Work in Culture
Work in Culture (Cultural Careers Council Ontario) is a Toronto-based non-profit founded in 1997–1998 that operates Ontario's primary arts and culture job board, career development, and grant programs, serving employers, practitioners, and public funders.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersToronto, Canada
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Work in Culture does
Work in Culture, operating legally as Cultural Careers Council Ontario, is a non-profit arts service organization founded in 1997–1998 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It serves Ontario's arts and culture sector as the primary workforce intermediary, operating a job board that hosts 1,700+ postings annually and a portfolio of career development, training, and grant programs including the CAT Fund (up to $15,000 per organization). It also produces flagship research — notably the biennial Making It Work labour market report (next edition May 2026) and the AI for Administration report (September 2025) — that informs public policy and funder decisions across the province.
The organization is supported by a small team of 5–7 staff and a network of 100+ partner organizations, including funders such as the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Creates, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Revenue is generated through a combination of grant funding, employer-paid job postings at $180+HST (with a $55+HST rate for career development postings), and administration of funder programs. Recent operational priorities include a formal Executive Director succession plan, board leadership transition (Sheliza Jamal as Chair, Mike Rudolph as Past Chair), digital infrastructure upgrades through a January 2024 partnership with Substrakt, and program expansion including the ArtWorksTO Newcomer Program with the Toronto Arts Foundation.
The business model is essentially a sector-service intermediary: monetize job board access at the employer level, secure public and foundation grants to fund free career services for practitioners, and monetize trusted-policy-position through commissioned research delivered to government and foundation partners. Customer concentration is split between a long tail of arts employers on the job board and a concentrated set of government and foundation funders on the grant side.
Work in Culture firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Work in Culture
- Legal name
- Cultural Careers Council Ontario
- Website
- https://workinculture.ca
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Work in Culture (Cultural Careers Council Ontario) is a Toronto-based non-profit founded in 1997–1998 that operates Ontario's primary arts and culture job board, career development, and grant programs, serving employers, practitioners, and public funders.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Work in Culture industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Arts Workforce Development Services
- NAICS
- Professional Organizations (81392)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Arts & Culture Service/Support Organizations (Networks, Advocacy, Capacity Building) (BPAGAHAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Workforce & Job-Seeker Services (Community-Based) (EDAAAFAM), Career & Employability Integration Support (Work Culture, Networking, Job Readiness) (EDAIAKAH)
Keywords
Where Work in Culture is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Toronto
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Work in Culture business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Job Board Postings: Revenue generated from charging organizations to post job listings on the Work in Culture Job Board. Standard paid employment postings cost $180 + HST, while career development opportunities cost $55 + HST. Featured postings add $15 + HST per day.
- Government and Foundation Grants: Work in Culture receives operational and program funding from government bodies and foundations including Ontario Arts Council (operating funding), Ontario Creates, Canada Council for the Arts, Government of Ontario, Government of Canada, and Business + Higher Education Roundtable. Program-specific funding includes support for CAT Fund from Canada Council for the Arts, City of Toronto, Metcalf Foundation, Azrieli Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Paid Employment Job Posting |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Career Development Posting |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
Work in Culture product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Work in Culture operates as a non-profit arts service organization delivering workforce development and career support to Ontario's arts and culture sector. The core offering is the Job Board platform connecting employers with cultural workers, processing over 1,700 jobs annually, supplemented by grant programs (CAT Fund offering up to $15,000), mentorship programs, workforce development initiatives (ArtWorksTO, Work-Integrated Learning), and sector research publications. Services are delivered directly and through 100+ partner organizations across Ontario.
Product overview
Work in Culture operates as a non-profit arts service organization offering a suite of interconnected programs and services. The core product is the Job Board, a website-based platform connecting arts and cultural workers with employers across Canada. Surrounding this are grant programs (Catalyst and Transformation Fund), workforce development initiatives (ArtWorksTO, BAO x WIC Mentorship, Work-Integrated Learning), and research publications (Making It Work reports, AI for Administration research). The organization also delivers partner programming services including customized workshops and professional development training for arts and cultural organizations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Catalyst and Transformation (CAT) Fund: A grant program providing funding to Ontario-based non-profit arts organizations to explore substantive change in their operations.
Products and services
- Job Board A job board platform connecting job seekers with employers in the arts, culture, and creative sectors across Canada. Features paid employment postings ($180+HST for up to 60 days) and career development opportunities ($55+HST for up to 60 days) with filtering by type, category, location, salary, sector, and remote status. Optional featured posting add-on at $15+HST per day.
- Catalyst and Transformation (CAT) Fund A grant program providing up to $15,000 to Ontario-based non-profit arts organizations to explore substantive operational change through time-bound Exploration projects. Funded by Canada Council for the Arts, City of Toronto, Metcalf Foundation, Azrieli Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council.
- ArtWorksTO: Project Host Opportunities A workforce development initiative of Toronto Arts Foundation supporting newcomer, Indigenous, and youth artists in the Greater Toronto Area through credentialed training, industry mentorship, and paid work experience. Work in Culture leads employer engagement for this program connecting newcomer artists with host organizations for media arts and arts education projects.
- BAO x WIC Mentorship Program: Brampton A free mentorship program pairing Brampton artist entrepreneurs, creative businesses, and arts organizations with experienced professional mentors for one-on-one guidance on strategic business planning and entrepreneurial challenges. The 2025-2026 cycle matched 10 mentees with mentors.
- Work-Integrated Learning Opportunities in the Arts Partnership with the Business + Higher Education Roundtable to create work-integrated learning opportunities for arts students and graduates to gain industry exposure and professional experience. Supported by the Government of Canada.
- Research Reports Innovative research publications exploring sector conditions, trends, and priorities including Making It Work studies (2019, 2026), Job Board Trend Reports (annual since 2022), AI adoption research, and environmental scans on precarity in the arts sector.
- Partner Programming Services Customized business skills training, workshops, and professional development programs delivered to partner organizations, councils, municipalities, and companies across Ontario. Topics include business basics, creative entrepreneurship, financial management, marketing, and inclusion and diversity.
Companies that use Work in Culture
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Work in Culture technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Work in Culture partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Toronto Arts FoundationcoreWork in Culture partners with Toronto Arts Foundation's Neighbourhood Arts Network to deliver the ArtWorksTO Newcomer Program. Work in Culture leads employer engagement, supporting Greater Toronto Area organizations through the project host application process for the program connecting newcomer artists with host organizations for media arts and arts education projects.
- Brampton Arts Organization (BAO)corePartnership to deliver the BAO x WIC Mentorship Program for Brampton artist entrepreneurs, creative businesses, and arts, culture and heritage organizations. The 2025-2026 program matched 10 mentees with experienced professional mentors for one-on-one mentorship focusing on strategic business planning and entrepreneurial challenges.
- NordicitycoreResearch partnership for the Making It Work studies examining Ontario's cultural workforce. Nordicity served as research partner for both the 2019 and 2026 Making It Work reports, providing labour market analysis and sector research. Also partnered on AI for Administration research.
- Avery Swartz (Camp Tech)minorPartnership with AI expert Avery Swartz of Camp Tech to conduct research on AI adoption in Ontario's creative industries, exploring how generative AI tools are being used for business and administrative tasks.
- Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER)minorPartnership to help create work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities in the arts, supported by the Government of Canada. Collaboration includes events connecting post-secondary students with arts and culture career pathways.
- Cultural Policy Hub at OCAD UniversityminorResearch partner for the Making It Work 2026 report, providing cultural policy expertise and supporting the evidence base for policy making in Ontario's cultural sector.
- OCAD UniversityminorEducational partner for ArtWorksTO programs, providing credentialed education components for the workforce development initiative supporting newcomer, Indigenous, and youth artists.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Work in Culture competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC): Canada-wide non-profit council dedicated to HR, training, and workforce development in the cultural sector — operates as the national-level equivalent of Work in Culture with similar job board, research, and skills development functions.
- Toronto Arts Foundation: Toronto-based arts foundation and direct strategic partner of Work in Culture (delivers ArtWorksTO together); shares Toronto/Ontario focus and serves arts organizations and cultural workers with grants and programming.
- CharityVillage: Canada's leading job board and resource platform for the nonprofit sector; competes with Work in Culture's Job Board in the arts/culture vertical but with broader nonprofit scope and similar transaction-based posting model.
Regional players
- Creative BC: British Columbia's creative sector development agency delivering workforce programs, grants, and research for BC-based creative industries — analogous role to Work in Culture but serving the western Canadian market.
- Creative Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan's creative industries funding and development agency; comparable provincial-scale arts service organization with industry research and workforce programs, serving a different Canadian province.
- Creative PEI: Prince Edward Island's arts and culture development organization; analogous regional arts service organization delivering grants, training, and sector research at provincial scale.
Others
- Ontario Arts Council (OAC): Provincial arts funding agency and Work in Culture's primary operating funder; not a direct competitor but a sector partner whose grants and policy decisions materially shape WIC's programmatic direction.
Emerging players
- Hill Strategies Research: Canadian research firm specializing in arts and culture sector data, including workforce statistics and sector conditions — comparable to WIC's research function (Making It Work reports) but as an external research consultancy rather than a service organization.
Broad incumbents
- Indeed Canada: Major generalist job platform with broad employer reach across Canada; competes with Work in Culture's Job Board for cultural sector job postings at much lower or no cost to employers.
- LinkedIn: Largest professional networking platform globally with significant job board functionality; increasingly used by arts organizations and cultural employers for posting positions, putting pressure on niche job boards like WIC's.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Work in Culture social profiles
Digital presenceWork in Culture financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Work in Culture leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Work in Culture funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Work in Culture M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Work in Culture
What does Work in Culture do?
Work in Culture operates as a non-profit arts service organization delivering workforce development and career support to Ontario's arts and culture sector. The core offering is the Job Board platform connecting employers with cultural workers, processing over 1,700 jobs annually, supplemented by grant programs (CAT Fund offering up to $15,000), mentorship programs, workforce development initiatives (ArtWorksTO, Work-Integrated Learning), and sector research publications. Services are delivered directly and through 100+ partner organizations across Ontario.
Is Work in Culture a public or private company?
Work in Culture is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Work in Culture founded?
Work in Culture was founded in 1998.
Where is Work in Culture based?
Work in Culture is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Work in Culture make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Job Board Postings are the primary driver. The others are government and Foundation Grants.
Who are Work in Culture's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC), Toronto Arts Foundation and CharityVillage. Regional players are Creative BC, Creative Saskatchewan and Creative PEI. Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is listed as an others. Hill Strategies Research is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Indeed Canada and LinkedIn.
Does Work in Culture have an API?
No public API is recorded for Work in Culture.
What industry is Work in Culture in?
Work in Culture's product category is Arts Workforce Development Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAHAL, Arts & Culture Service/Support Organizations (Networks, Advocacy, Capacity Building), with a secondary code of EDAAAFAM, Workforce & Job-Seeker Services (Community-Based). Its NAICS code is 81392 and its SIC code is 8600.