If Equity is its members, then the next generation of live performance artists in Canada are not only the future of our industry — they’re the future of our Association, too.
Students & Educators
Want to learn more about Equity in a more dynamic way?
To schedule a class visit (remote or in person) with an Equity staff member or Councillor, please email communications@caea.com.
What Students Should Know
As someone looking to pursue a career in performance arts, it’s important to know who’s supporting you along your journey. Equity shapes the professional working conditions you will encounter — from minimum pay and rehearsal hours to health and safety — and addresses issues beyond an individual artist’s control, helping to create the conditions for a sustainable career.
What is Equity?
Canadian Actors’ Equity Association (Equity) is the voice of nearly 6,000 professional artists working in theatre, opera, and dance across Canada. Equity’s national membership includes performers, directors, choreographers, fight directors, intimacy directors, and stage managers.
Equity is a member-led association that empowers artists by advancing their professional, artistic, and economic interests in live performance. In pursuing our objectives, we demonstrate and advocate for fairness, inclusivity, integrity, and collectivity.
A national Council of 23 Equity members from across Canada represents different regions and artistic disciplines and serves as the Association’s leadership, determining Equity’s objectives.
What does Equity do?
Negotiates
Equity negotiates and administers collective agreements for work in dance, opera, and theatre – ensuring artists are paid fairly, and their rights are respected. Equity also establishes engagement policies that encourage the development of independent production and make it easier for members to participate in small-scale projects or produce their own work.
Protects
Equity enforces the health and safety provisions of its agreements and develops initiatives that promote respectful workplaces. Programs like Not in Our Space! address harassment and discrimination in the live performance sector and support safer, more respectful working environments.
Advocates
Equity advocates for sustainable funding in the live performance sector to help create work opportunities for members. We also lobby to ensure the needs and realities of artists working in live performance are always considered by the Canadian government.
Supports
Equity provides additional benefits to our members, such as RRSP and insurance benefits, reciprocal agreements, professional development, discounts through the Members’ Advantage Program, community events, communication, and more.
What are the joining requirements?
The pathway for joining Equity depends on the discipline — Performer, Stage Manager, Choreographer, Director, Fight Director, or Intimacy Director. In most cases, an artist is eligible to join on their first Equity contract under a negotiated scale agreement (e.g. Canadian Theatre Agreement, Independent Theatre Agreement, Ballet Agreements, or Opera Agreements).
To be eligible to join, an artist must be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or hold a visa permitting work in Canada, unless joining through a reciprocal agreement.
Educator Materials
Discussion Prompts
Understanding the industry
- What challenges do artists face in building sustainable careers in live performance?
- Which of those challenges seem based on the industry, rather than individual?
Role of professional associations
- What functions can an association like Equity serve for artists?
- How might collective standards influence working conditions across an industry?
Membership decisions
- What factors might someone consider when deciding when to join a professional association like Equity?
- How might joining Equity change the kinds of opportunities available to an artist?
Professional practice
- How might contracts and workplace standards shape a rehearsal or production process?
- In what ways can professional standards support both artists and producers?
Personal application
- Based on what you’ve learned, what information would you want before deciding whether or when to join Equity?
- What aspects of professional support matter most to you at this stage of your training?
FAQ
Many opportunities exist for emerging artists, but professional theatres, opera houses, and dance companies hire professional artists on Equity contracts.
The answer varies depending on your career path. Generally, you should join when you are ready to work exclusively under professional Equity contracts and when it makes financial sense for you.
Yes! Equity has a number of engagement policies that are designed to be more flexible — to encourage the production of small-scale, low-budget, or member-led productions.
Learn more about what each engagement policy is best suited for
Members enjoy benefits such as insurance coverage, contributions to a retirement plan, and the right to vote on Equity matters. Permittees benefit from the terms and conditions of Equity’s collective agreements, but do not receive additional advantages.
Equity Stage Managers join through an apprentice membership path. Other disciplines — performers, directors, choreographers, fight directors, and intimacy directors — have different joining requirements and don’t join Equity as apprentices.
Equity, ACTRA, and UDA share a common purpose: each negotiates agreements that set minimum pay and working conditions for artists, advocates on issues affecting their members, and is governed by its membership.
We differ, however, in our jurisdictions, membership requirements, collective agreements, benefit structures, and more.
Equity is almost entirely funded through members’ dues. Basic and working dues support the negotiating and administering of collective agreements, enforcement of workplace standards, advocacy for artists, and providing benefits and resources to members.