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Research & Publications

  • Consultation Submission
Global Affairs Canada | Consulting Canadians on the operation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)
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In this consultation submission, the Cultural Policy Hub at OCAD University outlines considerations for Canada’s 2026 review of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), emphasizing the protection of Canadian cultural sovereignty and the creative economy.

By Danielle Pierre, Graduate Research Assistant, Cultural Policy Hub

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  • Consultation Submission
ISED | Help define the next chapter of Canada’s AI Leadership
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This submission responds to the Government of Canada’s 2025 consultation to help define the future of Canada’s AI strategy. It consolidates internal research, survey data and insights and recommendations from roundtables conducted by the Cultural Policy Hub over the past two years.

By Hamidreza Sheshjavani, Policy Advisor, Cultural Policy Hub

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Photograph of people sitting at a large table for a meeting, including Ana Serrano and Anita Lee.
  • What We Heard
“Imagining AI Futures through the Creative Industries” Roundtable at TIFF50
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On Sept. 8, 2025, the Cultural Policy Hub at OCADU and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) convened a roundtable to bring together senior industry executives in the fields of content creation and digital technology alongside public sector leaders for a discussion on the future of AI on (and in) Canada’s creative industries.

By Clara Godbillon-Vasseur, Policy Advisor, Cultural Policy Hub

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  • Policy Brief
Spotlight on MONDIACULT 2025
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Wondering what happened at UNESCO's MONDIACULT 2025, held in Barcelona Sept 29 - Oct 1? Here is a quick summary of the outcomes and Canada's contributions.

By Danielle Pierre, Graduate Research Assistant, Cultural Policy Hub

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  • Policy Reflection
Building an AI Commons for Canada’s Future
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As the federal government is asking Canadians to help define the next chapter of AI leadership, Ana Serrano, President & Vice-Chancellor of OCADU, calls for the creation of an AI Commons, a shared infrastructure that can support innovation and education, help AI users become creators and create the conditions to build civic trust.

By Ana Serrano, President & Vice-Chancellor, OCAD University

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Headshots of five panelists on a pale grey background with modern blue patterns
  • What We Heard
“Dear Minister Solomon” Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence and Cultural Policy
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The Cultural Policy Hub convened a virtual roundtable on AI and Canadian cultural policy on June 24, 2025, structured to ask what advice panelists would offer to the new federal Minister of AI and Digital Innovation.

By Hamidreza Sheshjavani, Policy Advisor, Cultural Policy Hub

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Green color gradient
  • Research Report
Stories We Tell: Data Narratives and Organizational Financial Precarity in Canada’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Sector
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This research report studies organizational precarity in the arts, culture and heritage sector in Canada; it specifically examines financial health as a dimension of precarity in the periods before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Samuel La France, Manager, Cultural Policy Hub

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Panel of guest speakers sitting in chairs.
  • Policy Reflection
Co-creating cultural strategy through civic engagement
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In April 2025, the Hub’s Policy Fellow Patti Pon took part in a panel discussion as part of the sixth annual DemocracyXChange that highlighted the experiences of two citizen-centred engagement processes in Calgary and Toronto that incorporated creative practice in the development of arts and culture strategies for each city.

By Patti Pon, Policy Fellow, Cultural Policy Hub

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Photograph of all workshop participants sitting in a conference hall
  • What We Heard
Workshop: Building new pathways for support to Canadian local news and journalism
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On April 4, 2025, the Cultural Policy Hub held a workshop on the future of Canadian local journalism as part of DemocracyXChange, in partnership with the CJC and RHF and attended by over 40 independent news leaders, funders, researchers, philanthropists, journalists and policymakers.

By Clara Godbillon-Vasseur, Policy Advisor, Cultural Policy Hub

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Headshots of six panelists on a background of a gradient of color from pink to purple and yellow
  • Video
Roundtable "Up from the Roots: Challenges and Solutions to Precarity in the Arts"
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A conversation between cultural leaders, funders, researchers and cultural practitioners to find out more about the root causes of organizational precarity in the arts, culture and heritage and opportunities for them to play the role of changemakers.
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  • Research Report
Up from the roots: Conversations on precarity and resilience with arts and heritage leaders
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The Cultural Policy Hub recently interviewed twenty leaders, researchers, thinkers, service organization leaders and funders from the arts, culture and heritage sector from around Canada to discuss the root causes of precarity and uncertainty facing the industry, and to find collective solutions and actions to move the ecology forward.

By Brian Loevner, BLVE Consults

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  • Policy Brief
Trump, tariffs and trade: What’s at stake for the arts and creative industries?
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On February 1, 2025, President Trump moved ahead with his threat to impose 25% tariffs on a wide range of goods entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, and China. As the tariffs and a larger trade agenda approach, what's at stake for the arts and creative industries in Canada?

By Kelly Wilhem, Head of the Cultural Policy Hub, and Miriam Kramer, Executive Director, Government & Community Relations

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Multi-colored squares on a white background.
  • Policy Brief
A New Project on Precarity and Sustainability from the Hub
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Over the next two years, the Cultural Policy Hub at OCAD U is undertaking a project focused on data mapping and organizational transformation titled Mapping Drivers of Change Across Arts Organization.

By Kelly Wilhelm, Head of the Cultural Policy Hub

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Photograph of Alex Sarian and Elamin Abdelmahmoud talking to a room of people
  • Video
The Audacity of Relevance: An Evening with Alex Sarian
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On October 17, Alex Sarian (president and CEO of Arts Commons in Calgary) visited the Cultural Policy Hub and spoke to Elamin Abdelmahmoud about the state of Canada’s arts and cultural sector.
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Rainbow colored mosaic in the middle of a dark, fragmented, glass-like surface
  • Policy Reflection
We are in a State of Fracture Rather Than Mosaic
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As a follow-up to the Cultural Policy Hub’s recent panel on social cohesion and cultural policy at the 2024 DemocracyXChange, panel participant Victoria Kuketz highlights the need for collective imagination and greater participation in this policy discussion.

By Victoria Kuketz, Public Policy Fellow in Digital Democracy

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Headshots of five panelists on a black background with small green nodes
  • What We Heard
Policy Roundtable on Generative AI's impact on the cultural industries in Canada
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On June 25, 2024, the Cultural Policy Hub hosted a virtual roundtable featuring tech and cultural experts to explore the policy implications of Generative Artificial Intelligence’s impact on the cultural industries in Canada.
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A hand holding a mobile phone.
  • What We Heard
Indiegraf, Cultural Policy Hub and DemocracyXChange: Workshop on the Future of Independent Journalism
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On April 12, 2024, Indiegraf, the Cultural Policy Hub and DemocracyXChange partnered to deliver a workshop on concrete ideas for the conditions and supports that are needed for a robust news media sector—and independent journalism—to thrive and fuel a healthy democracy.

By the Cultural Policy Hub at OCAD University

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A person in a cultural costume
  • What We Heard
Cultural Spaces in Practice: Re-thinking Policy & Imagining Future Uses
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In this report, we explore how the Hub and its partners can pursue areas of further exploration that meaningfully shift how we designate, envision, and sustain cultural spaces in the face of major precarity challenges putting the cultural landscape at risk.

Prepared by the Cultural Policy Hub and Bridget MacIntosh, Cultural Planning Consultant

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A classroom with students sittings around tables.
  • What We Heard
A Community Conversation with Emerging Artists: Needs, Experiences & Futures in the Cultural Sector
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This blog summarizes what we heard during the Cultural Policy Hub's recent community conversation with emerging artists and cultural workers to inform the City of Toronto's ten-year Action Plan for Toronto’s Culture Sector.

By Alycia Shanika, Policy Advisor, Cultural Policy Hub at OCAD U

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People standing in a crowd
  • Policy Brief
Trends among Graduates of Canada’s Art & Design Universities
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This data brief explores an aggregate report that was created from the 2015-17 Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, which collects, analyzes and shares survey data on professional success, educational satisfaction and personal fulfillment of recent graduates and alumni of post-secondary art and design programs.

By Adrienne Harper, Program Researcher, and Samuel La France, Manager, Cultural Policy Hub

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A television screen with glitched graphics.
  • Policy Reflection
From Hearings to Listening: C-11, the CRTC, and Meaningful Engagement
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This blog follows up on the Cultural Policy Hub’s recent Policy Roundtables event on Bill C-11. It highlights that, while the law is noteworthy for its explicit provisions requiring the new broadcasting framework to support Indigenous and equity-seeking creators, there remain significant barriers to meaningful engagement with regulators.

By Julian Carrington, Executive Director, Documentary Organization of Canada

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  • Toolkit
ISED Consultation on Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property
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This toolkit has been developed by the Cultural Policy Hub to prepare people working within or adjacent to the creative and cultural sector to respond to the upcoming Consultation on Copyright in the Age of Generative AI by the federal government's ISED Department.

By the Cultural Policy Hub at OCAD University

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  • Video
Hearings & Listening: A Bill C-11 Roundtable
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Missed our recent Policy Roundtable on Bill C-11? Watch our recording of the panel discussion, where participants reflected on their experiences at the recent C-11 hearing and explored pathways to ensure meaningful engagement and outcomes.
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Yarn and threads in the shape of a human head
  • What We Heard
  • Policy Brief
Social and cultural impacts of AI: A seat at the policy table
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Welcome to our first Policy blog of 2024! We’ll post regularly to keep you informed about the issues we’re working on and how to get involved. We’re starting the year off with our recent work on the social and cultural impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

By Kelly Wilhelm, Head, Cultural Policy Hub at OCADU 

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Students in a woodshop
  • Policy Reflection
Empowering Creativity: Peer Support Networks in Canada
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Peer support in the arts sector is under-recognized, under-valued and under-fundedas a model, and needs a policy response.

By Alexandra Hong, Project Officer, OCAD University

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Robot hands folding a pink origami paper crane.
  • Policy Reflection
AI Generated Art Implications
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From virtual influencers and computer-generated music to AI-powered design tools, the impact of AI on the creative world is evident. But as AI technology continues to advance, many are questioning how it will shape the future of creative work. Will it enhance human creativity or replace it altogether?

By Jainaba Beyai, Policy Advisor, OCAD University

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A woman making pottery
  • Policy Reflection
How can mindfulness help promote the mental well-being resilience of artists and designers?
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The arts and culture sector cultivates improved mental health and wellbeing among Canadians. However, many artists themselves confront significant systems challenges that impact their mental wellbeing.

By Jainaba Beyai, Policy Advisor, and Adrienne Harper, Program Researcher, Cultural Policy Hub

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Students writing on a whiteboard.
  • Policy Reflection
Is a New Creative Class Emerging through Cooperatives?
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Artist-entrepreneurs struggle to access business, professional, community and financial resources, but co-ops like FINELINE by OCAD U can help pool resources to strengthen creative solo enterprises in Canada.

By Jainaba Beyai, Policy Advisor, OCAD University

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Two young women smiling in front of a laptop.
  • Policy Reflection
Reimagining entrepreneurship in a post-growth world
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In the past few years, Canadian artists, and the advocacy organizations that represent them, have become increasingly vocal about the need for sustainable, ethical and equitable government policies and business support practices that better protect artists from economic shocks.

By Jainaba Beyai, Policy Advisor, OCAD University

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OCAD U main building at night
  • Research Report
Decrypting the Medium: A Report on the NFT Market
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A report in collaboration between OCADU's Super Ordinary Lab and Cultural Policy Hub for Canadian Heritage on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), including a literature review, strategic foresight methods and an expert panel workshop.
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