Bylaw No. 4704 would increase operating and capital funding for the Royal Theatre, Charlie White Theatre, and McPherson Playhouse
Photo via https://www.rmts.bc.ca/.
On Oct. 17, the Capital Regional District (CRD) announced plans to establish a new Performing Arts Facilities Service to scale up support for regional theatres.
This proposed bylaw, Bylaw No. 4704, would provide operating and capital funding for the Royal Theatre, the McPherson Playhouse, and the Charlie White Theatre in Sidney.
“The Royal Theatre is owned by 3 municipalities: Victoria, Saanich, and Oak Bay,” said Matt Dell, Victoria city councillor, and director on the board of the Royal and McPherson Theatres Society.
“The McPherson Theatre is owned by Victoria. So previously, and right now, only the City of Victoria funds the McPherson Theatre, no other municipalities fund it,” he said. ”The ownership [won’t] change, but this [now] means that all municipalities are kicking in to pay for the theatre operations.”
According to the Analysis of Service Options to Support Performing Arts Facilities, which was conducted in 2024, funding for both the Royal and McPherson theatres has remained stagnant since the late 1990s, resulting in a 40 per cent loss in purchasing power.
Dell explained that having one municipality pay for everything that a theatre requires, such as unionized staff wages and management costs, is not feasible. “We literally can’t afford it. So [the proposed bylaw] will increase the funding, create a new program stream of grants, and make the theatres more sustainable, essentially,” said Dell.
“Right now, [the McPherson is] essentially running on a shoestring budget, which means they can only run high-paying [events],” said Dell. “With the other municipalities kicking in, it’s going to mean more money for staff, more money to offer lower-cost events, and it’s going to create a grant program, so we can offer the theatres out for not-for-profit and community groups at a low cost.”
Dell explained that, if a local theatre company wanted to rent the Royal or McPherson currently, they would need to sell, at minimum, 100 tickets at $50 each to break even. The new grant stream could help to offset those costs.
While the grant system hasn’t been established yet, Dell hopes that it will make it easier for the theatre community to rent the Royal or McPherson theatres. “I have been in the arts community for 20 years here,” Dell, who is also a musician, said “Before joining the board, I’d never been in the McPherson Theatre, because it was mostly used for higher-end arts and culture, like expensive theatre and expensive shows. It’s wrong that local [artists and] musicians aren’t using it or in there regularly.”
This new bylaw could bring more shows to Victoria. In April, Intrepid Theatre brought Urban Ink’s Children of God to Victoria, but after being turned down by five different grants, they needed to launch a $20,000 donation appeal to host the show. The new municipal grant system could make it easier for productions like this to perform in Victoria.
Dell believes that a strong arts community “adds to our well-being as citizens,” and that people “deserve the opportunity to see a world-class show with world-class performers,” without having to take the ferry to Vancouver, or fly to London, New York, or Las Vegas.
Elector approval is required for the creation of the Performing Arts Facilities Service. The CRD will launch an Alternate Approval Process in winter 2025-26, asking electors whether they support its creation. If approved, Bylaw No. 4707 will be reviewed by the inspector of municipalities in the spring of 2026.
Once approved by the inspector, the new service can be established and incorporated into the financial plan for 2027.
