Arts and Culture Sector Working Group
Motion 23 · Standing Committee of Council on City Finance and Services, July 15, 2026
Summary
- Received for information the Arts and Culture Sector Working Group's prioritized solutions following a multi-month review.
- Directed staff to report on implementing priority areas including: cultural space affordability tools; cultural capital infrastructure; arts and events licence reform; regulatory reform for small venues; and navigator support for arts organizations.
- Working group had been established by a prior council motion; findings presented in a memo to council.
- Passed unanimously.
Vote
Public comments
Read all 2 statements
Transcript
34 segments
Okay, so we need one more. Oh, we have quorum. We have quorum. Perfect.
Thanks, everyone.
So let's keep on going.
are to our city, both culturally from a quality of life perspective, mental health, wellness, economic vitality, all of the above. We previously in July had a lot of public input that led to the creation of an arts and culture sector working group to review challenges facing the sector. The working group proceeded with kind of tackling that. They completed the work. The findings were presented in a memo to council. And through that, a number of solutions were identified, some of which were already underway through staff work and others that the committee felt was important to highlight. So the motion, first of all, I just want to thank and appreciate everybody that was part of that and participated and contributed to it. I extend gratitude for myself and from Councillor Fry. Also, the motion asks that council receive for information the solutions that the working group had outlined. I think that came in the form of a memo to council. And then the other part of it in terms of the go forward is to directing staff to look at implications for priority areas that... still would benefit from further direction, and those were things like cultural space affordability, cultural capital infrastructure, something we've already been talking about. The Arts and Events Culture License, which is something, I think it was one of my earlier motions this term, I invited Council Minster to co-submit on me where, for example, we doubled the number of events that groups or entities could host every month through the Arts and Culture License, recognizing the importance of non-traditional spaces. So looking, you know, they identified that that could be an opportunity to look at that again. Regulatory reforms, something we're always trying to improve, things like navigator support, and thought it makes sense to build on some of the success we've had. For example, the city's business and economy office, it supported BIA, so it could do something similar for arts and culture. And that is it, so I'll leave the rest. Thanks, Chair.
Thank you. All right, so we will now hear from the registered speakers for this motion. Oh, a second by Councillor Frye already.
That's right. So he can second. Is that procedurally, is that correct, even though it's co-submitted? Yes. He needs to be present? Okay.
Okay, then seconded by Councillor Dominardo. Okay, so we will now hear from the registered speaker for this motion. Public speakers should state whether they are in support or in opposition of the recommendations and may only speak once. I will also ask speakers if they are residents of Vancouver, if it is not noted on the speaker's list. Our first public speaker is Ashley Daniel Foote.
Please join us. Okay.
Speaker number one has withdrawn. Also, the public speaker, speaker number one, Ryan Hunt, has also withdrawn. Speaker second is Brent Constantine.
Brent? Hi there again.
Yep. Thanks to the committee for giving me time to speak. Again, arts operator of Little Man Gallery in Gastown and member of the city's arts and culture advisory committee uh speaking in support of this motion and why it's important um i do want to thank city staff for their work on the arts and culture sector working group over the last several months and for counselors kirby young and fry for bringing forward this motion The motions, the results of work directed by council last year on a different motion from the arts community to create the arts and culture sector working group, which completed a full jurisdictional review of other cities, documented the sector's challenges, and produced a prioritized set of solutions that was built collaboratively with that city staff. It represents real effort from a lot of people who are also trying to keep their organizations and their practice alive at the same time. And the motion asks council to acknowledge that work that was done and endorse those solutions. And the motion really gives staff direction on items that still lack that direction, that mostly come out of... The culture shift and making space for arts and culture, arts plans that the city has. Things like that regulatory reform for small venues, events licenses, navigator support, which is really important, and cultural space affordability tools. I think that there's a lot of direction here for staff and a lot of great things that can come out of here. Vancouver's cultural sector is, as always, asking for systems that will continue to work and for council to say clearly that arts and culture belongs in the city's future. So this motion is a step forward to that. Thanks, council, for supporting it.
Thank you. Speaker number three is Paula Murlow.
Hello. I'm here, but I believe they're going to change me.
Or festival.
Chair, if I might, on a point of procedure, I neglected to ask at the beginning of the meeting. This speaker, in error, signed up for this item and meant to sign up for the festivals item. So we revise that you have the discretion to move her to that motion when it comes up shortly.
So she was intending to speak on motion 11.
I see. So that motion is number... 11. Number 11. Okay, so Paula, we're going to move you to the number 11. Okay, thank you. So you'll be the four speakers on the motion number 11. We're going to call your name.
Thanks, Chair.
Feel free to sign off right now. Thanks, Paula. Okay, so next speakers, I brought them on your mayoral. Please go ahead.
Hey, Abelardo Mayoral, or Mayo for short, Mayo for short. I'm a Vancouver resident from the Kitsilano neighborhood and owner-operator of a live music production and promotion company based in Vancouver. I'm here to support the motion for the prioritized solutions from the arts and culture sector working group. I've been in the arts and entertainment scene for 20 years or more, if we count as a fan, which is what drove me into it. But, well, yeah, working as a business owner in there, like, yeah, I was not aware of, like, that... great work that seems to have been done by this working group and looking at the recommendations and the topics we cover gave me a lot of hope for the protection of this strong creative scene that we have in the city. Sustainability, affordability, facilitation of reduction of administrative barriers of permits for zoning, the investment tools. So I believe then this goes hand in hand with the motion number seven that looks at the long term terms, sustainment, so that, like, here's a lot of, like, things that we can do in the short term to continue to strengthen the arts and culture in Vancouver. So we have a lot of assets to rely on. We have a lot of creatives in the city, a lot. Like, they're world-class, and I can speak that by experience, that the... artists in Vancouver are, sometimes we have a ratio of more artists to fans than anything else in many of the events I see. And the quality of the arts that are produced by Vancouver's creatives is... the hook is really world-class so then we have that asset ready to rely on so then I as a consult to support then all these initiatives that help being a facilitator or enabler into what already exists here that has the potential to be to make Vancouver world-class cultural hub We also have the fans that crave this as well. So then it will be a scene that can sustain on its own. And if we can facilitate that and help it through all these recommendations from the working group. Yeah, it is a huge bang for the buck to invest in arts and culture, as we have seen. I know that at least 4BC generates about half a billion dollars a year.
The arts sector, so I'm sure Vancouver is a big part of that. So please go ahead and support the motion. Thank you.
Thanks, Michael. All right, so I'm going to go back to number one, Ashley Daniel Fudge.
Speaker number one is not on the line.
He already spoke.
Ryan Hunt has withdrawn.
Oh, okay. Oh, sorry. I got something wrong. Okay.
Long day for everyone. Okay. All right. So this is the end of the speaker's list. Thank you, everyone, for speaking to the Standing Committee. Committee members, is there any discussion?
Councillor Kirby.
Yeah, just want to appreciate and thank the group again for their work over the term. This was a key piece of work for both the advisory committee and the specific working group and task force. And I think we've heard common themes about the importance of things like affordability and space and then also helping to navigate on the city of Vancouver side with respects to permitting and that. So I think that it's going to be a good culmination of the work and it'll be... good thing for some of the staff to delve into and see what which pieces can be furthered and advanced and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the outcomes of that but I just wanted to thank everybody and thank council in advance for supporting which my sense is everybody will. Thank you.
Thank you councillors. Okay, so seeing no one else on the queue I'm going to call the vote. So clerk, please take us to the voting screen and council please register your vote.
Chair, can I please get a vote of assist in favor? It's Mayor Sim. Thanks. No, thanks, Mayor. Okay. Councillor Montague is absent. Councillor Bligh is absent.
Okay, so the motion carries unanimously with Councillor Bligh, Fry, and Montague absent. Thank you. That completes Motion 9 on the agenda. Okay, so Motion 10 is Rising Ties, Governance, Reform, and the Stewardship of Falls Creek. And it is moved and introduced by Councillor Wu. we begin this agenda item, if anyone believes they have a conflict of interest, now is the time to declare it. Does anyone have a conflict of interest to disclose? Okay. So, Councillor Wu, you have two minutes to introduce your motion.
Statement Watch
Yep. Thanks to the committee for giving me time to speak. Again, arts operator of Little Man Gallery in Gastown and member of the city's arts and culture advisory committee uh speaking in support of this motion and why it's important um i do want to thank city staff for their work on the arts and culture sector working group over the last several months and for counselors kirby young and fry for bringing forward this motion The motions, the results of work directed by council last year on a different motion from the arts community to create the arts and culture sector working group, which completed a full jurisdictional review of other cities, documented the sector's challenges, and produced a prioritized set of solutions that was built collaboratively with that city staff. It represents real effort from a lot of people who are also trying to keep their organizations and their practice alive at the same time. And the motion asks council to acknowledge that work that was done and endorse those solutions. And the motion really gives staff direction on items that still lack that direction, that mostly come out of... The culture shift and making space for arts and culture, arts plans that the city has. Things like that regulatory reform for small venues, events licenses, navigator support, which is really important, and cultural space affordability tools. I think that there's a lot of direction here for staff and a lot of great things that can come out of here. Vancouver's cultural sector is, as always, asking for systems that will continue to work and for council to say clearly that arts and culture belongs in the city's future. So this motion is a step forward to that. Thanks, council, for supporting it.
Statement Watch
Hey, Abelardo Mayoral, or Mayo for short, Mayo for short. I'm a Vancouver resident from the Kitsilano neighborhood and owner-operator of a live music production and promotion company based in Vancouver. I'm here to support the motion for the prioritized solutions from the arts and culture sector working group. I've been in the arts and entertainment scene for 20 years or more, if we count as a fan, which is what drove me into it. But, well, yeah, working as a business owner in there, like, yeah, I was not aware of, like, that... great work that seems to have been done by this working group and looking at the recommendations and the topics we cover gave me a lot of hope for the protection of this strong creative scene that we have in the city. Sustainability, affordability, facilitation of reduction of administrative barriers of permits for zoning, the investment tools. So I believe then this goes hand in hand with the motion number seven that looks at the long term terms, sustainment, so that, like, here's a lot of, like, things that we can do in the short term to continue to strengthen the arts and culture in Vancouver. So we have a lot of assets to rely on. We have a lot of creatives in the city, a lot. Like, they're world-class, and I can speak that by experience, that the... artists in Vancouver are, sometimes we have a ratio of more artists to fans than anything else in many of the events I see. And the quality of the arts that are produced by Vancouver's creatives is... the hook is really world-class so then we have that asset ready to rely on so then I as a consult to support then all these initiatives that help being a facilitator or enabler into what already exists here that has the potential to be to make Vancouver world-class cultural hub We also have the fans that crave this as well. So then it will be a scene that can sustain on its own. And if we can facilitate that and help it through all these recommendations from the working group. Yeah, it is a huge bang for the buck to invest in arts and culture, as we have seen. I know that at least 4BC generates about half a billion dollars a year. The arts sector, so I'm sure Vancouver is a big part of that. So please go ahead and support the motion. Thank you.