CARFAC National Annual Report 2025
CARFAC represents visual artists from coast to coast to coast. Through research, advocacy, and education, we unite thousands of voices to ensure artists are paid fairly for their work.
Over the past year, we kept pushing for the Artist's Resale Right (ARR), which allows artists to get a percentage of the sale price when their work is resold. We submitted proposals to the Finance Committee, asking the federal government to add ARR to the Copyright Act. We were excited to finally see the government commit to doing this in December’s Fall Economic Statement. While parliament dissolved before they could introduce the law, we are confident it will be included in the 2025 Fall Budget. In the meantime, we joined an international committee working on software to track and distribute these royalties to eligible artists once ARR is in place.
The CARFAC-RAAV Minimum Recommended Fee Schedule provides guidance on what visual artists should be paid for copyright and other services. Last year, we continued to share our weekly “Fee Fridays” campaign, and we held several webinars for the visual and media arts community. This year, we will share some proposed changes to the Fee Schedule for members to vote on at our AGM in September. We also just shared a new system to handle the many questions we get about the Fee Schedule.
After releasing the Indigenous Protocols for the Visual Arts toolkit in 2022, we have been working closely with the Indigenous Protocols Collective on new projects. We helped organize and present workshops for artists and organizations earlier this spring, and we will also support the development of a new ‘business of art’ workshop series for Indigenous artists later this year. We are also working on a joint project with the Indigenous Editors Association and the Indigenous Curatorial Collective, which includes the development of new fees for Indigenous editors, curators, and Elders and Knowledge Keepers.
Last spring, we released a new fee schedule for public art. We shared this news with the arts community last fall, including a presentation at the Creative City Summit in October. We also plan to release more resources for public art and survey the community for feedback on the new fee guidelines.
CARFAC, along with our Quebec partner RAAV, is certified under the Status of the Artist Act, which allows us to represent Canadian visual artists in collective bargaining agreements with federal producers. Our first scale agreement with the National Gallery, ratified in 2015 set mandatory minimum fees and working conditions for artists working with the National Gallery. Artists are free to negotiate above these minimums, but they can never be offered less. We updated this agreement in 2018, and negotiations for a new agreement just began in August. We hope to share a tentative agreement with our members to vote on soon.
Last October we attended a meeting in Montreal with the department of Canadian Heritage to discuss a cultural data strategy for AI. This follows on the position paper we wrote in January 2024, and we contributed to the CDCE's response to the Montreal meeting.
Over the past year, a committee was formed to address and advance our Solidarity and Advocacy work. This was initiated through research, writing, and sector consultation. In addition to developing a sector-wide survey, we identified new internal paths, processes, and recommendations to help the organization approach solidarity with care and clarity in the future. Beyond this internal work, the committee has also engaged externally. We participated in a panel at the ARCA conference and we are collaborating on an event with IMAA for fall 2025. Together, these efforts build a foundation for ongoing dialogue, member engagement, and stronger alignment between artists’ rights and broader movements for justice.
In November, we participated in the Canadian Arts Coalition's Arts Day on the Hill in Ottawa. There, we joined 12 other arts groups to ask that Canada permanently dedicate at least 1% of its overall spending towards arts, culture, and heritage, including $140 Million increase to the Canada Council for the Arts. CARFAC also contributed to the Coalition’s ArtsVote committee earlier this year in preparation for the Federal Election. We were pleased to see the Liberal Party commit to increased funding for the Canada Council, CBC/Radio Canada, Telefilm, the Canada Media Fund, and the National Film Board, and we hope to see that commitment reflected in the 2025 Fall Budget.
Since February, we've been busy working on resources and advocacy regarding US tariffs on artwork and materials. Since the situation continues to change, we strongly recommend artists check with a customs broker and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for the latest updates.
All of us at CARFAC are grateful for all of our members and supporters for your ongoing involvement. Your voices continue to shape our direction and impact. Thank you for connecting, contributing, and steering our work. We are deeply committed to advancing better working conditions for artists, and we are honoured to pursue this work with all of you by our side.