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Staff Report
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REPORT T0: Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee
DATE OF MEETING: February 27, 2012
SUBMITTED BY: Rod Regier, Executive Director, Economic Development
519 741-2506
PREPARED BY: Cheryl York, ArtslCulture Co-ordinator, Economic
Development 519 741-3400 Ext 3381
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All
DATE OF REPORT: February 7, 2012
REPORT NO.: CAO-12-006
SUBJECT: Draft Official Plan -Arts and Culture Advisory Committee
Recommendations
RECOMMENDATION:
That the issues addressed in the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee report, attached
as AppendixA to CAO-12-006, be considered for inclusion in the Draft Official Plan.
BACKGROUND:
The Official Plan review process has included a consulting component with the city's advisory
committees. A presentation was made by Planning staff to the Arts and Culture Advisory
Committee (ACAC)) on March 15, 2011.
Subsequently, one of ACAC's working groups (Role of the Municipality Sub-group) undertook a
study of the draft Official Plan for the purpose of ensuring the inclusion of arts and culture
references in all appropriate sections. During the review, the sub-group discovered a number of
opportunities for arts and culture revisions or additions.
Planning staff met with the sub-group in October 2011 to further discuss the intent of the new
Official Plan and to clarify outstanding questions.
Members also concluded that an up-to-date culture plan based on the provincially-sanctioned
principles and methods of "municipal cultural planning" would be of great importance in
supporting the arts and culture references in the Official Plan in the same way that the city's
public art policy already supports public art references in the Official Plan.
The sub-group's report was presented to the full Arts and Culture Advisory Committee on
January 17, 2012. Additional research was requested regarding economic impact statistics. The
committee unanimously endorsed the following motion:
"That council endorse the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee's
recommendations for amendments to the Official Plan regarding arts and culture
issues, and further, support action for a new culture plan."
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REPORT:
The full ACAC report containing the recommendations for Council's consideration is attached to
CAO-12-006 as Appendix "A". In addition, a subsequent addendum of economic impact
research, as requested by ACAC, is attached as Appendix "B".
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
The inclusion of arts and culture references in the draft Official Plan and consultations with
affected city advisory committees support the strategic direction "Leadership and Community
Engagement". Arts and culture development and the recognition of its effect on citizen's lives
support "Quality of Life".
ACAC's work and contributions are based on arts and culture as a factor critical to the health of
the community through support forthe goals and objectives of Culture Plan II.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
N/A
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
The Draft Official Plan process depends on public consultation and feedback. The Arts and
Culture Advisory Committee is positioned to provide specialist knowledge regarding arts and
culture as it pertains to city policy.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Rod Regier, Executive Director, Economic Development
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CAO-12-006 APPENDIX A
Arts and Culture Advisory Committee
Report to Council on the June 2011 Draft Official Plan
Introduction
The Arts and Culture Advisory Committee (ACAC) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the June
20, 2011 draft Official Plan. The development, implementation and enforcement of the Official Plan are
key functions of municipal government. "Official Planning" is a very complex process and the
documentation reflects this complexity. ACAC is, therefore, also appreciative of the support it has
received from staff to assist the Committee to understand the draft document and the process leading to it.
The current draft is a substantial improvement on the City's current (1994) Official Plan. It has, overall,
taken into account material changes in the expectations of residents of Kitchener and the environment in
which we live, work and play. The draft is clearly a much more sophisticated and nuanced document -
one that, generally, builds effectively upon other planning initiatives, such as Kitchener's Plan for a
Healthy Community, and successes in adapting and reinvigorating downtown.
Crucially, for ACAC, it has started to recognize the importance of the creative sector -arts and culture
being a key component of the creative sector - to Kitchener's long term economic and social health. But
it does not go far enough to promote and ensure the sustainability of a vibrant creative sector and its
growth through appropriate land use policies. The Official Plan will be in place for almost two decades -
butwill influence what Kitchener is for decades. As a result, in ACAC's opinion, it is essential that the
Official Plan:
• Recognize the creative sector as an economic sector -while different from other economic
sectors, such as automotive manufacturing, pharmaceuticals or agri-food, it is also a source of
employment, exports and wealth creation;
• Distinguish between "culture" in its multi-cultural context and "culture" as an element of the
creative sector;
• Encourage greater involvement of the private sector in providing land for purposes of the creative
sector -this involvement needs to go well beyond the "traditional" approach of making a space
available for a piece of art. Rather, the private sector ought to be the major source for new
"employment lands" for the creative sector through appropriate land use policies;
• Protect the key facilities and existing land use for the creative sector -which are, essentially, the
existing and core "employment lands" for the creative sector;
• Maintain the land use focus in the Civic District on arts and culture facilities and land use, and on
civic uses, such as the existing governmental offices.
The thing is, wherever art goes, commerce follows
The above quotation from Tracey Emin (November 2011) is reflective of a fundamental, conceptual gap
in the draft Official Plan. The draft, as noted above, has enhanced the position of arts and culture for
planning purposes, but it does not go far enough. It may be that, for planning purposes, the importance of
the creative sector as an economic sector was not fully taken into account. As a result, the emphasis is not
on land use by the creative sector but on the City "encouraging" certain activity, primarily through
municipal government expenditures and facilities.
ACAC believes this gap to be a significant problem. The creative sector is a source of employment and
economic activity; it is not just a "nice thing" to have in the community. Fundamentally, the creative
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sector ought to be viewed in the same context as other emerging economic sectors in Kitchener -
pharmaceuticals, information technology and so forth, and other existing sectors, such as automotive and
agri-food. Indeed, a number of the emerging sectors are part of the creative sector, such as digital media.
Art is commerce.
The draft Official Plan is intended to guide land use -and, critically, investment -for the next 20 years.
City Council, in considering the elements of the Official Plan, must reasonably balance a number of
interests and issues. Planning is controversial and ought to be - it will be a primary driver of where and
how we live, where and how we work, where and how we play and what our quality life is. Substantial
amounts of time and money are spent by both the public and private sectors "to get it right" - or as close
to right as possible.
In a recent report, the Communities and Local Government Select Committee of the British House of
Commons noted:
Planning is a balancing act, which requires consideration of the preservation,
use and development of land for this and future generations, within the context
of agreed social, environmental and economic needs. Inevitably, there is often
disagreement among competing interests on the best use of the same land, and
the planning system must resolve such conflicts. Hard decisions have to be
made and the National Planning Policy Framework has to provide the
framework to the get the balance right.
Clearly, the Select Committee was considering planning in a different legal and political context; but the
principles articulated in the report are applicable to Kitchener and elsewhere in Ontario. What has
happened in Kitchener since the last Official Plan is that the "context of agreed ... economic needs" has
changed. "Arts and culture" in 1994 was seen as something nice to have. In the 21 st century, the creative
sector continues to provide quality of life, but it also increasingly provides jobs, often for export. Indeed,
the City of Hamilton has recently recognized the sector's important economic role by transferring the arts
and culture department to economic development.
Similarly, comments from the creative sector in the UK have also focussed on the need to take into
account the creative sector in land use planning. A joint position from the major national arts
organizations noted the importance of the arts sector to reputation and economic success. The position
paper commented that "If the Government cares about social, economic and environmental development
of places then it must explicitly include cultural activities within the NPPF." It further noted that the
sector promotes economic growth, enhances the built environment and develops sustainable communities,
being hubs around which creative industries spring up and flourish. The organizations argued that the
planning framework must promote and protect culture. This position represents a shift in approach.
Why does this significant and material shift matter for planning purposes? First, the Official Plan needs to
recognize better that the creative sector means commerce. Second, we need to get beyond the role of the
City as being the sole or primary provider of the facilities for the creative sector. The draft Official Plan
retains the 20th century approach -albeit with substantial improvements and enhancements -that focuses
more on the role of the City than on how land use can be directed towards particular economic activities.
ACAC has several recommendations to address its concerns.
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Recommendations
1) Conceptual revisions - ACAC recommends that staff meet with ACAC's working group on the
role of the City to develop a stronger conceptual approach within the Official Plan of the creative
sector as an economic sector.
2) Cluster Development - ACAC recommends that staff consider changes to the Official Plan that
will encourage and direct clustering of the creative sector, similar to the encouragement and direction
that is provided for other industrial sectors.
3) Property Designations -ACAC recommends that existing land use for arts and culture facilities be
protected through such means as designating the properties for "institutional" use. The City's ability
to protect the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts, which received substantial public funding, as
we know, was limited. A designation of this property and some other essential facilities for
institutional use will provide a greater level of protection to property.
ACAC recognizes that litigation often follows from new planning documents. It is important, therefore,
that the Official Plan incorporate those planning documents that will support the decisions within the
Official Plan and the decisions that are to be made based on the Official Plan. The City has developed a
number of policies related to arts and culture and work is ongoing to update and improve those policies
based on current municipal cultural planning principles and guidelines.
Municipal Cultural Planning (MCP) is defined by the Government of Ontario as:
A municipal government-led process approved by Council, for identifying and
leveraging a community's cultural resources, strengthening the management of
those resources, and integrating those cultural resources across all facets of local
government planning and decision-making.
MCP benefits communities by harnessing their cultural resources and creative potential to achieve social
and economic benefits like job creation, and to make communities more liveable and attractive places to
residents, newcomers and investment. Increasingly culture is being included as a component of municipal
policies such as Strategic Plans, Economic Development and Tourism Strategies, Official Plans and
Integrated Community Sustainability Plans.
1) ACAC recommends that:
a) The Official Plan reference cultural planning documents, such as CulturePlan I, II and future
cultural plans, in addition to public art policies, as rationales for elements in the Official Plan
related to arts and culture and the creative sector in general.
b) The Official Plan should incorporate MCP "language" and critical concepts, such as cultural
mapping. Cultural mapping should also be included as part of any secondary planning with
respect to Kitchener's neighbourhoods including the downtown. The cultural mapping will be
an important component to other planning documents flowing from the Official Plan,
including the proposed transportation plan.
c) Housing-related policies ensure that there is a range of housing options available adjacent to
clusters and along transportation routes to ensure access to employment and for audiences.
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2) ACAC recommends that language used in the Official Plan be enhanced. There is a need to use
stronger and more directional language in order to protect and enhance land use for creative
sector purposes. Words such as "require", "achieve", "create" and "ensure", which are used in
other parts of the Official Plan (see, for example, Urban Design Guidelines) should replace
weaker words such as "encourage" and "support". It is important to note that typically words
such as "encourage" and "support" mean that the City ends up paying to "encourage" and
"support" whereas ACAC is of the view that the responsibility ought to be more broadly spread,
reflecting the "agreed social, environmental and economic needs". A number of definitions
should also be amended to make it clearer that cultural facilities and similar buildings are not
limited to publicly-owned and operated facilities, or are not limited to "quality of life".
3) ACAC recommends that issues around "diversity" and "multi-culturalism" be addressed
separately from "arts and culture" or the creative sector. Diversity and multi-culturalism are
important and a reality for Kitchener; but they are a different public policy issue from the land
use needs of the creative sector.
ACAC was surprised by one of the changes to the March 2011 draft Official Plan. The June 2011 draft
Official Plan includes residential use in the Civic District. This use within the Civic District was not
included in the existing (1994) Official Plan, was not part of the substantial work undertaken to develop a
master plan for the Civic District, and appears out of nowhere in the June 2011 draft Official Plan. A
review of the comments received on the June 2011 draft and summarized by staff for the November 7,
2011 meeting of the Planning & Strategic Initiatives Committee (CSD-11-139) does not include any
comment to include residential use in the Civic District. Similarly, the minutes of the November 7, 2011
meeting of the Committee does not include any discussion as to why this material change was made
without public input.
4) ACAC recommends that the Civic District not be available for residential use and the land be
designated for institutional use, including with respect to the "surplus" City-owned land within
the Civic District. The Civic District contains essential facilities for the creative sector and is a
crucial "cluster" on which the sustainability and growth of the creative sector depends.
Conclusion
The June 2011 draft of the Official Plan is certainly an improvement on the 1994 Official Plan, as it
relates to arts and culture. There are also a number of other elements in the June 2011 draft that are
beneficial overall -such as the Urban Design Guidelines, greater flexibility, enhanced use of clustering,
and so forth. There remains, though, significant and material gaps between the June 2011 draft and what
is needed in the Official Plan -both as the key planning document on land use but also as the guidance
for further planning documents and for investment. These gaps may flow from not recognizing a change
in the creative sector - it is now a recognized economic driver (job creation; retention and attraction of
knowledge workforce), and builder of community and tourism -- much more of an economic story than
just a component of "multi-culturalism" and "quality of life". Clearly arts and culture provide "quality of
life" across Kitchener's multi-cultural background; but that is not sufficient.
A failure to fill the gaps runs a number of risks:
• Decisions not to invest in this sector, resulting in fewer jobs and a reduced level of sustainability,
• A greater demand on the City to fund facilities that could be made available by the private sector
if the land use policies were more directional, and
• Loss of existing essential infrastructure.
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CAO-12-006 APPENDIX B
Addendum to Appendix A: Economic Factors in the Arts Sector
Definition of "artists" -includes nine occupations tracked by Statistics Canada:
actors; artisans and crafts persons; conductors, composers and arrangers; dancers;
musicians and singers; other performers; painters, sculptors and other visual
artists; producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations; and writers.l
Hill Strategies Research has noted in a recent report that the direct impact of the arts and
cultural sector in Canada - as measured by its contribution to gross domestic product
(GDP) -was close to $40 billion in 2003-04, with total direct employment reaching an
estimated 600,000 jobs (roughly the same as agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, oil &
gas and utilities combined).
Self employment is a feature of the culture sector workforce. One in four workers in the
culture sector was self employed in 2002, notably higher than the 15% self employed in
the entire workforce. 58% of all those employed in `culture occupations' in the culture
sector in 2002 were self employed. The film and video business, for example, is
dependent on self employed or freelance workers because much of their work is done on
aproject-by-project basis.2
"Unlike other reports that rely on a new survey of cultural groups, the report includes an
estimate of the overall revenues and net value-added of the cultural sector, largely based
on Statistics Canada's discipline-based reports and the Conference Board's
macroeconomic models of the Canadian economy. Total cultural sector revenues were
estimated to be $72.2 billion in 2008, while net value-added was estimated at $46.8
billion. These estimates were then adjusted based on projections for the economy and, in
particular, five key revenue sources (individual consumption, foreign consumption,
government spending, business spending, and other sources, such as endowments and
gi ts).
The report indicates that "the cultural sector of Canada's economy will be hit harder by
the global recession than the overall Canadian economy". The real value-added output in
the cultural sector "is expected to be 4.8 per cent lower in 2009 than it would have been
had there not been a recession". This reduction, which amounts to $2.2 billion, is more
significant than the 4.0% reduction expected in the overall Canadian economy.
Total cultural sector revenues "are expected to be 4.3 per cent - or about $3.1 billion -
lower in 2009 than they would have been in the absence of a global recession". The
decline in revenues is expected to be most severe for written media (a 6.1 % decrease) and
broadcasting (4.8%). Other sectors expected to experience a substantial decrease in
revenues include the film industry (a 3.0% decrease), the performing arts (2.9%) and
1 Hill Strategies Research, Artists by Region of Ontario (Based on 2001 Census),
Report for the Ontario Arts Council, April 2006
2 Canada Council
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festivals (2.6%). The four other sectors are expected to see less of a decrease in revenues
(1.4% for heritage organizations, l.2% for sound recording and music publishing,l.0%
for the visual arts, and 0.9% for libraries).
Endowments, donations and other revenues are expected to be most strongly affected (a
16% reduction), due to the weak economy and the decline in stock markets. The report
indicates that this will likely have the largest effect on the performing arts and heritage
sectors. Business advertising will also be lower, which will impact written media and
broadcasting the most.
Given the high level of self employment in the cultural sector, the overall number of
people working in the sector is not expected to decrease by as much as the overall
Canadian economy (2.3% vs. 3.6%). However, average earnings are expected to decrease
by 2.2% in the cultural sector, compared with only 0.8% in the overall Canadian
economy. "Creative and artistic production occupations", including artists, are expected
to see the largest decrease in earnings (3.5%).
Interestingly, the report indicates that "the largest source of revenues for the culture
sector is Canadian businesses, which generate 52.6 per cent of all spending in this
sector". Canadian households account for 26.1 % of all spending in the cultural sector.
Government sources account for 14.1 % of total cultural sector revenues.
The most significant sources of revenue vary by area within the cultural sector: written
media and film rely most heavily on business spending, while the visual arts, festivals,
sound recording and performing arts sectors are most reliant on individual spending." 3
Equivalent Employment Hours through Volunteerism
Canadian arts and culture organizations rely on volunteers to play many roles. The Hill
Strategies Research report titled "Volunteers in Arts and Culture Organizations in Canada
in 2007" showed that 698,000 Canadians age 15 and up volunteered 73.5 million hours in
arts and culture organizations in 2007. The hours are equivalent to almost 38,000 full-
time, full-year jobs, valued at $l.l billion.
There are about 52 industry groups based on the North America Industry Classification
System (NAILS) that are connected to the creative sector. These relevant industry groups
can be viewed in the report on the Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics. 4
Occupational Data
In the province as a whole, the number of artists increased from 39,000 in 1991 to
52,500 in 2001, an increase of 33%. This figure is three times the 11% growth of the
overall Ontario labour force.5 Currently, if the increasing number ofpost-secondary
institutions' arts programs is an indication, the number of arts graduates has continued to
3 Hill Strategies Research, The Effects of the Global Economic Recession on Canada's Creative Economy
in 2009, Arts Research Monitor -December 2009 (Volume: 8 Issue No: 7 )
4 httpa/www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/87-542-x/87-542-x2011002-eng.pdf Page 51
5 Ibid
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increase. 83% of the artist population has apost-secondary degree or diploma,
identifying this sector as both talented and knowledgeable.
According to the 2006 Census, there were 2,605 people working in occupations in art,
culture, recreation and sport in the City of Kitchener. Compared to the 2001 Census,
there was a 15 percent increase between the two census periods.6 Art, culture, recreation
and sport categories have the fourth fastest growth rate in the City of Kitchener, behind
occupations in health care, natural and applied sciences, and government services.
(Figure 1.0)
Note: Occupations such as musicians and singers, and other performers are often filled by
individuals through the temporary foreign workers program in Ontario in the past five
years. In the recent year, actors and comedians, producers, directors, choreographers and
related occupations had been hired through the same program in Ontario. ~
Almost half of all Canadian culture workers were employed in non-culture industries,
particularly in four sectors: manufacturing, business services, educational services and
retail trade.g
Fi ure 1.0
occupation
2006 Kitchener
2001
Total experienced labour force 15 years and over 74 115365 105235 10%
A Management occupations 75 9745 9835 -1%
B Business, finance and administration occupations 20030 18170 10%
C Natural and applied sciences and related occupations 8250 6690 23%
D Health occupations 5180 3805 36%
E Occupations in social science, education, government service and
religion 8425 6895 22%
F Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport 2605 2265 15%
G Sales and service occupations 25845 23660 9%
H Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations 18470 18160 2%
I Occupations unique to primary industry 1155 1015 14%
J Occupations unique to processing, manufacturing and utilities 15650 14735 6%
6 2006 Census Community Profile httpa/wwwl2.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-
591/details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3530013&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&
SearchText=kitchener&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=
2001 Census Community Profile
httpa/wwwl2.statcan.ca/english/profi101/CPOI/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Codel=3530
013&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=kitchener&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=
O1&B1=All&Custom=
' httpa/www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/foreign workers/stats/annual/table6a.shtml#ON
s httpa/www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-guotidien/080410/dg080410c-eng.htm
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