First collective agreement made between museums and artists’ associations in Quebec
Posted March 13, 2025 6:28 pm.
Last Updated March 14, 2025 8:19 am.
Four major museums and two important associations ratified a first collective agreement on Thursday that increases artists’ income and aims to better define their relationships with major museum institutions.
The signatories are the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Civilization, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec, as well as the Quebec Council of Arts and Crafts and the Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels.
Presented as “historic,” the agreement concerns artists in the fields of visual arts and crafts whose works will be exhibited or reproduced by the signatory museums.
The agreement provides for an increase of 15 to 30 per cent in fees and royalties for professional services, exhibition rights and reproduction rights compared to a recognized fee schedule.
It also includes a 4 per cent annual increase in professional artist service fees and copyright royalties, as well as a contribution from museums to an artists’ pension fund. The agreement also grants full or partial free admission to museums for artists who are members of one of the two associations.
“I would like to congratulate the parties on the ratification of this major agreement arising from the Act respecting the professional status of artists in the visual arts, cinema, recording, literature, arts and crafts and the performing arts, which will have significant repercussions on the socio-economic conditions of artists in the visual arts and arts and crafts sectors,” said Minister of Culture and Communications Mathieu Lacombe in a press release.
“We obtained substantial increases in professional fees and copyright royalties, and even a contribution from museums to a pension fund. This is unprecedented in Canada for our artistic field,” commented Gaëtane Dion, president of the Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels.
The agreement is due to come into effect on April 1 for a period of three years.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
