Creative Arts Savings & Credit Union

Creative Arts Savings & Credit Union is a cooperatively run banking institution chartered in 2008 for the benefit of members of organizations serving the entertainment industry. Creative Arts Savings & Credit Union is not part of ACTRA, NABET, IATSE or any of our members’ organizations.  It is an entirely separate entity, incorporated under the laws of Ontario, and operating at arm’s length. Unlike the big banks, your credit union cares about and serves only one group — our group — the creative community. When you save here, your money benefits only yourself and other credit union members.  If you are granted a loan, the money comes from the credit union, not the ACTRA treasury or any of our other constituency organizations. At Creative Arts, identifying yourself as a professional working in the entertainment industry is the beginning of a financial conversation, not the end. Bank with us and build our community.

ACTRA National

ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) is the national union of professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada. ACTRA represents the interests of 22,000 members across Canada – the foundation of Canada’s highly acclaimed professional performing community.

ACTRA Toronto members, along with all ACTRA performers, are part of the biggest, full-service cultural union in Canada. We have negotiated some of the strongest collective agreements for performers in the world and we stand together to make sure engagers deliver the pay and protections that we’ve been promised.

ACTRA Performers’ Rights Society

ACTRA Performers’ Rights Society is the arm of ACTRA that collects and disburses Use Fees, royalties, residuals and all other forms of compensation or remuneration that performers may be entitled to as a result of their work.

ACTRA PRS makes sure you get the money you’re owed not only when you work but also when the production is distributed – no matter where and how the production is seen. Since we were incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1983, ACTRA PRS has paid out millions of dollars in Use Fees. In 2009 alone, ACTRA PRS distributed almost 38,000 cheques to performers totalling $5.4 million. Over the past 10 years, ACTRA PRS has mailed out 295,000 cheques putting $50 million directly in performers’ pockets.

Actra Fraternal Benefit Society

Actra Fraternal Benefit Society (AFBS) is a not-for-profit, Member-owned, federally incorporated insurance company operating for over 35 years. Members of AFBS are primarily members of ACTRA and the Writers Guild of Canada.

AFBS provides services to Members through three distinct business segments, Insurance Operations, Fraternal Operations, and Retirement Operations. Each business is distinctly funded and benefits provided to Members are integrated into the Society’s operation. AFBS provides insurance, health care, life and Fraternal Benefits as well as retirement plan programs to Members pursuant to collective bargaining agreements negotiated between the Unions (ACTRA or the Writers Guild of Canada) and Engagers.

The AFC

The AFC is the lifeline for Canada’s entertainment industry. Through compassionate and confidential support, we help Canadian entertainment professionals maintain their health, dignity and ability to work. The AFC is an expression of the community’s good will, helping entertainment professionals when they are at their most vulnerable due to injury, illness or other personal hardship. The AFC distributes over $500,000 each year in emergency financial aid to help entertainment professionals working in all aspects of film & TV, music, theatre and dance. In a sector in which employment can be unpredictable, it’s good to know that a caring community has your back.

A career in the entertainment industry seems like a dream come true for many people. The all too frequent reality is that entertainment professionals face a precarious livelihood after years spent perfecting and practicing their crafts. The Fund believes that the risks that Canadian artists take as they create some of the finest live and recorded productions in the world should be recognized, valued and supported by all Canadians.

First Weekend Club

Did you know that English Canadian films only accounts for 3.4% of the total national box office (83% goes to US films and 8% to other foreign films)? Canadian cinema faces a huge challenge due to competition from across the border, where marketing budgets of Hollywood films generally rival the entire production budgets of their Canadian counterparts! While film is art, it’s also a business and the bottom line counts. Theatre owners will extend a film’s release only if the first weekend box office is strong. Enter First Weekend Club, a national, non-profit organization that was created to help more people discover great Canadian films. Join us and find out how you can make a difference.

PAL Toronto

“In a business where insecurity follows like a shadow throughout your career, old age promises nothing more than poverty line living at best. PAL Toronto was an idea whose time had come.”

– Roy Wordsworth, PAL Founding President

PAL’s mandate is to provide assistance to older, disabled or needy members and associates of Canada’s Performing Arts Community, in the areas of health, well-being and affordable accommodation. In 1993, the PAL ideal became a reality with the opening of the first lodge in Toronto at 110 The Esplanade. Today PAL Place is filled to capacity with a vibrant population of artists of all ages, and from every discipline of the performing arts.