Item - 2022.DM39.2

City Council on February 2 and 3, 2022, adopted the following:

1. City Council direct the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, in consultation with the Toronto Arts Council, to consider the feasibility of a grant which supports the promotion and preservation of independent live performance venues and art spaces in Toronto and to report back through the 2022 budget process or as soon as possible, including but not limited to:

a. a new grant stream pilot, to be administered by Economic Development and Culture;

b. add-on to existing grant structures to direct operational funding toward obtaining, or maintaining a venue;

c. supporting scalable options for a variety of venue sizes, operational costs, and the creation of opportunities in all parts of the City; and

d.  estimated additional funding required to implement the recommended program.

2. City Council direct the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, in consultation with Strategic Communications, to provide recommendations on outreach and educational campaigns promoting existing programs at the federal, provincial and municipal programs to support cultural recovery and access to creative space.

3. City Council direct the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture to report on recommendations for granting reform for all municipal cultural granting programs to better advance Equity-deserving groups, mitigate funding cuts or precarious funding arrangements, ensure fair geographic and per capita distribution, advance local access opportunities, and new organizations by July 2022.

4.  City Council direct the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture to develop comprehensive plans and policy recommendations that will sustain the arts and culture sector, including the possibility of working with for-profit organizations, structured partnerships, Business Improvements Areas, and CreateTO to  develop smart, long-term policies for operations of City-owned cultural spaces, and to report back to City Council by July 2022.

5. City Council direct the City Manager, in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, to recommend a cost estimate for interim financial supports for arts and culture spaces through the 2023 budget process, and to consider a segregated fund to assist with the replacement of existing cultural space for artists and venue operators lost through the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and consistent with Part 18 of the Building Back Stronger Report adopted by City Council on December 7, 2020.

6. City Council direct the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, in consultation with the City Solicitor, the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, to determine recommendations for alternative location for the displaced arts organizations and vendors in the Distillery, including a review of the City's portfolio of available spaces in the Distillery District and across the City and opportunities to fill vacant storefronts and report to City Council on outcomes in 2022.

7.  City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, to prioritize efforts to secure new affordable and permanent space for arts and culture uses through new development applications in the Distillery District and the local community.

8.  City Council direct the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, in consultation with the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management and the local Business Improvement Area, to explore the feasibility of providing pop-up storefronts and other accessible spaces from across the City for both non-profit and for-profit arts businesses and to report back to City Council in the first quarter of 2022.