News Article

A coalition of Canadian music community groups has joined in solidarity and is working towards environments free of harassment, discrimination, violence, and bullying for the music community.

Today the coalition announced that 42 music groups have formally signed on to the Canadian Creative Industries Code of Conduct. By signing on to the Code, the organizations are acknowledging their responsibility to build safe, respectful workplaces, and are committing to improving and implementing policies to keep the music community safe.

As a first step, members of the coalition have formed an Education, Training and Safe Support Committee, which is working to provide each member of the Canadian music community with the appropriate resources and training to identify, confront and prevent harassment, bullying and violence in any workplace. Unison Benevolent Fund has volunteered to host a suite of educational and training resources through its website at no cost. These resources will be made available to the music community at a later date.

Today’s announcement was made at Allies in Action, an event focused on initiatives undertaken or underway to create safer spaces as the Canadian music community gathers in London, Ontario for the 2019 JUNO Awards.

Because of the uniqueness of the music business and the spaces in which musicians and music workers often operate, the coalition has added the following music-specific preamble to the existing Canadian Creative Industries Code of Conduct:

“We, the Canadian music community signatories, support the Canadian Creative Industries Code of Conduct. We recognize that in the music industry, the terms work, workplace and work-related, are extremely broad and can include any physical or virtual spaces at any time.”

You can read the full Canadian Creative Industries Code of Conduct at http://www.readthecode.ca/

Additional organizations that would like to sign on to the Code can Register Online. Once the form has been completed, new signatories should email a high-resolution company logo to [email protected] with your organization’s name and “Becoming Code signatory” in the subject line.

Supporting quotes

“The Canadian Creative Industries Code of Conduct addresses the distinct circumstances of music professionals, and the unique ways in which we work. Unison exists as a resource for the Canadian music community during times of crisis, and we look forward to investing in more proactive solutions that prioritize the safety of music workers. On behalf of the Unison Board of Directors, we would like to extend our most sincere thanks to the Education, Training, and Safe Support Committee for putting such a vital program together. We’re proud to partner with them to further serve the Canadian music community.”

– Amanda Power, Executive Director, Unison Benevolent Fund

“As organizations, CARAS and Music Canada deeply value respect, inclusiveness and excellence. Both organizations believe everyone working in this beautiful and complex music community deserves to feel safe and supported. To achieve this, we’re working on national initiatives like the Allies in Action event, as well as local CARAS partnerships in our host cities with groups like Anova in London and Good Night Out in Vancouver to make JUNO Awards events safe for everyone.

Signing the Code is a way for Canadian music community groups to affirm our dedication to our shared values, and to reinforce those values with action. Through the work of the Education, Training and Safe Support Committee, I’m very pleased that we will be able to offer all members of the Canadian music community the resources to help make all of our workplaces safer.”

– Jackie Dean, Chief Operating Officer, CARAS, The JUNO Awards, MusiCounts

Chief Financial Officer, Music Canada

“Canadian Federation of Musicians (CFM), as the union for professional musicians, is committed to representing and protecting its membership in all facets of their career. Signing the Canadian Creative Industries Code of Conduct represents the music community’s shared action towards creating a healthy culture with zero tolerance to all forms of harassment. Working to ensure health and safety in the workplace for our membership is one of the union’s many functions. We will continue to pledge our resources, support and expertise and proudly sign on behalf of our over 17,000 active Canadian members.”

– Liana White, Executive Director, Canadian Federation of Musicians