Confederation Centre of the Arts Launches Ambitious National Campaign with Reimagined Role in Canada’s Cultural Landscape

January 9, 2025 – Confederation Centre of the Arts is embarking on the largest transformation in its 60-year history, with a bold vision to become a leading facilitator of dialogue on Confederation and a leading producer of Canadian culture and storytelling. At the centre of this evolution is the creation of Canada’s first cultural leadership institute focused on facilitating dialogue about important issues in Canada and strengthening Confederation through learning.

The $71.5 million Shared Voices Campaign seeks support from Canadians coast to coast to coast to bring this ambitious vision to life. Funded in part by the governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island, the project will expand the Centre’s role in helping Canadians explore important issues shaping the country, while facilitating the expansion of arts education programs and new work development through rejuvenated spaces.

“This is about re-building connections across Canada,” says Centre CEO Steve Bellamy. “Confederation Centre was created in 1964 as the national memorial to the leaders who worked at connecting the provinces together as a country. Today, we’re building on that legacy by renewing these spaces where Canadians can come together to discuss the issues that matter most to our nation’s future, and to learn about one another through storytelling and the arts.”

To date, $55.7 million has been raised to support the transformation.

The Shared Voices Campaign is backed by an impressive roster of Canadian icons, including Peter Mansbridge, former host of CBC’s The National; Lloyd Robertson, former anchor of CTV National News; singer-songwriter Alan Doyle; and celebrated stage and screen star Cynthia Dale.

For Dale, the Centre’s national importance is key to the campaign: “This is a place for dreams, for work, for community—a place for all Canadians to celebrate the importance of a cultural hub in Atlantic Canada. That is the promise of Confederation Centre of the Arts.”

With the cultural leadership institute, the Centre will expand its mission to foster dialogue on the ideas shaping the nation, provide training for the next generation of cultural leaders, and ensure Canadian stories thrive on stages, screens, and canvases.

For Alan Doyle, that mission is personal. “Confederation Centre of the Arts is holy ground for a kid from Petty Harbour,” he shares. “It showed me that we, out here on the edges of the country, could make great art, tell our stories, and sing our songs. One step down the hallowed halls of this place and I knew I could be me.”

As the Centre calls on Canadians to support this bold new chapter, the Shared Voices Campaign represents more than a fundraising effort—it’s an invitation to expand what a national cultural institution can be in a time when connection and understanding matter more than ever.

Learn more and support the campaign at confederationcentre.com/sharedvoices.

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Media Contact:
Emily McMahon, Communications Manager, Confederation Centre of the Arts
[email protected] | 902-628-6135