Canada

Controversial Ontario Place redevelopment and mega-spa could cost taxpayers billions

A long-awaited report from Ontario’s auditor general finds that the redevelopment plan for Toronto's modernist landscape is “not fair, transparent or accountable”

Prizesnews

Anishinaabe artist Nico Williams wins Canada’s top art prize

The Montréal-based artist, known for his intricate sculptural beadwork, received the C$100,000 Sobey Art Award for 2024

How a tribute to 'victims of communism' became Canada's most controversial monument

A year after its unveiling was postponed indefinitely, concerns about Ottawa’s Memorial to the Victims of Communism remain

Sameer Farooq’s library of flatbreads at the Toronto Biennial serves as a map of the city’s diasporic communities

The artist has been researching flatbreads and tandoors, the community ovens where they are often baked, in countries around the world since 2020

Art Toronto offers moments of connection, catharsis and commerce for Canada's art world

The country’s biggest art fair, with more than 100 exhibitors, is both a centre of commercial activity and a sprawling diorama of a national aesthetic

Canada and Estonia lead the race to name 2026 Venice Biennale artists

Abbas Akhavan will represent Canada, while Merike Estna flies the flag for Estonia

Early Emily Carr watercolour acquired by Canada’s Audain Art Museum

The museum already owns a subsequent, oil-on-canvas work depicting the same subject; both versions of “War Canoes, Alert Bay” will now be displayed together

Emily Carr painting bought for $50 at barn sale could bring $148,000 at auction

The 1912 painting is believed to have been gifted by the artist to friends who later moved to the Hamptons, where a discerning dealer nabbed it decades later for a bargain

Avoiding the mistakes of the past: symbolic sculptures by Indigenous artists unveiled at site of historic Canadian battlefield

The permanent sculptures by Chief 7IDANsuu James Hart and Wendat Nation artist Ludovic Boney were unveiled in Québec City’s Cap Diamant on Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Toronto Biennial spotlights 36 artists—from international stars to emerging Canadian talents—at venues across the city

The biennial’s third edition, organised by co-curators Dominique Fontaine and Miguel A. López under the theme “Precarious Joys”, spans artist-run spaces, major museums and the airport

Alleged leader of ‘biggest art fraud in the world’ sentenced in Canada

Prosecutors described David Voss as the leader of a forgery ring that created thousands of fake works by Norval Morrisseau

Art Gallery of Ontario receives 37 works from late telecoms executive's estate

Philip B. Lind left the Toronto museum a trove of works by Stan Douglas, Jeff Wall, Ai Weiwei, William Kentridge, Laurie Simmons and others

Second lawsuit to halt development of mega-spa on Toronto Modernist landscape is dismissed

The fate of the landmarked Ontario Science Centre also hangs in the balance of the redevelopment dispute over Ontario Place

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Former Art Gallery of Ontario curator wins Canadian foundation’s curatorial award

Wanda Nanibush and the artist Curtis Santiago are the recipients of this year’s Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Awards

Alex Janvier, visionary First Nations artist based in Canada, has died, aged 89

A prolific painter helped open doors for contemporary artists at a time when Indigenous art was often confined to ethnographic museums

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Artists Christi Belcourt, Joe Average and bill bissett receive one of Canada’s highest honours

The artists—and pop star Avril Lavigne—were among 83 new appointees to the Order of Canada

Legal challenge to preserve Toronto's Ontario Place rejected as mega-spa project moves forward

In addition, it was discovered that the provincial government agreed to pay almost C$1m to make its controversial case for moving the Ontario Science Centre, which closed permanently Friday due to structural decay

The Indigenous artist brightly patching up a Toronto expressway

Nico Williams has created a series of colourful interventions along an elevated highway that cuts through the city centre

After meeting with Pope Francis, Canada’s Justin Trudeau reiterates call for return of Indigenous artefacts from Vatican Museums

Last spring Pope Francis said “this is going on, with Canada”, but since there has been little movement on repatriation

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Finalists for Canada’s top art prize, the Sobey Art Award, revealed

From an initial field of 30 nominees, a shortlist of just six artists is now competing for the prize

Wreck of the ship Ernest Shackleton died on found off the coast of Canada

The famed explorer died aboard the Quest in 1922; the ship sank in the Labrador Sea 40 years later

Alleged ringleader of Canada’s ‘biggest art fraud’ pleads guilty

David Voss reportedly led a forgery operation that created more than 1,500 fake Norval Morrisseau works over 23 years

‘Electric’ mood at Heffel’s spring sales in Toronto leads to new auction records for Mary Pratt and Takao Tanabe

Works by Jean Paul Riopelle, Emily Carr, Tom Thomson and other titans of Canadian art history contributed to the evening’s total take of C$22.6m

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Pool of artists vying for Canada’s top art prize expands with addition of new regional category

Thirty artists are nominated for the Sobey Art Award this year, with the total purse for the award growing to C$465,000

Redevelopment of Modernist complex on Toronto waterfront alarms residents and preservationists

The provincial government passed legislation to push through a controversial, publicly funded development of Ontario Place

Prizesnews

Eight artists and curators receive Canada’s Governor General’s Award

This year’s winners of the prestigious Canadian honour include the Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona and Saskatchewan-based curator Michelle Jacques

Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum reveals details of $97m renovation project

The institution's “gift to the city, the province and beyond”, OpenROM will upgrade its public space, improve accessibility and add 6,000 sq. ft of galleries

Art Gallery of Ontario under pressure to explain Indigenous art curator’s ousting

Wanda Nanibush left the institution after a letter accusing her of “hate speech” was circulated by the group Israel Museums and Arts, Canada

Canadian museum removing name of former director and Nazi supporter Ferdinand Eckhardt from its entrance hall

The longtime Winnipeg Art Gallery director's Order of the Buffalo Hunt, one of Manitoba’s highest honours, has also been posthumously rescinded

A tangled mess: Canadian forgery scandal comes into full public view

An exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery grapples with how the museum ended up with ten fake works previously attributed to J.E.H. MacDonald, a member of the famous Group of Seven