Our Advocacy Milestones

  • 1968 - CARFAC issues the first Minimum Exhibition & Reproduction Fee Schedule outlining appropriate professional exhibition fees.

  • Early ‘70s - Steady lobbying by CAR members results in Canada becoming the first country in the world to pay exhibition fees to artists.

  • 1988 - Federal Copyright Act amended to recognize artists as the primary producers of culture, giving artists legal entitlement to exhibition and other fees.

  • 1992 - Federal Status of the Artist Act proclaimed, recognizing artists as professionals.

  • 1999 - CARFAC certified to represent all visual and media artists outside of Quebec, allowing negotiations of collective agreements with federal institutions (ie. the National Gallery, the Museum of Civilization) on behalf of Canada's artists.

  • 2007 - Status of Ontario’s Artists Act passed recognizing artists’ contribution to the Province as a result of three years of advocacy and participation in a province-wide consultative process. We continue to advocate for the rights of artists as this new legislation is put into action.

  • 2007 - CARFAC National, along with RAAV (Le regroupement des artistes en arts visuals du Quebec) signed an unprecedented Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CAMDO (The Canadian Art Museums Directors' Organization) and CMA (Canadian Museums Association) relating to the minimum recommended fee schedule, and an agreement regulating the relationship between the parties to work together to pursue their mutual interest in advancing the economic status of visual artists, museums and galleries, and the visual arts sector as a whole.

  • 2008 - CARFAC partners in forming the Canadian Alliance for the Visual Arts (CAVA). An independent alliance of national visual arts organizations determined to advance the status of visual arts in Canada. Through communication, cooperation and collaborative action this network seeks to achieve common goals, as outlined in the Visual Arts Summit 's Collective Agenda.