Cultural Spaces Infrastructure Report — Strategic Update (2025)
Scope of Work and Methodology
In 2024, Calgary Arts Development hired AEA Consulting to update its strategic report on cultural spaces in Calgary. The purpose is to help ensure that the needs and preferences of Calgarians for cultural space are addressed over the next 10 years through development of a more responsive, coordinated and effective ‘infrastructure’ of partnerships, policies, granting and other space-related programs.
The objectives included updating information on the challenges facing existing venues, planned capital projects, trends and opportunities for supporting a diversity of arts and culture spaces, critically reviewing progress since the 2017 plan, and providing actionable recommendations. Key activities included primary and secondary research, asset mapping, site visits, a venue operator survey and gaps-and-opportunities analysis, leading to proposed recommendations that should be impactful and attainable. Overall, this strategic update aims to support both the sustainability of existing venues and the development of a new generation of Calgary’s arts and culture spaces over the next 10 years.
The Cultural Spaces Infrastructure report and framework for action will inform Calgary Arts Development’s next strategic plan. Calgary Arts Development will work with the City of Calgary and other key partners to identify which priority areas and recommendations from this third-party report will be actioned through policy advocacy, funding requests, and strategic planning.
Major Findings
Over the past 20 years, Calgary has invested significantly in cultural spaces. The Cultural Municipal Sustainability Initiative (CMSI) program contributed $165 million to 17 projects. Arts and culture organizations leveraged these funds almost six times over, resulting in more than $2 billion of investment in our city’s cultural spaces by 2028. Most of the funding went to anchor institutions, with seven major projects attracting over 75% of the CMSI funding.
Over the same period, numerous strategies and reports have shown that there is a consistent unmet demand for spaces where artists and small to mid-sized organizations can create, produce and present work throughout Calgary. Despite ongoing community demand for production spaces, there is limited capacity across the sector to advance these types of projects. Equally, Calgary’s existing smaller venues and spaces face growing instability and financial risk.
Since 2016, Calgary has lost 212 cultural spaces, and 79 more have had to move. Grassroots live music venues and training facilities like dance, theatre and music schools have been hit the hardest. Many cultural spaces in central Calgary are at risk due to issues like lease terminations and redevelopment pressure.
The pandemic made financial challenges worse for arts and culture businesses. Over two-thirds of venues are at medium to high risk of insolvency. While some venues have improved financially, there’s a growing gap between profitable and unprofitable venues. Most venues haven’t recovered their earned revenue to pre-pandemic levels.
Government funding and philanthropy are declining. Provincial and federal grants are losing value due to inflation, although Calgary Arts Development grants have increased. While fewer individuals are making charitable donations, those who continue to give are making larger donations. Corporate giving and sponsorships have also dropped.
Many cultural venues in Calgary struggle with maintenance and lack of capital funding. They need significant upgrades and repairs, but without enough funding these improvements may not happen, affecting the long-term viability and accessibility of these spaces.
Unlike other peer cities, Calgary’s private sector isn’t as involved in supporting cultural infrastructure. Policies to encourage private sector participation haven’t been effective. Delivering social purpose real estate will need new approaches and partnerships.
Proposed Framework for Action
Given the challenges Calgary is facing and the desire to improve the city’s livability through culture, it’s important for Calgary Arts Development, The City of Calgary, the Province of Alberta, the Government of Canada, and the private sector to work together with creative communities to:
- support and leverage existing investments in the ecosystem of both cultural consumption and production spaces across Calgary, and
- enable effective leadership, resources and partnerships in the development and operations of Calgary’s next generation of cultural facilities
Based on analysis and discussions with many different interested parties, eight strategic priorities and actions are proposed for the next 10 years:
- Retain and strengthen existing infrastructure
- Build cross-sector capacity to advance projects
- Improve access to capital project funding and affordable financing
- Resource internal advocacy, stewardship and delivery
- Shape cultural space provision through local area planning
- Integrate culture into new social infrastructure
- Centre the needs of artist communities
- Scale and amplify social purpose real estate models
You can read an Executive Summary here of the Cultural Spaces Infrastructure Report Strategic Update (2025) by AEA Consulting, including: Strategy, Investment and Policy Context; Current State Analysis; and Proposed Framework for Action.
For a deeper dive into the research, data, mapping and appendices, you can read the full Cultural Spaces Infrastructure Report Strategic Update (2025) here, including: Calgary’s Ecosystem of Cultural Spaces; The Challenging Financial Landscape; Good Practices from Peer Cities; Stakeholder Interviews; Venue Survey Data Tables; Materials Reviewed; and 2025 City of Calgary Proposed Land Use Table and Definitions.
