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Canada Council

The Canada Council for the Arts (French: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.

The Council's grants, services, initiatives, prizes and payments contribute to the vibrancy of a creative and diverse arts and literary scene and support its presence across Canada and abroad. The Council's investments contribute to fostering greater engagement in the arts among Canadians and international audiences.

In addition, the Canada Council administers the Art Bank, which operates art rental programs and an exhibitions and outreach program. The Canada Council Art Bank holds the largest collection of contemporary Canadian art in the world. The Canada Council is also responsible for the secretariat for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and the Public Lending Right Commission.

The Canada Council for the Arts is an arms-length organization based in Ottawa, Ontario, that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Its endowment income is supplemented by annual appropriations from Parliament, donations, and bequests. Its main duty is allotting grants and prizes to Canadian artists based on the merits of their applications. The Canada Council also funds and administers many of Canada's top arts awards, including the Governor General's Literary Awards and the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts.

The Canada Council is called from time to time to appear before parliamentary committees, particularly the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Its accounts are audited by the Auditor General of Canada and included in an Annual Report to Parliament.

"In 1977, the Canada Council sets up the Payment for Public Use Committee to discuss the creation of a Public Lending Right (PLR) program. The following year, the federal government created the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, adopting responsibility for the humanities and social sciences from the Canada Council, which would now only be responsible for the arts." Starting in 1978, there were attempts to rename the Council to the Killam-Dunn Council, in recognition of contributions to the Council made by Sir Isaac Walton Killam and Sir James Dunn.

The first version of the Canada Council for the Arts Act was titled An Act for the Establishment of a Canada Council for the Encouragement of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. It was assented to on March 28, 1957, by the 22nd federal parliament under Liberal Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent. This version of the Act established a council of 21 members who could serve between three and five years, depending on their role in the Council. The Act also granted them the power to co-operate with organizations who had similar aims (such as universities) in funding and facilitating work in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences across Canada, as well as promoting Canadian work in these fields abroad.

There were several amendments over the years, with most being minor alterations to language or the status of Council members for tax purposes. Two major amendments, passed in the 1970s and later the 1990s, were more significant. In 1976–77, an amendment renamed the Act to simply the Canada Council Act. In conjunction with the establishment of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, the Act narrowed the Council's mandate exclusively to "the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts". While the council's powers as a promoting and sponsoring body remained, all references to social sciences and humanities were removed. In 1992, this was reversed, and duties of the Research Council, as well as promotional activities of the Department of External Affairs, were reabsorbed into the Canada Council. This amendment also reduced the number of mandatory Council meetings to two, and shortened the deadline for the Council to submit its financial audits.

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