Secretary of State McLean highlights Government of Canada's investments from Budget 2026: Masters of our destiny to support Canadian culture, strengthen creative industries, and improve access to arts and heritage across the country

NANAIMO, BC, Nov. 10, 2026 /CNW/ -- In an increasingly turbulent world, Canada is determining its future. The federal Budget 2026 aims to make Canadians masters of their own destiny, build our sovereignty, and give us the freedom to live our lives as we choose. Being sovereign means building a country where Canadian culture thrives in all its diversity and creativity.

Today, the Secretary of State (Seniors), the Honourable Stephanie McLean, was at the Nanaimo Ceramic Arts Center with local artists to highlight key investments from Budget 2026: Masters of our destiny to support Canadian culture, strengthen creative industries, and improve access to arts and heritage across the country.

Budget 2026 proposes nearly $4 billion over five years to protect and celebrate what makes us Canadian. This includes unprecedented support for creators, cultural institutions, Canadian stories, and the communities that bring them to life.

Key investments include:

• Preserving our cultural heritage: Upgrading our national museums and heritage institutions to ensure they can stand the test of time and that we can pass this legacy on to future generations. 
• Bringing communities together: Supporting festivals, national celebrations, and community-driven cultural events that give Canadians more opportunities to connect and participate in the cultural life of their communities.
• Boosting creative industries: Introducing a new Productivity Mega Deduction to help Canadian producers and storytellers invest in the equipment and technologies needed to create Canadian content.
• Supporting Canadian creators and artists: Strengthening support for Canadian producers, broadcasters, visual artists, writers, musicians, actors and other creators to help them tell our stories and build sustainable careers.
• Helping artists build sustainable careers: Exploring a new Canada Creative Credit to support artistic production and cultural entrepreneurship, removing the $1,000 cap on deductible work expenses for employed artists, and introducing an Artist's Resale Right.
• Making it easier to explore Canada: Bringing back and expanding the Canada Strong Pass for summer 2027, and introducing permanent, year-round free admission to national museums for children and youth under 25.
• Celebrating Canada 160: Helping Canadians celebrate Canada's 160th anniversary through local festivals, performing arts events, and arts, cultural, and heritage activities
• Strengthening Canadian stories and journalism: Providing greater support for Canadian stories, creators and trusted local journalism, and strengthening CBC/Radio-Canada.
• Making Canadian books more accessible: Creating a free national digital collection of Canadian books, making it easier for Canadians to discover and borrow works by Canadian authors.
• Celebrating Canada's Francophonie: Supporting Canada's Francophonie leadership objectives and hosting the 2028 Francophonie Summit.

It is an ambitious plan to meet this moment and shape Canada's future. Budget 2026 provides unprecedented support to Canadian culture and recreation--more than five times last budget's record levels.

Quotes

"Being masters of our destiny is about having the confidence to build on our strengths and shape our own future. This is why we are investing in the cultural institutions and the creatives that tell our stories. Because sovereignty means building a country where Canadian culture thrives; where Canadians see themselves in their stories, music, songs and movies; and where we are connected--both physically and culturally--to build Canada Strong."

--The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue

"Canadian stories, artists, and cultural institutions help define who we are as a country. These investments will strengthen our cultural sector, support creators, and ensure Canadians can connect with and take pride in our shared heritage."

– The Honourable Stephanie McLean, Secretary of State (Seniors)

Quick facts

• Budget 2026 strengthens Canada's growth, unity, and sovereignty. It includes initiatives to support Canadian arts, culture, heritage, and journalism.
• A new Canada 160 Fund will help celebrate Canada's 160th anniversary with a $300-million flagship initiative that brings together the stories, spaces, and experiences that strengthen national pride and belonging.
• Budget 2026 explores the creation of the Canada Creative Credit--a new form of tax relief for Canadian artists to foster creativity, artistic production, and cultural entrepreneurship in Canada.
• Almost $800 million over five years, on a cash basis, will support Canada's national museums and heritage institutions and help repair and renew aging facilities; protect national collections; and sustain the exhibitions, performances, and services that connect Canadians to our history and culture.
• The renewed Canada Strong Pass will give Canadians more opportunities to explore and connect with their country next summer, and national museums will become permanently free for children and youth under 25.
• $300 million over two years will strengthen CBC/Radio-Canada's capacity to tell and share Canadian stories.
• Canada's Francophone identity and institutions will be strengthened through hosting the 2028 Francophonie Summit.
• $1.5 billion over nine years through the Build Communities Strong Fund will support the expansion, retrofit, and rehabilitation of recreational facilities and ice rinks across Canada, ensuring Canadians have more spaces to come together and play sports.
• Budget 2026 proposes major tax policy changes, including the new Productivity Mega Deduction, which will help Canada's producers and storytellers invest in the equipment and technologies they use to create.

Associated links

• Budget 2026: Masters of our destiny
• Government of Canada releases Budget 2026: Masters of Our Destiny
• Budget 2026: Key Measures
• Remarks by the Minister of Finance and National Revenue

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SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada

Contacts: For media enquiries, please contact: Kirstie Hudson, Senior Communications Advisor and Press Secretary, Office of the Secretary of State (Seniors), [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]