History

ELAN was conceived in November 2004 at the Quebec Arts Summit in Montreal. More than 200 artists, government officials, and other representatives of the English-speaking arts milieu came together for the first time to discuss supporting artists and cultural workers in Quebec’s official language minority community (OLMC).

In the preceding three decades, hundreds of thousands of English-speaking Quebecers had left the province. Around the new millennium, a new spirit of optimism began to emerge. English-speaking artists wanted to break down old stereotypes, identify common ground, and consolidate links with French-language communities. The challenge was to build a sustainable community and create conditions that would empower English-speaking artists to stay and thrive in Quebec.

Guy Rogers speaking at a Conference

ELAN
History
Series

2009-2019

2004

“A new spirit of optimism began to emerge…”

Participants at the Quebec Arts Summit concluded that an English Language Arts Network could help meet this challenge. With the support of sister organizations the Quebec Drama Federation (QDF), the Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF), and the Association of English-Language Publishers of Quebec (AELAQ), the wheels were set in motion.

ELAN was incorporated in April 2005 with initial funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Department of Canadian Heritage (PCH) through the Interdepartmental Partnership with the Official Language Communities (IPOLC) program.

Since 2005, ELAN has built a repertoire of activities to support and celebrate Quebec’s English-speaking artists of all disciplines, regions, and backgrounds. Through networking events,  ELANews (monthly email newsletter), needs assessment surveys, and major projects like the Arts Alive! Québec community festival series, ELAN has worked to bring Quebec artists closer together and spread their work far and wide.

Over the years, ELAN has made exciting progress by:

Provincial Advocacy

ELAN regularly presents briefs during cultural policy discussions, and is often called to meet with government and community leaders on issues that matter to artists, like market access, community broadcasting, and cultural diversity.

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Building Community

with Culture Montréal, Diversité Artistique Montréal, MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels), and other French-speaking organizations.

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Celebrating Artists

We connect artistic communities across the province, from our Arts Alive! Québec festivals, to the Market Access program for visual and performing arts, to partnerships with Fringe, the CBC, and so much more!

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Discover where ELAN started!

What does the future hold?

15 Years of ELAN: History Series

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ELAN 2019 Highlights

We've reached the end of another decade! 2019 was a busy year for ELAN, and we hope you're excited for what's still to come. We'd like to thank all of our members, funders, and partners for making this year a success. We wouldn't be here without…
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ELAN 15: 2008

ELAN's 5th AGM. What do official language minority-language artists need in Quebec? In ELAN’s foundational years, this essential question guided our efforts to better understand and serve our members (and potential members), and shape…
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Press Release: 15 Years of ELAN

On Monday, August 26, ELAN (English Language Arts Network) will be celebrating 15 years of serving the English-speaking arts community of Québec! “ELAN is an organization for artists, by artists, and as a result, our projects and advocacy…
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ELAN 15: 2007

ELAN celebrated its third year with more firsts! While this stage was still early on in ELAN’s development, our strategic focus turned to questions about the diversity and vitality of our membership. We wanted to know how we could be more…
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ELAN 15: 2006

  In 2006, ELAN’s second year in existence was one of significant growth and strategic partnerships. Our emerging place on the web began with the creation of our first website with funding from Canadian Content Online. This way,…
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ELAN 15: 2004-2005

This year, we’re celebrating ELAN’s 15th Anniversary, which we’re marking at our Annual General Meeting on August 26, 2019! In this series, we’ll be sharing a bit of our history, and featuring some of our long-standing collaborators,…
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ELAN15: Call for Performers

ELAN is marking its 15th Anniversary this year, and what better way to do it than by celebrating the work of our members! We're looking for Performing Artists to take the spotlight during our 15th Anniversary celebrations! We welcome…
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ELAN15 Booklet: Call for Submissions

This year, ELAN is marking its 15th anniversary, and what better way to do it than by celebrating the work of our members! We are printing a collectors’ edition booklet on ELAN’s history, and we want to feature a few pages of our members’…
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Land Acknowledgement

ELAN is an official minority language organization within a country that recognizes two languages as official. ELAN is located in Tiohtià:ke, the original name for Montreal in Kanien’kéha, the language of the Mohawk—also known as Mooniyang, which is the Anishinaabeg name given to the city by the Algonquin. While we are based in this city, our projects have also taken place in many regions across Quebec.

We acknowledge the colonial origin of English and French in Canada, and recognize that both languages benefit from official status throughout the land. The province that we know as Quebec is an amalgamation of the traditional territories of the Innu and Inuit nations, Algonquian nations, as well as the Mohawk nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Kanien’kéha and Anishinaabemowin are but two of the original languages of this province; Atikamekw, Cree, Inuktitut, and Innu-aimun are also among the many Indigenous languages spoken across Quebec as majority languages, all well before French and English.

ELAN acknowledges the important work being done by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to revive the traditional languages of these territories, and their advocacy for the official status of Indigenous languages.

ELAN logo with orange graphic and white letters

460 Sainte-Catherine West
Suites 706 & 708
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3B 1A7

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