Budget 2025 in Alberta allocates $4.5 million to support artists through the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA), maintaining the province’s highest-ever arts funding level. This investment brings total funding for the arts sector to $36.1 million, reinforcing Alberta’s commitment to fostering creativity, cultural preservation, and economic development.
The arts are recognized as a vital part of Albertans’ quality of life, promoting well-being and contributing significantly to the provincial economy. Through public art galleries, visual and performing arts, and arts service organizations, Alberta’s unique cultural heritage continues to thrive and reach diverse communities.
The Alberta government’s multi-year plan aims to steadily grow AFA funding to over $43 million annually by 2027–28. The AFA supports the sector through three primary funding streams: operational grants for arts-based organizations, project grants for nonprofits and schools, and grants and awards for individual artists covering production, research, marketing, and professional development.
In 2024–25, the AFA awarded 656 organizational grants totaling $20.4 million and 446 individual artist grants amounting to $5.2 million. The maximum eligible funding for artist project grants was raised to $18,000, nearly doubling the total number of grants awarded.
In 2023, Alberta’s visual, applied, and performing arts industries generated an estimated $1.3 billion in GDP and sustained over 18,000 jobs, underscoring the arts’ vital role in the province’s economic and social fabric.
