The Canadian College of Performing Arts is owned and operated by the Canadian Heritage Arts Society, a charitable organization dedicated to creating meaningful connections between artists and the community. The Society strives to create inclusive and creative performing arts experiences that reflect our world, challenge us, and inspire human transformation.
Giving a donation in support of our work ensures that we can continue to engage our community, train the artists of today and tomorrow, and contribute to the essential role that the arts play in our society.
Ways to support:
Giving directly limits the fees and charges deducted from gifts:
Other options include:
Your support can make a tangible difference – helping young performers achieve their dreams, creating bright futures that will continue to inspire and entertain us for years to come.
Support their training:
$300 pays a professional artist to lead a workshop sharing their skills and experience.
$978 provides a student with one-to-one private voice lessons for a full year.
$1,538 ensures career management is a core element of training and education.
$3,135 provides 2 weeks of specialized training like stage combat to enhance employability.
Support their well-being:
$88 offers students one of eight yoga classes to provide a mindful experience.
$360 provides a student with 3 emergency counselling support sessions.
$1,200 enables volunteers to cook 8 monthly hot meals for students, our “soup nights”.
$3,600 offers access to 24/7 tele-health services for all students across their year.
Support their creativity:
$453 engages a professional mentor to support a student to create a new work.
$710 funds extra vocal ensemble sessions enabling students to build a festive repertoire.
$2,200 covers accommodation for a guest director to lead one of our shows.
$4,602 employs a dance artist to choreograph the year-end musical.
It costs $1.7million to train and provide performance opportunities for our young artists, connecting them to audiences to preserve and promote the performing arts.
These are direct costs for some of the elements of our work, they don’t include the overheads for our facilities (utilities, lease and housekeeping costs) nor do they include the staff resources that keep things going.
Would you like to give towards immediate needs or towards long term impact?
Here’s where your donations can go:
Priorities urgently requiring support include:
Operating Funds
While not the most visible or thrilling of areas to support, our most urgent need currently is towards our operations and administration. Operating funds support us to ensure that we can employ staff to run our box office, finance and care for our facilities alongside the everyday needs of any charitable business (like insurance, office equipment, and internet).
Artistic / Production Fees and Support
Our program is performance-led, ensuring that the training of our students is practiced live on stage in front of an audience as much as possible. Ensuring we are able to continue hiring diverse professional creative artists and leaders from across Canada, supporting their travel and accommodation; and to provide top quality resources to realise their creative visions is 0065ssential to our success and theirs.
Facilities Support
Our building is well-loved and much used, and as such requires attention to keep it in good working order. Supporting the maintenance and upkeep of the studios, Performance Hall and student spaces is essential to providing the education and artistic productions are at our heart. This support sustains our utilities, housekeeping and general repairs as needed across the year.
The College is committed to ensuring that financial burden is not an access to training, and increasing supports to care for all students’ mental, emotional, and educational well-being.
Emergency Crisis Fund
Supports hard costs for students who confront sudden unimaginable circumstances (i.e. evictions or the death of a close family member).
Financial Aid
Allows the College to offer merit-based scholarships and urgent bursaries for students in need.
Health and Wellness
The demanding schedule at CCPA (mirroring the reality of the performing arts industry) and the increasing cost of living for students can make healthy choices challenging. To support our students, we run a Wellness and Professional Practice course that introduces well-being tools and different arts perspectives; alongside this we have a healthy food pantry, and our wonderful volunteers cook a hot meal monthly for the students. We also provide access to 24/7 tele-health services to ensure access to healthcare, mental health support and other services are available.
The Canadian Heritage Arts Society’s mission extends beyond operating the College to engaging with the broader community. These programs are designed to assist under-served sectors of the community, and offer opportunities to access, create and actively participate with the performing arts.
Accessible & Relaxed Performances
Providing accessible, inclusive matinee performances that give people who experience sensory overload (1/3 of the population) the freedom to respond naturally.
Community & Schools’ Matinees
Providing subsidised performances for community groups and students to ensure that there isn’t a barrier to their enjoyment and engagement with the performing arts.
Community Performances
Public performance offered directly to communities, like our Concert of Remembrance which is performed in Legions, care homes and community spaces each November. Finding opportunities to connect audiences with our artists-in-training through creative experiences in the community is a vital part of our work.
I have been a loyal and proud supporter of CCPA since day one. It is a joy to see the students learn and grow in such a productive and enthusiastic environment. We are privileged and honoured to have CCPA in Victoria.
Endowment funds are managed for us by our wonderful partners at the Victoria Foundation.
The Canadian College of Performing Arts Endowment Fund provides approximately $14,000 a year as a return on investments which supports general operations, educational programming, and artistic programming.
The Legacy Scholarship Endowment Fund for the Canadian College of Performing Arts supports student aid through scholarships, awards and bursaries. In the 2024-2025 Academic Year $18,000 was given out as scholarships or awards from legacy funds including The Betty Wilkinson Fund for the Canadian College of Performing Arts and the Alice May Salmon Fund also managed by the Victoria Foundation.
The simplest option is to leave the College a bequest in your will. It could be a sum of money or a gift in kind such as artwork, securities or real estate. Whatever you choose, your estate will receive a charitable donation tax receipt. Depending on the size and nature of your gift, you could eliminate all of the income tax on your final tax return – and possibly on the return for the immediately preceding year as well.
Turn any activity into a fundraising opportunity and let your imagination run wild. From bake sales to golf tournaments to dinner parties – the possibilities are endless to raise funds for programs at the College. Contact our office at hello@ccpacanada.com to let us know what you are planning and how we can provide you with our brochures and other materials.