Part one of a two-part series
Following the last federal election, the government changed the title of the minister responsible for the Canadian Heritage ministry. The ministry kept its name, but the minister is now the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture.
Changing the minister’s title to include the word “identity” sounds welcoming, but will it make a difference to how the country interprets its true character?
More than one quarter of people in Canada are now visible minorities and nearly one in four was born abroad.
New Canadian Media asked the federal government what the minister’s new title means in practice.
Caroline Czajkowski, spokesperson for the Department of Canadian Heritage, said the department’s legal name has not changed and the government still funds programs for Canada’s immigrant and minority communities.
“While the change applies only to the Minister’s title, the government’s commitment… continues to be reflected through initiatives that support racialized communities,” she said.
She listed Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy, the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program, Canada’s Action Plan on Combatting Hate, and a new Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion as examples of the government’s commitment to multiculturalism.
But separating heritage from identity creates a false distinction, say longtime cultural advocates.
“The removal of the word heritage itself from the equation is not a good idea, simply because heritage and identity are interwoven,” said Yasser Mahgoub, an academic, interpreter, and cultural advocate who co-founded the community-led group, the Nubian Centre in Toronto.
“I think that one of the most important and powerful things that can truly and genuinely reflect your identity is your heritage that’s deeply rooted in the soil of your even deeper thing, which is your history.”
Mahgoub said that while Canada makes notable efforts to absorb immigrant experiences, annual or sporadic cultural events are not enough.
“Encouraging and facilitating the creativity and ingenuity of different cultures, to have permanent sites to display who they truly are… under one roof on a regular basis, is paramount to foster the feeling of belonging to Canada.”
For leadership in the country’s cultural sector, the updated title better aligns with how modern institutions view their role. It also highlights how outdated Canada’s overall policy framework has become.
Lauren Wheeler, executive director of the Canadian Museums Association (CMA), views the minister’s new title as an overdue reflection of international standards, but says the words must be backed by resources.
“On that basis, the CMA views the change as bringing the ministerial title closer to the definition the museum sector in Canada and internationally has been using for years,” Wheeler said.
“While ‘heritage’ describes the preservation and care of existing collections, ‘identity and culture’ describes a broader and more accurate account of the holistic role museums perform in their communities.”
Smaller community museums — often the first places to record newcomer histories — are all under strain. According to the latest Department of Canadian Heritage survey, 54 per cent of heritage institutions report revenues of under $100,000, and 47 per cent reported a net loss in 2023, the most recent year statistics were available.
“Community co-creation requires sustained engagement over multiple years,” Wheeler said, adding that project-based funding stops when the funding ends — along with the relationships.
She said small community museums with limited budgets and short‑term federal programs struggle to preserve newcomer histories or expand programming. Their work is essential, yet they are often the first to face cuts.
Osama Elemary, the museum and heritage strategist whose Globe and Mail commentary first questioned the minister’s title change and how it would change the department’s priorities, said the gap between “heritage” and “identity and culture” is not about word choice.
“There is a Canada we see in the media, and a Canada we actually live in,” Elemary said.
The true Canada is visible at a community-centre potluck or a Saturday food bank. “These are not multicultural programs; they are just Tuesday.”
A new ministerial title is only a statement of intent; the real test is whether institutions will give up some of their authority.
Said Elemary: “…who sets the priorities, who gets the funding, who decides which history becomes part of the shared Canadian story and which stays outside it? The work is still beginning.”
National museums are trying to keep the past and also make room for who now calls Canada home.
Caroline Dromaguet, president and CEO of the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum, said the minister’s new title did not change her museum’s mandate.
“The growing focus on identity complements the traditional role of museums,” she said.
To Dromaguet, heritage preserves the past while identity questions how the past still shapes people’s communities. The challenge is balancing the old historical narratives with Canada as it is now: Immigration, reconciliation, and belonging.
Kondwani Mwase, executive director of audience engagement at the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa, sees the federal shift in focus as a natural fit for living culture.
“The evolution from Heritage to Identity and Culture aligns closely with how we view the performing arts today, as a dynamic, living reflection of who we are right now, in addition to a celebration of our past,” Mwase said.
“While the NAC operates independently at arm’s length, this broader movement reflects a vital truth.
“For newcomers and racialized communities, this perspective reinforces that cultural participation isn’t about adapting to a single heritage, but about seeing one’s own story honoured on national stages.”
While the political shift to “Identity and Culture” offers fresh framing, data from the sector suggests that newcomers visit museums at higher rates than Canadian-born residents, yet a significant representation gap remains.
A survey conducted by the Reconsidering Museums project revealed that while 93 per cent of Canadians agree that museums help them understand other cultures, only 57 per cent feel museums tell stories reflecting their own values and community.
Coming up in Part 2: Are Canada’s cultural institutions keeping pace with people they serve?
Shawgi Mustafa
Shawgi Mustafa is a Toronto-based journalist and energy analyst with over 10 years of experience covering energy markets, human rights, politics and migration. He has worked for numerous prominent media organizations across the Middle East. His work focuses on the intersection of global politics, human rights and energy economics. X: @shawgi
