Ministry Overview and Core Business Areas

Ministry Overview

The Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts (MTSA) was established in June of 2005, bringing together areas of business from four ministries, one Crown corporation and one commission. These various program and policy areas support the development, preservation and promotion of some of British Columbia’s most treasured assets that enhance the quality of life not only for those who live here but also for the millions of travelers who visit the province each year.

The ministry encompasses six core business areas, sharing many common themes and interests:

A number of important opportunities have united these programs, services and policy areas. All these together will establish a broad vision for the province as a tourist destination of choice before, during and well after the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The ministry will have opportunities to think more broadly about tourism and how government can best work with stakeholders to support the development of private and public investments in this growing sector.

This new ministry has an ambitious mandate — to guide, support and encourage the economic potential of dynamic sectors of our provincial economy. Tourism delivers over $9 billion annually to our economy. It is a huge employment creator, with more than 114,000 employed in British Columbia's 18,000 tourism enterprises.¹ The ministry also has responsibility for sport, arts and culture and volunteers. These sectors are also vital to the tourism industry and are significant contributors to the provincial economy in their own right.

For example, sport spending totals almost $16 billion annually, about 2.2 per cent of consumer spending and 1.2 per cent of the GDP in 2004.² Sport BC estimates that there are over 10,000 paid workers in sport in the province, and more than 140,000 sport volunteers actively engaged in amateur sport. Sport tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism sector. Each year, this segment generates an estimated $368 million in British Columbia — and it is growing.³ The benefits of increased physical activity among British Columbians are substantial. The estimated direct and indirect costs related to the health impacts of obesity and inactivity are nearly $573 million each year, and rising.⁴ The work of the ministry to support sport and fitness can have a significant impact on B.C.’s health care system.

The economic impact of B.C.’s arts and culture sector is also important. In 2001, arts and culture contributed an estimated $4.2 billion to the provincial economy. This sector directly employs more than 78,000.⁵ In 2003, British Columbia television and film production was worth $1.4 billion.⁶ The total annual sales of British Columbia published books are estimated to be $150 million annually.⁷

The economic value and impact of B.C.’s volunteer sector is also significant. B.C. has the second largest volunteer sector in Canada, consisting of more than 1.5 million volunteer positions which are filled by 865,000 volunteers representing nearly $1 billion in unpaid labour each year.⁸ We need to support and enhance the capacity of this vital sector.

The province has bountiful natural and developed resources in support of tourism, sport and the arts. Together, these assets can enhance the quality of life in British Columbia. As the number of visitors continues to grow leading up to and after 2010, we will also have many avenues to reveal to the world a dynamic, exciting province with a unique character and promising opportunity. This work will also serve to foster the development of a “creative economy,” and to build the kind of province where people want to live, to visit, and to invest.

Work in tourism, sport and the arts reaches across numerous spheres and every part of the province, involving many other ministries and sectors. The ministry will work with its diverse stakeholders as well as other ministries to secure and enhance the assets that celebrate British Columbia’s essence — the essence of the people who live here. It will work with the Vancouver Organizing Committee and other partners to ensure the best ever Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, as well as preparing for the Cultural Olympiad of 2010. Below are descriptions of the specific structures that have been established to further these aims.

Core Business Areas and Structure

1. Tourism and Resort Development

This core business area has a budget of $8.0 million and 50 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs). Tourism and Resort Development provides for: developing and implementing a provincial Tourism Strategy; implementing strategies to promote British Columbia and achieve increases in tourism, all seasons resorts and both commercial and public recreation; investing in recreation facilities; and conducting marketing, planning and research to support sustainable development of tourism.

There are eight key areas of work carried out by this core business area:

• Sector and Product Development and Marketing, whereby new business sector and product opportunities are identified in concert with key partners and developed into a market-ready state.
• Research and Analysis, works with tourism associations to monitor and evaluate tourism and recreation trends; conduct socio-economic analysis, forecasting and modeling; and undertake inter-jurisdictional comparisons.
• Tourism Planning, which undertakes strategic sectoral planning and program development including responsibility for the development and implementation of initiatives such as the Tourism Charter, Hosting the World and 2010 Olympic related activities. It is also responsible for the National Tourism Strategy, with key partners such as Tourism BC, the Council of Tourism Associations and the Canadian Tourism Commission.
• Public Recreational Management and Promotion, which includes the promotion of fish and wildlife and other recreation opportunities and the development of operational policies in relation to such public recreation activities as mountain biking, All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) use and snowmobiling, in cooperation with stakeholders and nature based tourism associations and partners.
• All Seasons Resorts Office, based in Kamloops, which administers the existing portfolio of major resorts on Crown land, reviews and approves expansions and new resort proposals and leads the implementation of the B.C. Resort Strategy and Action Plan.
• Commercial Recreation, a program based in several regional offices, that administers new and existing commercial recreation tenures on Crown land.
• Public Recreation Sites and Trails, a program based in several district offices, providing maintenance, development and oversight of forest recreation sites and trails.
• Aboriginal Relations which supports First Nations relationships and consultation in each of the above areas and works to support the development of Aboriginal tourism.

The ministry works closely with the Tourism BC Corporation, which works to promote and develop the tourism industry.

Success in this core business area is highly dependent on the ministry’s relationships with Tourism BC and many other partners. For example, the ministry will be working closely with many other ministries to develop a Tourism Charter; and with the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), the Olympic Games Secretariat and 2010 LegaciesNow to link activities related to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. On land use issues, the ministry will also be collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and the Service BC offices being established under the Integrated Land Management Bureau.

2. Sport, Recreation and Volunteers

This core business area has a budget of $13.2 million and six FTEs. It supports a strong sport sector, recreation opportunities, physical activity and volunteer sectors. It also administers the Physical Fitness and Amateur Sports Fund Special Account.

The broad mandate of this business area is to facilitate and guide quality opportunities to increase participation and achieve excellence in sport and physical activity in British Columbia through the development of public policy, effective inter and intra-governmental partnerships, national leadership, international relations and event hosting, and contract management, performance and measurement systems. Sport, Recreation and Volunteers works with sector partners, other ministries and levels of government to identify and address systemic issues and opportunities that impact the 850,000 sport organization members in British Columbia. It also develops strategic interventions related to the enhancement of sport, physical activity and recreation in the province.

Participation and Achievement in Sport and Recreation

British Columbia created a new and innovative delivery model for sport and physical activity programs in 2004. Funding is provided to 2010 LegaciesNow which administers grants to non-profit organizations, athletes, coaches, participants, volunteers and others involved in sport and physical activity. This work will help to ensure that the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games benefit sport, culture and literacy efforts throughout the province and to capitalize on private sector interest in sport and physical activity. Support flows to such organizations as Sport BC (and through it to 61 provincial sport organizations), the Pacific Sport Group (providing regional sport delivery), the BC Games Society (responsible for BC’s Family of Games) and a number of multi-sport and physical activity organizations. Support also goes to the TEAM BC and Athlete Assistance programs.

The ministry supports and encourages equitable access to sport and physical activity through initiatives targeting under-represented groups in schools, communities and organized sport through organizations such as Promotion Plus, the Aboriginal Sport and Recreation Association of BC and BC Disability Sports. The ministry also works in partnership with the Ministry of Health on initiatives such as ActNowBC, particularly in areas that support improved physical fitness and health outcomes for all British Columbians.

Major Sporting Events

The ministry works with Local Organizing and Bid Committees to attract world-class sport events, such as the World Junior Hockey Championships, the North American Indigenous Games and the bid for the World Wheelchair Basketball Championships. These events provide opportunity to benefit from sport-tourism. The ministry also provides guidance, expertise and resources to support successful delivery of these events and ensures that meaningful returns on provincial investments are realized in the form of legacies for sport and physical activity.

The ministry works closely with the BC Games Society, so that BC Summer and BC Winter Games provide opportunities for the development of athletes, coaches, and officials in preparation for higher levels of competition. The ministry also provides support for the Northern BC Winter Games, the BC Disability Games and the BC Seniors Games. The “BC Family of Games” promotes interest and participation in sport and sporting activities, individual achievement and community development.

Volunteerism

The ministry coordinates government’s involvement with organizations representing the volunteer sector and works in partnership with government and non-government organizations to enhance the volunteer sector in order to develop and recognize this valuable and important volunteer workforce and to build sustainable capacity in this sector.

3. Art, Culture and Heritage

This core business area has a budget of $23.6 million and 40 FTEs. It provides for support of cultural and heritage policy and programs and for the administration and delivery of government programs under the Arts Council Act and the Heritage Conservation Act; and for the administration of the Olympic Arts Fund Special Account.

This core business area also includes the BC Film Commission, which works to market British Columbia as a world-class film production location.

Cultural Services: The ministry develops and administers government policies that encourage the development of a sustainable arts and cultural sector and a cultural economy. This involves developing options to improve the competitiveness of provincial cultural industries, as well as providing information and advice, developing policy on cultural issues and general promotion of the arts. In order to achieve these aims, the ministry:

• Develops and implements provincial policies and programs on arts, culture and cultural industries;
• Coordinates and represents provincial government interests in arts and culture;
• Administers the programs of the Olympic Arts Fund;
• Provides management, policy development and program administration for the BC Arts Council;
• Develops programs that enable the arts and cultural sector to realize its social and economic potential; and
• Works with other provincial agencies and levels of government to encourage policies and planning that contribute to growth in the cultural sector.

The BC Arts Council is funded and administered by the ministry and provides policy and funding to support the arts and cultural community in British Columbia. The Council delivers a number of programs in the areas of professional arts and cultural development, community arts development, touring, arts awards and publishing as well as initiatives that support the sustainability of the sector.

Heritage: The ministry works in partnership across government and with other levels of government, the heritage community and the private sector to encourage and facilitate the protection and conservation of heritage in British Columbia, including public awareness and appreciation of heritage. These activities promote excellence in heritage conservation, protection and rehabilitation. The ministry also demonstrates heritage leadership through identification of best practices, delivery of specialized training and integration of local, provincial and federal work to ensure lasting benefits of heritage in the province. British Columbia now leads the nation in the number of records in the Canadian Register of Historic Places, a national register for historic sites.

Archaeology: The ministry is responsible for facilitating the protection and conservation of archaeological sites that may be impacted by development projects and other land uses. This role is fulfilled through the administration of the permitting system and the maintenance of a centralized inventory of sites. The ministry also ensures that archaeological sites are identified and protected within more general provincial review processes and assists in compliance with and enforcement of the Heritage Conservation Act. The site inventory currently contains records for 29,836 sites and this information is accessed by resource managers, land managing agencies, land conveyors, First Nations and the general public.

4. British Columbia Film Commission

British Columbia is the third largest motion picture service production centre in North America. The BC Film Commission has a budget of $1.3 million and seven FTEs. The Film Commission provides for the promotion of British Columbia’s locations and film industry infrastructure for use by the world’s film, television and commercial production industry. It markets and promotes the province’s advantages and opportunities as a world-class production centre to increase trade and investment in the billion dollar motion picture industry and to create high paying, knowledge-based jobs. Key strategies include: facilitating inbound investment, arranging trade missions and provincial participation in key international events, developing marketing and promotional strategies to raise awareness of British Columbia’s competitive advantages and opportunities and providing script breakdown services, digital location packages and location management for filmmaking. It also assists new productions in scouting for locations and accessing required goods and services.

5. Transfers to Crown Corporations and Agencies

This core business area has a budget of $131.1 million.

Tourism BC works to promote development and growth in the tourism industry, to increase revenues and employment through British Columbia, and to increase economic benefits for all British Columbians. Previously a division of the B.C. Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture, Tourism BC became an independent Crown corporation in June 1997. The corporation is governed by a 15-member board with full management, financial and legal authority, and is funded through a percentage of the provincial hotel room tax revenue and an annual contribution from the Province. Tourism BC works closely with British Columbia’s tourism industry to promote and develop tourism throughout the province and markets British Columbia to consumers and the travel industry through a variety of joint marketing and promotional campaigns in countries around the world.

The Provincial Capital Commission assumes primary stewardship for assets of historical and cultural significance within the capital region and dedicates itself to connecting and celebrating the capital with all citizens of the province through outreach and engagement programs.

The Royal BC Museum is a Crown corporation created in 2003 under the Museum Act. The Act mandates the Royal BC Museum to fulfill the government’s fiduciary responsibilities for public trusteeship of provincial collections and exhibits, including specimens, artefacts, archival records and other materials that illustrate the natural and human history of British Columbia. These collections are preserved for current and future generations of British Columbians.

The BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo) generates economic and community benefits for the people of British Columbia through the prudent management of public facilities. Key responsibilities include the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre, an integral part of British Columbia’s economic infrastructure, generating significant economic impact, tax revenues and job creation. PavCo is also responsible for BC Place Stadium, the province’s largest trade and consumer show venue and the only facility capable of hosting a number of B.C.’s most successful shows and sporting events. It is also responsible for the Bridge Studios space which is used for TV and film production.

The Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project (VCCEP) is also funded through the ministry. VCCEP will be a very important asset before, during and after the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

6. Executive and Support Services

This core business area has a budget of $2.6 million and 11 FTEs. It provides for the Offices of the Minister and the Deputy Minister. Under an agreement, the Ministry of Community Services provides management services to the Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts.