel it is time for the government to make a longer-term commitment in support of the live performance sector.

Several live performance industry associations, including the Canadian Association for the Performing Arts (CAPACOA), have submitted a pre-budget recommendation asking the federal government to make permanent the supplementary investments of $15.5 million per year in the Canada Arts Presentation Fund (CAPF) and $7 million per year in the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage (BCAH) program. If a permanent investment is not possible at this time, they are asking the government to at least extend them for four years, and to consider an adjustment to account for the growing number of clients and for the sharp increase in operating costs. 

[Describe the difference that this funding makes. Describe the programming that you deliver in the riding thanks to this funding.]

The live performance sector’s budget recommendation is within the scope of the Canadian Arts Coalition’s main budget recommendation, that the government of Canada permanently allocate at least 1% of its overall spending towards arts, culture, and heritage. The $22.5 million recommended for CAPF and BCAH represents 11.8% of the $190 million requested by the Canadian Arts Coalition for the Department of Canadian Heritage.

In anticipation of the upcoming federal budget, we hope that you will bring our concerns and recommendations to the attention of your colleagues within your caucus and in the House of Commons. In particular, we would be most thankful if you agreed to write a letter of support to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Finance. To this effect, you will find attached a letter template, should you need it.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your title]
[Your contact information]

Encl. 
-	List of grants and contributions received [Append a list of the grants and contributions you’ve received from the federal government the last two fiscal years. You may retrieve it using the Government of Canada’s proactive disclosure portal and the Canada Council for the Arts’ proactive disclosure portal].
-	CAPACOA’s Pre-Budget Submission
-	Support letter intended for the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture

cc:	CAPACOA, capf.bcah@capacoa.ca