Federal cuts leave museums scrambling to staff summer
Flat grant funding over five years has pushed small B.C. museums to the brink as they face their busiest season without money to hire student staff.
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Small museums across B.C. are facing a staffing crisis this summer after federal funding for student positions remained flat for nearly a decade despite rising wages and inflation.
The Fog Alarm Building on Saturna Island, a heritage museum operated by volunteers, was denied its federal grant for the first time in about ten years. David Osborne, a volunteer curator, said he's unsure the museum will be able to open for visitors without a student to help manage the exhibits and tours.
"It's a fantastic place to visit," he said. "So it was a really depressing thought that after 15 years we weren't going to be able to do our thing here."
According to the BC Museums Association, more than half of its 450 member institutions are small museums run by one to two staff members plus summer students. These include heritage sites, Indigenous cultural centres, and botanical gardens. The association says federal funding for young Canada Works grants—used to hire summer students—has plateaued for five years.
"Museums are the caretakers of place and stories," said Leia Patterson, interim executive director of the BC Museums Association. "When we can't tell our stories because we can't be open for our busiest season, everybody loses."
Many small institutions serve as community cooling centres during heat waves and host community gatherings. The funding gap threatens both preservation work and essential community services.
