SERVING DANCE businesses ACROSS CANADA

---

Dance Safe Council Canada Inc. ("DSC") was incorporated as a Canadian non-profit organization in 2020 as a result of the vast under-presentation dance studio owners in Canada experienced during the pandemic. Our initial group started as Dance Safe Alberta, co-founded by Jill Williams, Shelly Rutherford, and Tara Pickford - three studio owners in Alberta with experience in government engagement and motivated to show the decision-makers in government the great significance and positive impact of dance studios in Alberta and throughout Canada. Dance Safe Alberta ("DSA") is part of Dance Safe Council Canada still.  Other provinces created their own provincial entities to help them navigate the significant challenges of that time, and we are profoundly grateful to all the owners, directors, educators, supply partners and concerned supporters who stepped up to unite our industry to make a come back. 

Now nearing 5 years post that extraordinary event, we have experienced lingering impacts on our dance studio businesses particularly: we didn't return to what once was, some of it for the better, however some of it for the worse. Our society has become more digitally connected but far less emotionally connected, and the impacts are being experienced in every aspect of our dance industry. Education organizations are creating excellent awareness and education concerned with teaching and supporting dancers well-being and skill development. Still, we have recognized a lack of practical, geographically-appropriate and financially-viable tools for privately-held dance businesses to implement in their businesses successfully.  With a concern for dance studio owners, employees, students, and this business industry at large, Dance Safe Council Canada has sharpened our focus to help dance business  owners across Canada become better equipped with the practical tools and relevant information to our country and regions to operate SAFE and SUSTAINABLE businesses that bring dancers to the studio, onto the stage, and out into the world with resilience because of the positive impact dance can provide. Our reality is it is more difficult to do now with inflationary pressures particularly in Canada, impacting homes and businesses - and we want to help to ensure dance studios can be operationally successful and provide the safest programs and workplaces in the dance industry. Dance studio sustainability is necessary for dance competitions, dance conventions, and dance suppliers to exist. We need to work together to make all of these facets of our industry safe, compliant, and concerned about how to keep people wanting to learn and experience instructor-led dance training.

As we enter 2025, our goal is to bring operational efficiencies and cost savings to dance business owners that do not compromise the safety of participants nor the livelihoods of the owners and staff who make this industry a tremendous asset to Canada - as employers, tax payers, culture ambassadors, life experience shapers, community builders, entertainment providers, and protectors of optimum health and wellness for all participants. We feel that dance artists and educators have a plethora of organizations to help them with professional development and equity advocacy. Our focus is on the dance business owners and operators who manage a different risk profile in their position. To learn more about those specifically, visit the Business Owner Accountability section here.

Under the Dance Safe Council Canada umbrella, our goal is to unite dance business owners and work with regional chapters where they exist, to create transparent, honourable, and effective networks that make us SAFE and SUSTAINABLE businesses that protect people and livelihoods in the dance industry.