British ColumbiaFive key non-profit arts organizations in Campbell River, B.C., presented to council Tuesday on how they can become less reliant on municipal funds — a condition that council put in place before it agrees to renew the groups’ subsidized leases. City says rent and municipal tax subsidies for 5 key organizations are worth more than $1.3M per yearMaryse Zeidler · CBC News · Posted: Nov 08, 2025 8:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The Tidemark Theatre is a 467-seat performing arts venue in downtown Campbell River, B.C. (Tidemark Theatre/Facebook)Five key non-profit arts organizations in Campbell River, B.C., presented to council Tuesday on how they can become less reliant on municipal funds — a condition that council put in place before it agrees to renew the groups’ subsidized leases. Ken Blackburn, director of the Campbell River Arts Council, says the leases — which only cost $1 per year — are the foundation for the organizations’ stability and affects their ability to access more grants. “The risk is huge. It will mean direct loss of employment for people. It will mean less service to the community,” Blackburn said of the potential loss. “That’s going to have dire consequences in terms of health outcomes, in terms of just economic activity, just in terms of quality of life for the residents of town.”The Vancouver Island city is expected to make its decision about renewing the leases in the next few weeks.Read more news from Vancouver Island $1.3M in subsidiesCampbell River’s public art gallery, arts council, museum, Marine Heritage Centre and Tidemark Theatre all operate on municipal properties with subsidized leases. According to a staff report presented to council on Tuesday, the city also contributes to the organizations by waiving their municipal taxes. The report says the city’s total contributions to the organizations are worth $1,346,283 — excluding operating grants. The city has already reduced the latter for the upcoming year, citing budgetary constraints. The Maritime Heritage Centre is one of five key arts organizations in Campbell River, B.C. (Bluetree Photography/Maritime Heritage Centre/Facebook)But the organizations say they’re already doing all that’s possible to keep afloat. “Our organization is already fundraising and managing diversified revenue streams effectively,” Tidemark Theatre acting executive director Kirsten Soder told council.Financial boot campEarlier this year, the city spent $20,000 to send representatives from the five organizations to the Thriving Non-Profits Boot Camp,” a normally five-month-long program condensed into a three-day seminar. The staff report says the boot camp was designed to “equip local non-profit and charitable organizations with strategies and tools to achieve long-term financial sustainability.”During their presentations, the organizations said the seminar had helped them identify some potential new revenue sources.But they also noted that the seminar clearly indicated that pursuing new revenue initiatives usually takes two to five years to put in place. The lease renewals, however, are being determined for next year. The newly-formed Campbell River Arts Alliance, which represents five key arts organizations in Campbell River, say they generate $9 million in annual economic impact for the city. (Campbell River Art Gallery/Facebook)Soder said the Tidemark Theatre could expand to include an additional 100 days of programming if the city were to invest in upgrading the building and installing an HVAC and cooling system. Erika Anderson, executive director at the Maritime Heritage Centre, told council that expenses for the organization were rising faster than it can keep up. “We’re going to have to really work at this revenue diversification and increasing revenue just to maintain the current levels of operation,” Anderson said.Earlier this year, the newly-formed Campbell River Arts Alliance, which represents the five groups, published a campaign that said they generate nearly $9 million in annual economic impact for the city, attract tens of thousands of people downtown and contribute to the city’s quality of life.Lease subsidies commonRainbow Robert, executive director for the B.C. Alliance for Arts and Culture, says it’s common for municipalities to support arts and culture organizations with nominal leases. Robert says she has also noticed a trend of those leases being brought into question.“We are increasingly seeing arts organizations being asked to become financially self-sustainable across the province,” Robert said. One trend Robert noted in particular was for organizations to take on additional operating costs, which she said can amount to tens of thousands of dollars a year. ABOUT THE AUTHORMaryse Zeidler is an award-winning reporter who covers news from Nanaimo and north Vancouver Island. Have a news tip? You can reach her at maryse.zeidler@cbc.ca.
Arts groups in Campbell River, B.C., told to diversify revenue or risk losing subsidized rent
