The Arts

Long-celebrated as a place of natural beauty and wide-open spaces, Canada has also become known as a centre of contemporary artistic creation.

The originality of Canadian art stems from a variety of sources: the geography of Canada, its climate and its ethnocultural diversity, as well as its history. Today, in literature, dance, cinema and other forms of artistic expression, Canadians are in high demand at the world's major cultural events.

Canada's cultural industries are a vital part of our national identity and our economy. In 2001, $560 million was allocated towards arts and culture for investment in new technology, new media and innovation, training the next generation of artists and promoting books and sound recording in Canada.

Film, Music, Dance, Theatre and Books

Over the years, Telefilm Canada has financed more than 600 feature films, and 1500 television shows and series. The National Film Board, the world's largest government film unit, has produced over 10 000 works since 1939, winning almost 3 000 national and international awards along the way.

Film directors like Atom Egoyan or Denys Arcand have brought international acclaim to Canada's film industry while actors such as Mike Myers, Dan Ackroyd, Jim Carrey, and Michael J. Fox have taken the north to Hollywood. The Toronto International Film Festival has also become one of the most popular of its kind with the 2004 festival hosting 100 premieres alone.

Government programs and regulations have fostered a growth of independent Canadian music companies. Singers like Diana Krall, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, the Tragically Hip and Céline Dion continue to please national and international audiences. Currently there is a professional symphony orchestra in almost every major Canadian city and nearly 350 professional theatre companies.

Canada has more than 100 professional dance companies. The Canadian National Ballet has more than 60 dancers and its own full symphony orchestra. Theatre and dance companies like Robert Lepage's Ex Machina or Lalala Human Steps, the Cirque du Soleil, visual artists like Jeff Wall or Ian Wallace attest to the important role which Canada now plays in the arts. Toronto has now become the world's third-largest centre for performing arts, hard on the heels of New York and London. Other theatre companies have sprung up across the country.

With over 22 000 public libraries, Canadians love to read and writers like Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Carol Shields, Michael Ondaajte, Pierre Burton, Robertson Davies and Yann Martel are known throughout the world.