A recent $7 million pledge from the Ontario government has some writers skeptical about whether it will meaningfully address the real issues facing the arts.
“It’s a lot like using scotch tape to fix a leak,” said Suha Mardelli, president of Ottawa Independent Writers. “It doesn’t send the message that we’re very serious about propelling the careers of those who are undervalued and underexposed.”
The province promised to invest in the literary ecosystem through key agencies and grant programs including Ontario Creates, the Ontario Arts Council and festivals such as Experience Ontario 2025. The move is to “preserve our shared heritage while driving economic growth and creative opportunity,” said Tourism, Culture and Gaming Minister Stan Cho in a press release.
The Ontario Arts Council, the province’s primary funding body for the arts, has an operating budget of $60 million this year. The OAC’s budget has remained the same since 2009.
“True progress would be multi-year index funding to actually grow with the sector,” said Mardelli.
According to the Bank of Canada, if the OAC’s funding were indexed to inflation, $60 million from 2009 would be about $86 million in 2025.
Even as public funding stays flat, pressures mount for artists. For example, operating revenues for parts of the publishing sector have increased by eight per cent since 2020, but expenses have jumped 13 per cent,a recent Ontario Creates industry profile shows. Ontario makes up around two thirds of Canada’s $1.4 billion book publishing industry, the industry profile says.
These pressures threaten the infrastructure upon which writers rely. Kate Heartfield, an award-winning Ottawa novelist, says grants from governments have long funded the Ottawa International Writers Festival. Still, in recent years, the festival has been in a precarious position despite continuing to offer essential support for local authors like herself.
“That festival has been a huge support through my whole career. Community infrastructure like festivals and readings are invaluable to writers,” Heartfield said. “Every drop of money that goes in to support those series is a way to connect readers with authors.”
While national and international best-selling authors have resources to attract readers, local authors rely heavily on funding programs to get eyes on their stories.
“You’re just clawing your way forward to try one reader at a time to get that readership up,” said Heartfield. “Those festivals really do make a difference. It’s just hard to keep that momentum on our own when festivals struggle.”
Hilary McMahon, a proprietor and literary agent at Westwood Creative Artists, agrees with Heartfield. She says more consumers turned to buying books online during the pandemic, forcing independent bookstores that closed their physical locations to compete with international players.
To be a writer is to put yourself in a precarious position for the love of the craft.
Alan Cumyn, award-winning Ottawa novelist
The shift online has also forced authors to focus on growing their audiences through social media.
“Publishers are now looking for authors who have a big social media following. They’re getting more selective,” said McMahon. She has seen big publishers turn down authors they have worked with for years, forcing those authors to go to a smaller press.
“It creates this whole sort of domino effect,” said McMahon. As bigger names move down the ecosystem, she says, it pushes out lesser-known or new authors. Finding a publisher has always been a challenge, even when one is secured.
After waiting 15 years to get published, Heartfield doesn’t make a full-time living from writing. She works as a journalism professor and freelancer to supplement her income.
“For someone who has been on bestseller lists to not be making a full-time living as a writer, it just goes to show how difficult it is to make a living in this industry,” said Heartfield.
For many local writers, participating in a book tour isn’t within their publisher’s budget. Heartfield says she’s very grateful that Harper Collins Canada has supported her, but, she adds, there’s a limit to how much even a larger publisher can do for a book tour.
“I pay my gas and stay with a friend on the couch, saving and scrimping all the way along,” Heartfield said.
Alan Cumyn, another award-winning Ottawa novelist, says being a writer carries financial risks. He only felt able to leave his full-time job after publishing his fourth book.
“To be a writer is to put yourself in a precarious position for the love of the craft,” Cumyn said. “You don’t know if your project will do well even after you publish it.”
Although it isn’t easy to navigate a writing career, Even with all the trials, Canada’s arts and culture sector contributed some $65 billion to the country’s GDP in 2024, a recent report by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce found. Written and published works were some of the top Canadian cultural exports, which have doubled overall since 2011.
Yet funding challenges continue to threaten the sector’s growth. Many arts organizations rely on an equal split between government grants, earned revenue and donations, the report by the Chamber of Commerce found.
That funding is most at risk during national economic uncertainty.
“When you have an ecosystem that is so fragile to begin with and then have consumers needing to save, that is the time for governments to be investing in this,” said Heartfield.
