2026 Federal Budget: A Welcome but Temporary Boost for Festivals and Events

November 5, 2026

By allocating an additional $10M to Building Communities through Arts and Heritage (BCAH) and $15M to the Canada Arts Presentation Fund (CAPF) next year, the federal government is giving festivals and events a much-needed boost, but this support will unfortunately be too temporary to have the transformative impact the sector has been seeking, according to Festivals and Major Events Canada (FAME).

In its 2026 budget and to mark Canada’s 160th anniversary, the government says it wants to celebrate the communities that have shaped our country, with a particular focus on festivals that give life to communities and offer Canadians an opportunity to come together and celebrate the history, traditions, and people that make their communities unique. It provides a list of 20 festivals that were successful in 2026 and that could receive additional funding, including Bluesfest Ottawa and the Festival Western de St-Tite, and states that it is committed to supporting the performing arts across the country.

This year, the Festivals and Major Events Canada (FAME) coalition put forward three key recommendations to enable hundreds of events to generate more tourism revenue, enhance and fund security measures, and further promote culture. The federal government has responded favourably to the latter aspect, providing the suggested amount, but as a one-off addition for a single year rather than on a recurring basis.

The number of individual CAPF recipients has risen significantly in the past few years, by more than 20% between 2018-2019 and 2024-2025 alone. For BCAH, over the same period, the number of festivals receiving funding increased by 21%. For FAME, this more than justified more permanently increasing total funding for both programs to $98M. The coalition hopes that this is just a postponement and intends to continue its advocacy efforts ahead of the next budget, while continuing to highlight the importance of security and tourism.