The federal government will provide $181.5 million to Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts to expand funding programs for the arts and COVID-19 safe events, both live and digital.
The funding, for the next fiscal year, was announced in the government's fall economic statement, released Tuesday by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
“We know that businesses in tourism, hospitality, travel, arts and culture have been particularly hard-hit,” she said in her speech to the House of Commons.
Simon Brault, the head of the Canada Council for the Arts, welcomed the news.
"The details will come later, but we are working hard to design measures that will have positive and lasting impacts," he said on Twitter today.
Freeland's statement also says the government “understands that certain major live events and festivals will require unique support.”
It commits the government to working with industry to prevent the closure of flagship events and festivals across Canada.