Culture Days

What Culture Days does

Culture Days is a Canadian registered charity and non-profit organization that operates a nationwide annual celebration of arts, culture, and heritage, running free, interactive events across all 13 Canadian provinces and territories. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Toronto at the Trinity-St Paul's Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts, the organization has scaled from 23 communities and 7,000 participants in its first year to an estimated 9.5 million participants in 2025 across thousands of registered events.

The organization's core product is the Culture Days Event Platform (culturedays.ca), a web-based event registration and discovery system that allows cultural organizations, heritage institutions, community groups, and individual artists to register free interactive events, while enabling the public to browse events by region. Supporting products include an event registration system, an email newsletter, an editorial blog featuring provincial partner stories, and a statistical dashboard showcasing annual participation metrics. The technology stack is conventional and lightweight, relying on third-party integrations with Google Analytics, Heap, MailChimp, Facebook, Twitter, and Google, with no disclosed proprietary AI or machine learning capabilities.

Culture Days operates as a non-transactional platform: events are free to the public and free for organizers to register. The organization is funded by federal government grants (Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts), corporate national partnerships (Pattison Outdoor Advertising, Cineplex, BT/A Creative), individual donations processed through CanadaHelps, and a Hub Sponsorship Program that supports coordinated multi-organization programming in nearly 100 hub communities. Provincial partner organizations including SaskCulture, BC Culture Days, Ontario Culture Days, and Alberta Culture Days coordinate regional programming.

Name

Culture Days

Legal name

Culture Days

Website

https://culturedays.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Culture Days is a Canadian registered charity that operates a nationwide annual celebration of arts, culture, and heritage, running free interactive events across all provinces and territories through its web-based event registration platform, serving Canadian cultural organizations, event organizers, and millions of public participants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Event Programming and Community Arts Engagement

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events without Facilities (711320), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Civic & Municipal Festivals (City Days, Public Celebrations) (MPAGAEAA), Cultural Heritage & Traditional Festivals (Folk, Ethnic, Indigenous) (MPAGAEAB), Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG)

Keywords

• Arts and culture events
• Community cultural programming
• Heritage celebration platform
• Event discovery and registration
• Nonprofit arts engagement

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: Culture Days is a registered charity that accepts donations through CanadaHelps platform. The organization relies on funding from government partners (Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts) and corporate sponsors to support operations and hub sponsorship programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Culture Days hosts an annual nationwide celebration of arts, culture, and heritage across Canada, operating a web-based event registration and discovery platform at culturedays.ca. Event organizers register free, interactive cultural activities during the designated September-October celebration window, and the general public browses and attends these events across all provinces and territories. The organization is funded through donations, government grants, and corporate sponsorships, and supports a Hub Sponsorship Program that coordinates community-led programming.

Product overview

Culture Days is a national celebration platform for arts, culture, and heritage in Canada, offering a unified event discovery and registration system. The core product is the Culture Days Event Platform (culturedays.ca), which enables communities across all Canadian provinces and territories to register free interactive cultural events. Supporting products include the Event Registration System for organizers, a Newsletter subscription service, the Culture Days Blog featuring stories from the network of provincial partners and ambassadors, and a Dashboard showcasing annual statistics and participation data. The platform operates as a hub connecting event organizers with public participants during the annual September-October celebration period.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Culture Days Event Platform A national event registration and discovery platform at culturedays.ca that allows Canadian communities to register free arts, culture, and heritage events and enables the public to browse and attend these events across all provinces and territories during the annual Culture Days celebration. Event registration is free and open to arts organizations, cultural groups, museums, heritage sites, community groups, and individual artists.
• Hub Sponsorship Program A sponsorship funding program for communities that form hubs to coordinate Culture Days activities across multiple organizations. Hubs receive funding to support collaborative multi-organization programming in their communities and can include Truth and Reconciliation and Indigenous-focused programming.

Quantifiable outcome

• 9.5 million people participated in Culture Days 2025
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Canadian HeritagecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFederal government department supporting Canadian arts, culture, and heritage. Major national partner for the Culture Days initiative providing funding and promotional support.
• Canada Council for the ArtscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerArm's-length federal agency that funds and promotes the arts and culture sector. National partner supporting Culture Days programming.
• Pattison Outdoor AdvertisingcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor Canadian outdoor advertising company providing promotional support for Culture Days as a national partner.
• CineplexcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCanadian entertainment company and national partner supporting Culture Days promotional efforts.
• BT/A (BT&A Creative)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerCreative agency serving as a national partner for Culture Days.
• SaskCulturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSaskatchewan cultural organization that has been a key provincial partner since Culture Days began in 2010. Supports Hub Sponsorship Program, Animateur positions, and provincial coordination of Culture Days activities across Saskatchewan.
• SK ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvincial arts funding body in Saskatchewan that partnered with SaskCulture in developing Culture Days programming, inspired by Quebec's La journee de la culture.
• Provincial Culture Days OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVarious provincial Culture Days organizations across Canada including BC Culture Days, Ontario Culture Days, Alberta Culture Days, and others that coordinate regional programming.
• Arts Council of SurreyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal arts organization that has helped fund Belinda's Connection Café workshops and provides support for cultural programming in Surrey.
• United WayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity services organization that funded emergency response community builders during the pandemic and supports senior connection programs.
• Semiahmoo Arts SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal arts society that provided funding through Peace Arch Hospital Healthy Communities for senior arts programming.
• FRAFCA (Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndigenous friendship centre that has partnered on cultural programming including drum-making sessions for seniors.
• Studio Seventy Three / Community Living SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudio supporting people with developmental disabilities, partnered on fused glass workshops as part of Belinda's Connection Café programming.
• Surrey Arts Centre / City of SurreyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal arts facility and employer of Culture Days ambassadors, provides venue space for cultural programming.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Doors Open Ontario: Ontario Heritage Trust program offering free public access to architecturally and culturally significant sites across Ontario — analogous free cultural engagement model with similar community-event structure.
• SaskCulture: Saskatchewan cultural umbrella organization coordinating Culture Days in the province; comparable mission of supporting community cultural programming with similar funding and partnership structures.
• Ontario Culture Days: Provincial affiliate coordinating free arts and culture events across Ontario during Culture Days; operates the same model at a provincial scale and shares organizer and audience overlap with the national initiative.
• BC Culture Days: British Columbia provincial affiliate running the same nationwide event model in BC; directly comparable in mission, audience, and organizer base.
• La journée de la culture: Quebec's annual free cultural celebration that directly inspired Culture Days; operates the same model in Quebec and remains a close functional peer.

Broad incumbents

• Nuit Blanche Toronto: City of Toronto's annual free contemporary art event with citywide installations; comparable as a high-profile, free, participatory cultural celebration but operating at a single-city scale with a different art form focus.
• Heritage Canada Foundation: National heritage advocacy organization with similar nonprofit, government-funded structure and overlapping heritage programming mandate.
• Canada Council for the Arts: Federal funding agency supporting Canadian arts and culture; comparable in nonprofit/government partnership structure and a direct funder of Culture Days programming.

Emerging players

• Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada: National organization promoting Indigenous cultural experiences; overlaps with Culture Days' Truth and Reconciliation programming and shares a national, community-based cultural engagement model.

Others

• Local Arts Councils (e.g., Toronto Arts Council): Municipal arts funding and programming bodies that serve as both feeders and partners for Culture Days events; comparable mission of expanding public access to local arts but with funding rather than event coordination as the primary activity.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CultureDays.Fetedelaculture
• Xx.com/culturedays
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/culture-days

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Culture Days