Department of Canadian Heritage


The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage, is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity and values, cultural development, and heritage". To fulfill these tasks, the department coordinates a portfolio of several agencies and corporations that operate in a similar area of interest. While the roles and responsibilities of the Department of Canadian Heritage have remained relatively constant over the years, the department and composition of its portfolio remain in flux due to continuing structural changes.

Department

Headquartered in the Jules Léger Building in Terrasses de la Chaudière, Gatineau, Quebec, across the Ottawa River from the Canadian capital of Ottawa, the Department of Canadian Heritage was founded on June 25, 1993. It is an umbrella organization that has one of the largest portfolios in the Canadian federal government. The organizations in the portfolio support the Department of Canadian Heritage in the pursuit of its priorities while also striving to achieve their individual mandates.
In addition to coordinating with the organizations in its portfolio, the Department of Canadian Heritage also partners with provincial and territorial governments to organize and oversee visits from the Queen of Canada and other members of the royal family.
In 2018, the department had a budget of roughly $3.9 billion.

Officials and structure

The Department of Canadian Heritage is managed by a Deputy Minister, currently Hélène Laurendeau, with support from an Associate Deputy Minister, currently Isabelle Mondou.
Activities at the department are overseen by several senior officials. At the top is the Minister of Heritage and Multiculturalism, currently Pablo Rodríguez, who gets reports directly from the Department of Canadian Heritage. Activities related to official languages and the French television network, TV5, are handled by the Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie. This position is currently held by Mélanie Joly. Matters related to Canadian sports and services are handled by the Minister of Science and Sport, who is currently Kristy Duncan.
The department is divided into four different areas that each have their own Assistant Deputy Minister.
The four sectors and their Assistant Deputy Ministers are:
The portfolio of the Department of Canadian Heritage consists of two special operating agencies, four departmental agencies, twelve Crown corporations, and one administrative tribunal. They all report to Parliament through the same Minister.
The Canadian Conservation Institute and the Canadian Heritage Information Network are the two special operating agencies in the portfolio.
The four departmental agencies in the portfolio are Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Library and Archives Canada, the National Battlefields Commission, and the National Film Board of Canada.
The following Crown corporations are also part of the portfolio:
The only administrative tribunal in the portfolio is called the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board.

Financial support activities

The Department of Canadian Heritage gives out roughly $1.2 billion in grants annually. Funding is available for programs that contribute to the objectives of the Department of Canadian Heritage. These departmental objectives include those that relate to supporting culture, history, heritage, sport and Canada's official languages.
In 2019, it was reported that Canadian Heritage provided over $130,000 in public grant money to organizations with ties to United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party. The organizations published ads critical of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
The Department of Canadian Heritage requires that application forms be submitted by the deadlines that are specified under the specific funding program's application guidelines in order to be considered for financial support. A confirmation notice is sent by the department within two weeks of getting an application, and a decision on whether funding will be granted or not is made within thirteen to thirty weeks, depending on the funding program. The first payment is made on or before the fourth week after the Department of Canadian Heritage has sent out a written notice that an application has been approved.
The Department of Canadian Heritage provides funds for the following programs:
The Department of Canadian Heritage was created from parts of several other federal departments. Parks Canada was taken from Environment Canada in 1994, and the Department of Canadian Heritage also inherited activities that formerly belonged to the Department of Communications, the Department of Secretary of State, the Department of Multiculturalism and Citizenship, and the Department of Fitness and Amateur Sport during that same year. The Department of Canadian Heritage has gone through several structural and portfolio changes since then.
In 2003, Parks Canada was returned to the jurisdiction of Environment Canada, and the Department of Canadian Heritage added the Public Service Staff Relations Board to its portfolio. The Public Service Staff Relations Board was removed from the portfolio in 2014, when the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board Act came into force. This established the Public Service Staff Relations Board as a quasi-judicial tribunal that operates at arm's length from the government.
In late 2008, the multiculturalism section of the Department of Canadian Heritage was transferred to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, then transferred back again in November, 2015. The Status of Women component of the department moved away from the Department of Canadian Heritage's umbrella to become its own department in 2018.