SAA’s Breakdown: Proposed Cuts to Regina’s Arts and Community Funding

On open book with black text letters falling out of the pages.

Recreation and Cultural Services is the service area that holds most arts, culture, events and community grants. It is responsible for program delivery, community and cultural development, and grant delivery to organizations that deliver art, culture, events, social inclusion and community well-being services.

Within that, the Community Investment Expense is the main line for “various community and cultural grants administered by the City.” The grant delivery budget for this line item sits at $5.3M in 2024 and 2025, increasing to $6.1M in 2026 and $6.6M in 2027 in the base forecast.

Appendix M-13 then presents optional reduction items City Council can choose from to get to lower mill rate scenarios. 

a) The Big One: Elimination of the Community Investments Grant Program 

Appendix M-13, line 60, proposes the elimination of the Community Investments Grant Program. 

According to the proposed budget, the CIGP: “The Community Investments Grant Program funds two streams of community partner agreements under the Social Development and Cultural Grants. These are provided in four-year agreement cycles. The CIGP has three streams of annual activities under the Social Development, Cultural, and Sport & Recreation Grants. Lastly, the CIGP also provides a variety of yearly, one-time, specific grant streams.”

The budget considers cutting approximately $5.37m in granting, as well as $0.21m in overhead. This is estimated to save an average of $11.33 per month per household in Regina. 

The proposed cuts involve eliminating staffing and city funding to annual activities, Community Associations and Zone Board funding, as well as community partners. This will include cuts to harm reduction, Snow Angels, Adapted Sport & Rec, Hosting, Henry Baker, Winter Initiatives, and Major and Minor Hosting.

b) Closing or off-loading the Neil Balkwill Civic Arts Centre

The budget proposes two related options regarding the Neil Balkwill Civic Arts Centre. As described by the budget: ‘Neil Balkwill is “a one of a kind facility that offers art and cultural classes that are affordable and open to the community.” 

Line 58 proposes closing the Centre entirely. If closed, “Residents will no longer have access to a facility that offers art and cultural classes that are affordable and open to the community.’ 

This closure would have a saving of about $0.25m plus $0.01m in overhead, which they estimate as a savings of $0.53 per month per Regina household. 

Line 72 proposes turning the Neil Balkwill Civic Art Centre into a Community Operating agreement. The City recognizes that this could impact the availability of the centre to residents and that programming may be forced to change, or may not be offered. The City notes that this additional change may affect the operations of the Regina Art Gallery. 

This suggestion comes with a savings of $0.13m, plus $0.01m in overhead, with an estimated savings of $0.27 per household per month.

c) Cuts to community spaces and local infrastructure used by arts and culture orgs

Several options chip away at the infrastructure that arts and cultural groups use for programming and events:

  • Reduction in operating agreements with Community Operated Centres, pull operating grants and sell assets where required (line 70). The City notes this would reduce community space across the city and reduce low-cost rental options for non-profits, many of whom rely on these spaces for programs and fundraising events.
  • Reduction of Zone Board funding which directly supports community events and recreation programming.
  • Other rec / community cuts such as closing the Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre, ending free summer children’s programs, closing Massey Pool, eliminating the outdoor rink program, etc., all of which will narrow the spaces and programs where arts and culture intersect with everyday life.

While these are not “arts grants” in name, they underpin festivals, concerts, community arts programs, and provide the social conditions that allow arts organizations to reach those who need it the most.

What this means for arts and culture organizations

Loss of core operating and project funding

If the CIGP is eliminated, arts and cultural organizations lose:

  • Multi-year, four-year cycle agreements under Cultural Grants
  • Annual project grants under cultural and sport/recreation streams
  • Event-specific programs like Hosting, Henry Baker, Winter Initiatives, and Major/Minor Hosting Community Association and Zone Board funding that often supports community-level arts and festivals.
  • This removes a major source of predictable operating money and seed funding for new initiatives, festivals, residencies, and community collaborations.

Because the City’s own budget shows the Community Investment Expense as 5.3 — 6.6M, and the CIGP cut alone is 5.37M, this single decision almost erases the Community Investment line for Recreation & Cultural Services.

For organizations:

  • Multi-year stability is replaced by year-to-year scrambling.
  • Some groups will face immediate deficits and may shrink, merge, or close.
  • Smaller and equity-seeking organizations with fewer private donors or reserves are most at risk.

Federal programs often require evidence of municipal support.

From the Regina side:

  • The City’s own documents emphasize that Recreation & Cultural Services “provide support to community organizations that deliver art, culture, recreation, sport and social programs” and “administer grant programs” to those organizations.
  • Eliminating CIGP and freezing new CIGP funding through the CSWB cut means there may be little or no municipal cash left to show in federal applications.
    • Programs like the Canadian Heritage local festivals program that explicitly require “confirmation of municipal contributions” become harder to access if the main municipal contributions vanish.
    • Even where municipal funding is not an absolute eligibility requirement, it is often a key assessment factor for federal and provincial funders. They read municipal grants as a sign of local priority, community backing, and financial feasibility.
  • Without municipal grants:
    • Organizations may no longer meet minimum matching ratios or “confirmed revenue” thresholds.
    • Applications may be scored lower on “financial health” or “community support.”
    • Multi-year federal agreements already in place, which were built on budgets including City contributions, may become precarious and require renegotiation or crisis management.

There could be some residual municipal “support” through things like Events, Conventions and Tradeshows (ECT) funding administered by Tourism Regina, which can provide cash grants or City services to major events.

But that program is aimed at larger economic drivers and may not reach most community-based arts and culture festivals, especially those centred on equity, youth, grassroots cultural work, or year-round programming.

Loss of space, in-kind support, and community infrastructure

The proposed closure or off-loading of the Neil Balkwill Civic Arts Centre, community centres, and zone-board supported programming hits arts organizations in another way:

  • Groups lose accessible, low-cost spaces for classes, rehearsals, exhibitions, and gatherings.
  • In-kind support from the City in the form of subsidized rent, staff support, and equipment is reduced. Those in-kind contributions are often part of matching packages in federal applications.
  • Community Associations and Zone Boards will have fewer resources to mount local events and partner with arts groups, narrowing opportunities for artists to connect with audiences and communities and for community members to access affordable art classes.

So even if a particular organization does not receive CIGP cash, it may still be affected through:

  • Higher venue costs
  • Fewer collaboration opportunities

Less community-level infrastructure to host arts programming.

What you can do

You, and everyone you know, can help protect arts, culture, and community programs by contacting the Mayor and their City Councillor before December 15.

We’ve made this easy. Click the link below to send a ready-to-use letter through our online tool (New/Mode). You can personalize the message if you want.

STOP: Proposed Cuts to Regina’s Arts and Community Funding

Your voice is vital. Even a short message helps the City Council understand what these programs mean to the people who live here.

Community and cultural funding is part of what makes Regina safe, welcoming, creative, and connected. Protecting these programs protects the people who rely on them.