The Canada Council for the Arts has launched a major recruitment campaign to "significantly increase" its diversity, equity and inclusion, says CEO Simon Brault.
He says priority in hiring at the council will be given to Indigenous, Black, racialized and Deaf applicants, as well as applicants with disabilities.
The council has vacancies in finance, human resources, policy and strategic planning, prizes and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, as well as arts granting programs.
Brault, in an open letter released this week, says 70 per cent of council employees are women, 16.8 per cent are Black or racialized, 4.6 per cent are Indigenous and 6.8 per cent are deaf or have disabilities.
The council aims to fill a few dozen positions that have become vacant as employees retired or switched careers. Hiring was suspended at the start of the pandemic.
"Community polls and discussion forums about our next strategic plan have clearly placed diversity, equity and inclusion at the top of the list of priorities that will strengthen the arts sector in Canada," says Brault.
"The inclusion and representation of Indigenous peoples, Black people, racialized people, Deaf people, and people with disabilities are crucial to increasing the relevance, influence and recognition of the sector and its organizations.
"The content, programming and staffing of some organizations shows a certain amount of progress in terms of inclusion and representation. It is progress that must be matched by tangible and consistent action in favour of decolonization and by the ongoing fight against racism in the cultural sector and society at large.
"What is more, we must not only listen to, but also respond in order to correct the funding inequities that still exist and that disadvantage Indigenous artists, Black artists, artists who are racialized, deaf artists and artists with disabilities."
More information is available in the careers section of the council's website.
Source: Canada Council for the Arts