The Listening Room Series at Hudson Creative Hub
The 2025-2026 Listening Room Series was developed to support high-quality live music programming at the Hudson Creative Hub, while building…
On February 5, more than 90 people from across Vaudreuil-Soulanges gathered at the Pavillon Wilson in Coteau-du-Lac, QC for the 2026 Forum culturel régional — a full day dedicated to shaping the future of arts and culture in a territory experiencing rapid growth.
Participants came from municipal government, the cultural sector, community organizations, recreation, social development, and land-use planning. The goal was clear: to co-construct a shared regional vision as part of the ongoing revision of the cultural policy of the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
The forum was co-hosted by the Conseil des arts et de la culture de Vaudreuil-Soulanges (CACVS) and the MRC, and built on:
The revised policy and its action plan are expected to be launched in autumn 2026.
One observation shared by the facilitator during the forum surprised many participants: Vaudreuil-Soulanges is the only MRC in Quebec with a dedicated arts and culture council that is formally embedded in the governance and implementation of its MRC’s cultural policy.
Across Quebec, most regional culture bodies operate at the level of broader administrative regions and serve multiple MRCs. The CACVS model — a council closely tied to a single MRC and mandated to work hand-in-hand with it — is unusual.
This makes Vaudreuil-Soulanges structurally distinctive.
And yet, there is a paradox worth naming.
Despite having a comparable number of professional artists and arts organizations to the provincial average, municipal and provincial contributions to arts and culture in Vaudreuil-Soulanges remain among the lowest in Quebec.
That gap isn’t about ambition or talent. It’s about whether our systems have kept pace with the reality on the ground.
Even those statistics likely under-represent what’s actually happening in the region.
Alongside full-time professional artists, Vaudreuil-Soulanges is home to many people who:
Similarly, beyond established cultural organizations, there is a proliferation of informal and community-based groups creating opportunities for participation, expression, and connection.
This activity doesn’t always show up neatly in funding formulas — but it is very real, and it plays a central role in community life.
One of the most encouraging aspects of the forum was how practical and implementable many of the ideas were. Rather than focusing solely on new programs, participants talked about shared infrastructure, mutualisation, and access.
Here are a few ideas that struck me as especially promising – and that other semi-rural regions with lively small-town arts & culture scenes might want to borrow.
Shared access to municipal spaces – Allowing CACVS-affiliated artists and organizations to access municipal halls and in-kind resources across the region at (discounted) residents’ rates would immediately improve access to spaces for creation and performance.
A regional volunteer repertoire – A shared pool of volunteers interested in supporting arts and culture initiatives would reduce burnout and make it easier for small and emerging projects to operate.
A regional equipment lending library – Pooling sound, lighting, staging, and technical equipment among municipalities and participating organizations would lower costs while improving production quality.
More hands-on cultural experiences for residents – Expanding opportunities for people to actively participate in making art — not just attending events — so more residents can discover the artist within.
A Maison de la culture for Vaudreuil-Soulanges – A dedicated cultural hub that reflects the scale and diversity of the region and signals a long-term civic commitment to arts and culture.
Bringing art into everyday and rural spaces – Creating more opportunities for visual and performing arts to appear in public and non-traditional spaces, especially in areas with few established venues.
A “Navette de culture” and ridesharing options – Addressing transportation barriers through shuttles or organized co-voiturage, making it easier for people without cars to attend cultural events in regions like ours that lack public transportation infrastructure.
Another point raised during the forum was that the rate of cultural consumption in Vaudreuil-Soulanges — measured through ticket purchases, book sales, and museum attendance — is lower than the provincial average.
The facilitator suggested that proximity to Montréal may be part of the explanation.
Montréal is a powerful cultural magnet. It attracts audiences, talent, and a disproportionate share of public investment. In 2021–2022, 74% of Quebec’s direct government spending on culture went to Montréal and the Capitale-Nationale, with per-capita spending in those regions exceeding $400. In contrast, direct spending in other regions ranged from roughly $40 to $180 per person (spending in Vaudreuil-Soulanges was at the bottom of this scale).
As a region located just outside the metropolitan core, Vaudreuil-Soulanges sits in a complicated position. Residents have access to world-class cultural offerings nearby — but that proximity can also:
Lower local consumption doesn’t necessarily signal a lack of interest in culture. It may instead point to structural dynamics — where cultural participation happens, how it’s supported, and how accessible it is close to home.
This makes the case for local cultural infrastructure even stronger: spaces, programming, transportation solutions, and shared resources that make it easier for residents to participate where they live, not only where the funding is concentrated.
Arts and culture are not a luxury. They contribute directly to:
Vaudreuil-Soulanges already has the people, the energy, and the ideas. The work ahead — through the revised cultural policy and its action plan — is about aligning governance, resources, and shared infrastructure with that reality.
The next phase of cultural development in the region won’t be about inventing something new — it will be about supporting what’s already alive.
