TIFF: A Bright Light in Canada’s 2015 Economy

This year marks Toronto’s 40^th anniversary for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and with it comes a long list of must-see films starring various sought after actors, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, Johnny Depp and many more. However, TIFF was not always as popular as it is today with the earlier years featuring mainly Canadian films.

Today, TIFF is recognized across the globe as a top-tier film festival in the same realm as the Cannes film festival and the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, featuring works that span across the world. Time magazine in 2007 even went as far to claim TIFF as “the most influential film festival, period”. With this surge in popularity has also come large growth with regards to the economic impact TIFF has on the Canadian economy.

Annually, TIFF attracts over 400,000 attendees and 4,000 industry professionals to its September festival and most recently in 2009 has moved into the TIFF Bell Lightbox as a permanent facility. In 2008-2009, TIFF contributed $170 million to Toronto’s economy with $27 million coming from tourists alone.

Overall, in the year’s operations and with the construction of the Lightbox, TIFF contributed $60 million in tax revenue while supporting 2,300 full time Ontarian jobs. The most recent study, conducted between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013 concluded that the organization has grown to contribute $189 million to Toronto’s economy. This year, TIFF is expected to continue its rapid growth and yet again, contribute greatly to Toronto’s economy.

The popularity and economic success of such an event gives rise for the argument of arts funding and investment. A study done by the Ontario Arts Council shows that arts/culture tourists spent $3.7 billion in GDP province wide in 2010. Furthermore, tourists indicated that arts and culture is a primary motivator for travel in Ontario with arts/culture tourists spending more and staying longer.

On the domestic front, Canadians have surprisingly high engagement in arts, cited in a study by Business for the Arts which showed 34% of Canadians choosing arts for event preference outside the home compared to 29% choosing sports.

Despite these statistics, sporting and other events perceived as more popular continue to dominate private sector funding while the arts and culture sector are left at the whims of government grants. TIFF is only a bright spot in the vast art and culture landscape in Canada and truly highlights the importance for the arts in not only a cultural development standpoint but also from an economic view.

As Canada enters a technical recession and with economic uncertainty on the rise, arts and cultural sector funding may find itself on the chopping block once again. As stated in the 2014 Budget, the government has allotted $105 million per year starting in 2015 for core arts programs with only $25 million of that going to the Canada Council for the Arts. This amount has been touted by the arts community as progressive in that there will be no cuts in the near future. However, this amount is still well short of the Canada Councils $181 million annual budget and very well short of its goals of a $300 million annual budget.

With elections on the way for 2016, an overlooked campaign point may very well be arts and culture budgeting and plans for the sector in the future amongst more diversified business and entrepreneurial investments. Collapsing commodity prices have given Canadians a glimpse into the dangers of an undiversified economy.

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