Core Business Areas
1. Sport, Recreation, Volunteers and ActNow BC
This core business area works to achieve excellence in sport, increase physical activity, and attract major sport events by
building on partnerships with other ministries, orders of government, not-for-profit organizations and the private sector.
The Ministry provides funding to the BC Games Society, which supports the "BC Family of Games". These games include the BC Summer
and BC Winter Games, Northern BC Winter Games, BC Disability Games, and BC Seniors' Games. This support promotes participation
in sport activity, sport achievement, and community development. The Ministry also provides funding to the 2010 Legacies Now
Society, which administers funding to provincial multi-sport and recreation organizations to provide programs and services
to athletes, coaches, participants, volunteers and others involved in sport and physical activity.
In 2006, the Ministry became the lead for the ActNow BC program, designed to encourage physical activity, healthy eating,
reduced tobacco use, and healthy pregnancy decisions. The Ministry's ActNow BC mandate will further government's great goal
to Lead the way in North America in healthy living and physical fitness.
This core business area has a budget of $21.9 million and 13 full-time equivalents.
2. Arts and Culture
This core business area supports the development of a sustainable arts and culture sector and a creative economy. It is responsible
for arts and culture policy and programs, and for the administration of programs under the Arts Council Act and the Olympic Arts Fund Special Account. The Ministry provides secretariat support and funding to the BC Arts Council,
an independent board that delivers grant and funding programs that support the arts and culture sector. The BC Arts Council
is held accountable through performance measures and targets identified in its service plan. This core business area includes
First Nations initiatives, and is also charged with overseeing the development of an Aboriginal Art Gallery in Vancouver,
and supporting the cultural component of the North American Indigenous Games in 2008 in the Cowichan Valley.
Arts and Culture also contributes to the Asia Pacific Initiative by overseeing the development of the Asia Pacific Museum/Centre
of Trade and Culture. The Arts and Culture division is also overseeing the development of the Women's History Museum.
This core business area has a budget of $19.4 million and 18 full-time equivalents.
3. Tourism
This core business area fosters the sustainable development of the tourism sector by: developing and implementing strategies
to promote British Columbia to achieve significant increases in tourism; advancing product and sector development; issuing
Crown land tenures for adventure tourism businesses and all-season resorts; supporting major resort development agreements;
managing the provincial system of forest recreation sites and trails; working with industry, not-for-profit organizations
and other levels of government to enhance the business climate for tourism growth; and undertaking market and trend research.
This core business area is responsible for working with Tourism BC to provide policy direction and issues management.
Resort development is a key focus of this core business area, and the Ministry continues its efforts to harmonize provincial
and local government approval processes, and to work in consultation with First Nations when facilitating resort development.
The Tourism Division is also responsible for building awareness and implementing policies to facilitate the protection, conservation,
and rehabilitation of heritage and archeological sites, including pre- and post-European contact sites, for the benefit of
present and future generations. The Ministry works with communities to build their heritage planning and management capacity,
and partners with other orders of government, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and the private sector to
fully realize the contributions of heritage to urban revitalization, community sustainability, environmental stewardship,
and tourism.
This core business area has a budget of $17.2 million and 97 full-time equivalents.
4. BC2008
2008 marks the 150th anniversary of the establishment of British Columbia as a Crown colony. The Ministry of Tourism, Sport
and the Arts has the mandate to coordinate cross government activities related to the celebration of this significant event.
The Crown corporations affiliated with the Ministry, as well as the BC Arts Council, are essential partners in this initiative.
In addition to honouring the past, BC2008 provides a vehicle to focus on and celebrate the future. The five key pillars of
the 2008 celebration itself are: Heritage, Communities, Multiculturalism, Aboriginal Peoples, and Arts and Culture.
This core business area has a budget of $2.9 million, with 4 full-time equivalents in staff.
5. BC Film Commission
By marketing B.C.'s locations, skilled labour, and industry capabilities to domestic and international producers, the BC Film
Commission promotes and increases the level of film and television activity in the province. In delivering high-quality, customer-centred
production services and support, the BC Film Commission continues to attract investment to the province which increases employment
opportunities for British Columbia.
This core business area has a budget of $1.6 million, with 11 full-time equivalents in staff.
6. Strategic Initiatives and Policy
This core business area provides strategic advice and policy direction on cross ministry or cross government issues integral
to the Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts' mandate. Policy development currently underway includes adventure tourism,
parks tenure harmonization, and an integrated framework for resorts, adventure tourism and recreation. The division supports
cross government priorities such as the Asia Pacific Initiative, responses to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and
numerous inter-governmental issues affecting tourism. This core business area works closely with the Ministry's six Crown
corporations, which play a vital role in advancing the Government of British Columbia's policy priorities and objectives.
The division also works with Crown agencies to optimize performance, through performance planning and reporting, Shareholder's
Letters of Expectations, governance models and strategic initiatives.
This core business area has a budget of $0.9 million and 9 full-time equivalents.
7. Transfers to Crown Corporations and Agencies
The Ministry provides $61.8 million in transfers to four Crown corporations and agencies.
- BC Pavilion Corporation generates economic and community benefits through the prudent management of public facilities.
- Royal BC Museum is responsible for the protection and exhibition of provincial collections, including specimens, artifacts, archival records
and other materials that illustrate the natural and human history of British Columbia.
- Tourism BC has responsibility for marketing the Super, Natural British Columbia® brand to the world, and works cooperatively with industry
partners to promote the development and growth of British Columbia's tourism industry and ensure its long-term success.
- Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project is responsible for designing, constructing and commissioning the expansion to the existing Vancouver Convention and Exhibition
Centre. A larger Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre will be a very important asset before, during and after the 2010
Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
- Provincial Capital Commission connects and celebrates the Capital city with every British Columbian, creating awareness of the capital as a special place,
and a centre for culture and heritage in B.C. The Ministry does not provide annual funding to the Provincial Capital Commission.
8. Executive and Support Services
This core business area supports the offices of the Minister, the Minister of State for ActNow BC, and the Deputy Minister.
The Ministry of Community Services provides management services to the Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts. Management
services are composed of: Information Systems Branch; Strategic Human Resources and Corporate Policy and Planning; Finance
and Administrative Services; and Information, Privacy and Records Branch.
This core business area has a budget of $3.8 million and 14 full-time equivalents.