Cultivating Economic Growth and Belonging through Culture

Photo by Mahsa Alikhani | Instagram: @mahsaalikhani60 | mahsaalikhani.com | Project funded by the Toronto Arts Council’s Newcomer and Refugee Arts Mentorship Grant Program.

Written by Kadija de Paula, Senior Manager, Research, Impact and Evaluation, Toronto Arts Council and Toronto Arts Foundation.

Canada’s appeal as a destination for immigrants has grown steadily over the past decades. In 2021, over 8.3 million people, nearly a quarter (23%) of the population, were or had been landed immigrants or permanent residents (StatCan, 2022). Since then, the trend has continued, with over 469,000 immigrants admitted to Canada in 2022-2023.  

Toronto, Canada’s most culturally diverse city, welcomed the largest share of recent immigrants, with 29.5% of newcomers settling, according to Statistics Canada (2022). In 2021, nearly half of Toronto’s population were immigrants, with even higher proportions in some municipalities within the Toronto CMA, such as Markham, Richmond Hill, Mississauga, and Brampton. Recognizing how newcomer communities help to shape our city’s cultural, social and economic vitality, Toronto Arts Council (TAC) and Toronto Arts Foundation (TAF) offer programs for Newcomer artists that connect them to the resources they need to flourish and contribute to the local economy. 

Harnessing the Arts for Integration 

TAC’s Newcomer and Refugee Arts Engagement and Artist Mentorship programs foster artistic expression, mentorship, and community building. Through these efforts, newcomers gain platforms to share their stories, connect with communities, and build vital networks for personal and professional growth. 

For instance, the Newcomer and Refugee Arts Engagement program supports collaborative artistic projects that facilitate belonging in newcomer communities. Simultaneously, the Artist Mentorship program pairs newcomer artists with established professionals in their field, as part of an intentional workforce development strategy offering guidance and resources to integrate newcomer art professionals into Toronto’s vibrant arts sector. These programs are enhanced by TAF’s Neighbourhood Arts Network, which provides career development and wraparound supports to newcomer artists. 

Success Stories in Workforce Development 

Funded programs like Small World Music’s Incubator exemplify TAC and TAF’s impact on career development for newcomer artists. By connecting participants to industry veterans through mentorship and workshops, the initiative bridges gaps and supports artists to thrive in Toronto’s cultural economy. Likewise, Waard Ward’s floristry workshops recontextualize the traditional skills of a Syrian refugee family into an artistic practice, combining creative training with entrepreneurship to enhance employability and integration. 

Cultural and Economic Impacts 

Ontario’s culture sector contributes significantly to the province’s economy, with over $26 billion added to GDP in 2022 and over 270,000 jobs supported. Toronto’s creative initiatives reflect the findings of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s Policy Brief: Ontario’s Arts, Culture, and Creative Industries. The brief underscores the sector’s unique ability to foster integration, innovation, and economic competitiveness by promoting careers in the culture sector as viable employment options through intentional outreach to underrepresented communities. This initiative should also involve incorporating arts, culture and creative industries-related programming that encourages cross-sector collaboration and leverages the arts as a reflection of our community’s diverse cultural backgrounds.  

Moreover,  as outlined in the recently released report Fostering Integration Through the Arts: Learning from Toronto Arts Council’s Program for Newcomers and Refugees (a partnership between TAC and the Canada Excellence Chair in Migration and Integration (CERC Migration) at Toronto Metropolitan University) collaborations between the arts and settlement sectors further demonstrate how the arts can be leveraged to address challenges like underemployment and discrimination faced by newcomers. By nurturing creative talents, funded initiatives promote inclusiveness and equity. 

A Vision for the Future 

The City of Toronto recently launched Culture Connects: An Action Plan for Culture in Toronto (2025-2035). This 10-year plan aims to invest an additional $35 million in the arts and culture in Toronto. Such forward-thinking investments will ensure that the arts remain a powerful connector, bringing residents, newcomers, and tourists together to foster community, belonging, and economic growth. 

At Toronto Arts Council and Foundation, we are leading the way in empowering newcomers through the arts. Recently, the Toronto Arts Foundation became one of ten organizations from across Canada and the United States to receive a $1 million grant from TD Bank through the TD Ready Challenge to expand our current support for newcomer artists. This three-year initiative will provide mentorship, education, and work-integrated learning to support newcomer artists to launch their creative careers or small businesses.  Through innovative programs such as this, we are not only enriching lives and communities but positioning Toronto as a global leader in creativity and inclusion. 

We invite business leaders, policymakers, and industry stakeholders to engage with us in shaping the future of Ontario’s creative workforce. Learn more in our collaborative brief:  Ontario’s Arts, Culture, and Creative Industries: Strengthening Competitiveness and Communities