Many Canadian grassroots and small community programs, particularly those in rural and remote regions like Borups Corners in Melgund Township, Ontario, face significant headwinds. An aging demographic, shifting societal needs, youth outmigration and the ongoing repercussions of the global pandemic are testing community vitality. The Framework for Recreation in Canada (2024 Update) stands as a vital guide, underscoring the recreation and parks sector’s vital role in bolstering health, wellbeing, and community resilience. However, to truly leverage this framework, recreation must embrace innovative approaches, notably tapping into the often-overlooked power of the arts.
For communities like those in Borups Corners, consultations reveal a concerning picture: an aging population with limited engagement from youth outside of peak summer months. Challenges are compounded by constrained human and organizational capacity, hindering the consistent delivery of structured programs, particularly in areas like arts and outdoor recreation. Despite well-maintained, yet underutilized, recreation facilitiesand the advantages of a small-town setting, creating and sustaining robust programming, especially in the arts, remains a key hurdle.
Arts in community recreation presents a compelling strategy for community renewal. The Framework for Recreation in Canada champions accessible recreation, environmental stewardship, and spaces that foster social connection. Arts-based programs are uniquely positioned to deliver on these principles. They offer inclusive and engaging activities that bring residents together, strengthen community bonds, and breathe new life into underused spaces. Crucially, they contribute directly to community strength and enhance crisis preparedness, both central tenets of the Framework.
The arts sector in Far North Ontario exemplifies the broader challenges. Census Canada (2021) data indicates a strikingly small arts workforce – just 290 artists across the entire region, less than one per cent of the total labour force. Ontario Arts Council (OAC) funding statistics (2021-2024) further highlight the disparity: a mere 0.38 per cent of OAC funding reached this vast northern region. This underfunding and underrepresentation, particularly of women and Indigenous artists as the data further reveals, underscore the urgent need for grassroots solutions to rejuvenate local arts ecosystems.
Arts in community recreation programs, guided by the Framework, offer a practical and impactful pathway forward. Integrating the arts into existing recreation infrastructure, even underutilized facilities in communities, tangible benefits emerge:
- Enhanced Accessibility: Arts programming delivered through recreation overcomes geographical barriers and brings cultural opportunities directly to residents, aligning with the Framework’s commitment to accessible recreation.
- Increased Community Engagement: Diverse and engaging arts-based activities can attract a wider demographic, particularly crucial for engaging youth and older adults in communities facing demographic shifts. This directly addresses the Framework’s emphasis on inclusivity.
- Strategic Capacity Building: Repurposing existing recreation facilities as venues for arts activities maximizes community assets and addresses the common lack of dedicated arts infrastructure in smaller centres, building crucial organizational capacity.
- Fostered Collaboration: Arts in recreation provides a platform for partnerships between recreation departments and local artists, strengthening community networks and enhancing program delivery capacity, a key need identified in consultations.
- Improved Community Wellbeing: Well-designed arts programs actively promote health and wellbeing, combating social isolation and encouraging active participation across age groups, directly aligning with the Framework’s core objective of enhancing quality of life.
“The numbers tell a story of significant challenges for the arts in regions like the Far North,” notes Jamie Bell, interdisciplinary artist and researcher with Art Borups Corners and its Winnipeg-based Arts Incubator program. “With such limited representation and funding, a top-down approach alone won’t suffice for community renewal. We need to look to existing community infrastructure, and recreation programs are perfectly positioned. By embedding the arts within these programs, we can foster grassroots participation, cultivate youth leadership pipelines, and begin to rebuild vibrant local arts and culture, even in resource-constrained environments.”
The Framework for Recreation in Canada provides the overarching policy vision, while arts in community recreation offers a tangible, community-led strategy to realize that vision, especially in regions grappling with demographic shifts and limited resources. Embracing this untapped potential, communities like Melgund Township can transform their recreation programs into dynamic engines for community engagement, robust youth leadership development, and sustained community renewal.