Cultural spaces and infrastructure fill our communities with vibrance and vision. For many communities, these facilities have been performing and playing their role for decades, meaning they are in increasingly urgent need of modernization to continue to fulfill our cultural needs in the 21st century.
At more than 100 years old, the Royal George Theatre had exceeded its life expectancy by decades, forcing the beloved facility to close in 2025. Thanks in part to a substantial investment from the federal government, the theatre will be rebuilt from the ground up.
Today, Chris Bittle, Member of Parliament for St. Catharines, announced a federal investment of up to $25 million through the Direct Delivery stream of the Build Communities Strong Fund to support reconstructing the Royal George Theatre.
The Royal George is one of three primary theatres that are home to Shaw Festival (The Shaw) and a regional anchor for tourism and the performing arts. Rebuilding this iconic facility will create 850 jobs and increase economic activity in the region by an expected $80 million annually.
Workers have already begun preparing the site. The rebuilt Royal George will be the first performing arts space in North America to be fully accessible. The facility will have improved acoustics, public viewing spaces, geothermal heating and cooling, a photovoltaic roof system, a high-performance building envelope, and it will be constructed with low-carbon materials, such as mass timber.
Programs hosted at the completed facility will benefit high school students across the region, seniors, medical practitioners, teachers, and anyone interested in developing their own creativity. Sustainable, accessible, and inclusive, the new and expanded Royal George Theatre will be a contemporary arts institution with a façade and design elements that honour the building's history and legacy.
The Royal George Theatre is owned and operated by The Shaw. As one of Canada's two largest charitable theatre companies, The Shaw attracts about 350,000 people annually to its live theatre productions. It is one of the largest employers in Niagara Region and generates nearly $300 million in economic activity every year.
The Build Communities Strong Fund is investing $51 billion in a wide range of infrastructure projects across the country that support economic prosperity, housing, sport, education, health, transit, and climate adaptation. This funding is a cornerstone of the Government of Canada's plan to invest in the infrastructure needed to build Canada strong - today and for generations to come.
