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National policy survey seeking voices from Alberta's creative entrepreneurs
DATE :
DEADLINE: August 31, 2026 - 9:59 pm
A national policy submission being prepared for the federal government is seeking direct input from Alberta's creative entrepreneurs before the response window closes on August 31, 2026.
The submission proposes a Canadian Creative Enterprise Act — federal legislation that would create a purpose-built corporate structure for creative and IP-driven enterprises. Modelled on Colorado's Artist Company Act, signed into law June 3, 2026, the proposed Creative Enterprise Corporation would give creative founders statutory intellectual property protection, ensure creator-majority voting control, separate economic and governance rights, and provide standardized, affordable formation templates. A companion reform would attach conditions to federal entrepreneurship-support funding to ensure that BDC, Regional Development Agencies, and federally-funded incubators are equipped to serve creative-sector founders. The reform is designed to be fiscally neutral — no new program envelopes, no new spending.
The submission is being developed independently by Tamara Jensen, an entrepreneur, visual artist, and entrepreneurship educator based in the Niagara Region of Ontario, in engagement with multi-partisan representatives for the Budget 2026 pre-budget consultation cycle. Data collected through the survey directly informs the submission's evidence base.
Preliminary findings across a 50-respondent sample suggest a significant structural pattern.
74% of Canadian creative entrepreneurs surveyed operate outside the incorporated economy — either informally or as sole proprietors.
66% cite irregular income as a barrier to incorporation, and 64% cite legal setup costs.
77% say a lack of formal business knowledge is a major barrier to the growth of creative enterprises.
70% said they would likely or very likely incorporate under a purpose-built corporate structure that protected their intellectual property by law.
The current respondent distribution is heavily concentrated in Ontario, with limited representation from Alberta and other western provinces. Alberta creative entrepreneurs' participation would meaningfully strengthen the national case being made — and would give AFA-recipient artists and the broader Alberta creative sector a direct voice in a federal policy conversation likely to shape creative business infrastructure for the next decade.
The reform speaks directly to the kind of economic contribution AFA's funding programs support. According to the AFA's own recent economic impact analysis, Alberta arts organizations funded by the AFA generated an estimated $2.4 billion in total economic output between 2018 and 2023. The Creative Enterprise Corporation is a legal-structural amplifier of exactly that contribution — giving Alberta's independent artists, designers, musicians, writers, filmmakers, and craft entrepreneurs a corporate form that fits how they actually work, and that lets those already at the threshold of hiring or scaling grow into firms with employees.
The anonymous survey takes approximately five minutes to complete. Responses will be reported in aggregate. Individual responses will not be shared or attributed without explicit permission. Selected responses may be quoted anonymously in policy materials, with consent implied by survey completion.
Take the survey: https://forms.gle/LRbD5zeT3vngD9UF9
Deadline: Monday, August 31, 2026, 11:59 pm EST
Contact for questions: Tamara Jensen, hello@tamarajensen.com