The Regroupement des organismes culturels de Sudbury launches its public awareness campaign: VOTE for the ARTS!

Published on 1 October 2026

by Jasmine Morin

The Regroupement des organismes culturels de Sudbury launches its public awareness campaign: VOTE for the ARTS!

Sudbury, September 28, 2026 – While the municipal election is well under way, culture has rarely been mentioned by the candidates. The Regroupement des organismes culturels de Sudbury (ROCS) is therefore launching its VOTE for the ARTS! campaign. 

This campaign is intended to ensure that arts and culture become an issue in this election and to raise awareness amongst candidates about the importance, scale, and impact of Sudbury’s creative sector. 

Municipal investments in support of Sudbury’s arts and culture sector 

  • In 2026, 43 arts and culture organizations have received financial support totalling nearly $570K (or 0.12% of the City’s total budget for the year). 
  • Other key arts and culture organizations receive operational funding. 
  • Municipal investment in support of arts and culture totals just over $1M for 2026 and help make festivals, performances, exhibitions, and other cultural experiences possible. ● For every dollar invested by the City, Sudbury’s arts and culture organizations leverage an additional $7.30.1
  • In 2026, municipal investments will support over 2,185 cultural activities and allow more than 350,000 people to participate in local cultural life.2

Art is an important economic engine 

  • The arts and culture sector generates an estimated gross domestic product of $205M and sustains more than 1,700 jobs in Greater Sudbury.3
  • In 2024, the Canadian arts and culture sector contributed $131B to the country’s GDP and supported 1.1 million jobs.4
  • Municipal investments support local jobs and give local organizations access to provincial and federal grants, which are then invested back into the community or into extending the city’s visibility.

The Arts strengthen society

  • The arts reinforce social cohesion, communities, and the integration of newcomers.5
  • Thanks to continued support, festivals, cultural spaces like Place des Arts, and arts organizations such as the members of ROCS contribute directly to the revitalization of downtown cores.6 
  • Place des Arts and the members of ROCS make Sudbury is a cultural attraction and drive tourism in the region. Arts and culture tourism provides an important economic benefit to Sudbury, as tourists spend their money in our local cafés, restaurants, shops, etc. In fact, studies have shown that arts and culture tourism generates three times more economic impact than other types of tourism.7

On October 26, VOTE for the ARTS!

We call on all candidates to share their vision of the arts and culture in Sudbury and to commit to sustain and improve municipal investments in this key sector.


The members of the Regroupement des organismes culturels de Sudbury (ROCS) are:

  • Carrefour francophone de Sudbury
  • Centre franco-ontarien de folklore 
  • Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario 
  • La Nuit sur l’étang 
  • Prise de parole 
  • Salon du livre du Grand Sudbury 
  • Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario 

Media Contact:
Priscilla Pilon, Communications Coordinator, Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario
communications@letno.ca or 705-525-5606, ext 1803

Sources

1 https://www.grandsudbury.ca/hotel-de-ville/nouvelles-et-avis-au-public/2026/la-sdgs-investit-plus-de-568-000-dans-les-arts-et-la-culture-a-lappui-des-festivals-des-activites-et-de-la-creativite-locale/

2 https://www.grandsudbury.ca/hotel-de-ville/nouvelles-et-avis-au-public/2026/la-sdgs-investit-plus-de-568-000-dans-les-arts-et-la-culture-a-lappui-des-festivals-des-activites-et-de-la-creativite-locale/ 

3 https://www.grandsudbury.ca/hotel-de-ville/nouvelles-et-avis-au-public/2026/la-sdgs-investit-plus-de-568-000-dans-les-arts-et-la-culture-a-lappui-des-festivals-des-activites-et-de-la-creativite-locale/ 

4 Chambre de Commerce du Canada, Métiers d’art : Les retombées économiques et sociales du secteur des arts et de la culture au Canada, octobre 2025, page 6. N.B. Les chiffres tiennent compte de l’ensemble des retombées sur l’économie : directes, indirectes et induites. 

5 Chambre de Commerce du Canada, Métiers d’art : Les retombées économiques et sociales du secteur des arts et de la culture au Canada, octobre 2025, page 6. N.B. Les chiffres tiennent compte de l’ensemble des retombées sur l’économie : directes, indirectes et induites.

6 Cebr, Spillover impacts in the publicly funded arts and culture sector, Arts Council England, April 2025, page 33.

7 Conseil des arts de l’Ontario, Profil du tourisme artistique et culturel en Ontario, Novembre 2023.