The Cultural Human Resources Council has recently released a study entitled  Employment Insurance Special Benefits for Self-Employed People: The Impact on Artists and Cultural Workers

Self-employed Canadians are able to enroll in the Employment Insurance program and become eligible to receive these EI special benefits effective January 1, 2011: Maternity Benefits, Parental Benefits, Compassionate Care Benefits and Sickness Benefits. This report examines this new program to determine its relevance for the cultural community and the likelihood that freelance artists and other cultural workers will enroll.

To download the PDF version of the study, please click here.

The Cultural Human Resources Council’s Youth Internship Program (YIP) seeks internship proposals from cultural institutions and organisations willing to invest time and money in the development of their cultural sector’s workforce, under the Building Careers in Heritage programme sponsored by the Department of Canadian Heritage and Career Focus sponsored by the Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

Building Careers in Heritage
Deadline: February 1st, 2010
Number of internships available: 25 (approximately)
Project length: Minimum 4 months; maximum 12 months
Employer contribution: Employers must contribute to the costs of the project in cash and in kind. Maximum contribution from the CHRC is $10,000.
You can link to the CHRC’s application form here.

Career Focus
Deadline: February 8th, 2010
Project length: Minimum 4 months; maximum 12 months
Employer contribution: Employers must contribute $2 in cash for every dollar contributed by CHRC. The total of CHRC’s funding and the host organization’s contribution must go towards the gross salary of the intern and the Mandatory Employment Related Costs. CHRC’s maximum contribution is $10,000
You can link to the application form here.

For more information on either program, please contact Genevieve Guilmette, by email at gguilmette@culturalhrc.ca or by phone at 613-562-1535 ext.28.

The Cultural Human Resources Council has just released a report entitled The Effect of the Global Economic Recession on Canada’s Creative Economy in 2009, a report prepared by The Conference Board of Canada that measures the impact of the current recession on the cultural sector.  The report is broad-ranging, covering both the cultural industries and the not for profit sector – and we dare say few of its findings will come as a surprise to the people most closely involved with Canadian orchestras.  Nonetheless, it’s a solidly presented piece of research, and well worth your review.

You can find the report – the first in a series of three reports that the Conference Board is working on for CHRC – on CHRC’s website here.

The Orchestre symphonique de Québec has announced the appointment of one of its executive committee members to the board of the National Arts Centre. M. Claude Gauvin, a chartered accountant and partner at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton was appointed to the NAC board on October 27. 

In honour of the Canadian Music Centre’s 50th anniversary, the CMC has chosen to publicly recognize 50 outstanding Canadian performers and conductors who have played exceptional roles in shaping the Canadian music scene.  It’s a terrific list that includes many, many stellar figures from the current and past membership of Orchestras Canada, including Mario Bernardi, Robert Cram, Victor Feldbrill, Peter Gardner, Gwen Hoebig, Gary Kulesha, Veronique Lacroix, Eduard Minevich, Alex Pauk, Olga Ranzenhofer, Bramwell Tovey, Alain Trudel and Lorraine Vaillancourt.  Congratulations one and all!  For the complete list, you can visit here.

Orchestras Canada and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres have announced the appointment of Diann Missal as our (shared) Conference Marketing and Logistics Associate.  Ms Missal is a recent graduate of the Arts Administration – Cultural Management program at Humber College, and she will divide her time between PACT and OC until March 31, 2010.  The position has been made possible through the Youth Internship Program of the Cultural Human Resources Council.  You can reach Diann at OC by phone at 416-366-8834 x223 or by email at diann [at] oc [dot] ca.