City of Toronto - Making Space for Culture

In the 2011 report, Creative Capital Gains: An Action Plan for Toronto, the City of Toronto identified its role in supplying “affordable, sustainable cultural space” for use by cultural industries, non-profit organizations, and community groups. While there has been major public and private investment in larger anchor cultural facilities in the city in the past decade, the upgrade or development of facilities for small and mid-size organizations and community cultural groups is seen as a critical next step to ensure a vibrant cultural community. 

In 2012, the City of Toronto contracted Lord Cultural Resources to undertake a survey of cultural facilities across the city to address this gap in the distribution and accessibility of cultural spaces to city residents. Working closely with the City’s Economic Development and Culture Division, the Lord Cultural Resources team mapped existing cultural facilities and crafted a strategic approach to public consultations, which encompassed public meetings in 20 of the city’s 44 wards. Recommendations were identified on the application of Section 37 of the Ontario Planning Act as a tool to support the development of cultural facilities. The findings from the public consultations and online survey, along with other research, were synthesized into a set of Ward Summaries that identified the short and long-term facility needs in each ward to aid City Councilors in their decision-making. 

This process succinctly captured the existing facilities within each ward consulted, and outlined a way forward to ensure that all Torontonians have ongoing access to spaces in which to teach, practice, produce, and engage with culture.