TikTok Canada halts sponsorships at TIFF, Junos and other arts groups

TikTok says it's pulling out as a sponsor of several Canadian arts institutions, including the Juno Awards and the Toronto International Film Festival, as it prepares to comply with a federal order to shut down operations in Canada.

Since opening offices in Toronto and Vancouver, TikTok says it has invested millions in programs and partnerships supporting local artists and creators over the past five years.

But TikTok Canada's director of public policy and government affairs, Steve de Eyre, says Ottawa is now enforcing its order from last November to wind down operations over national security concerns, and TikTok has no choice but to suspend those initiatives indefinitely.

Another group that will be impacted is the education charity MusiCounts, which TikTok says it has provided with $500,000 to date to support high school music programs. The social media giant has been a Junos partner since 2020 and a title sponsor of the Juno fan choice award.

It's also worked with TIFF since 2022, sponsoring the festival's Short Cuts and Special Presentations programs and supporting industry panels that featured Canadian creators.

Also among the casualties is the National Screen Institute's TikTok Accelerator for Indigenous Creators that has worked with nearly 400 participants since 2021. Sarah Simpson-Yellowquill, the program's manager, calls the shutdown "sad and disheartening," saying the accelerator has been a vital source of career opportunities and mentorship for Indigenous creators.

TikTok says it is also pulling out of its partnership with ADISQ, Quebec's music industry association and organizer of the province's top music awards gala.

Eve Paré, ADISQ's executive director, calls the decision a "substantial loss" for the organization financially and says finding a new sponsor before the next gala in November will be a challenge.

"It was a big disappointment on our part, because financially, it's a sponsorship that is important to us, especially these days where cultural organizations like us are struggling," Paré said. "It's become more and more difficult to reach the young public, because traditional media are not so popular with [them]."

De Eyre says the company is still challenging the order in court and pushing the government to find a better way forward. He did not provide a time that they have to close up shop.

"We should be present, we should be investing in cultural organizations, we should have people who are accountable to Parliament, to regulators, to law enforcement. If there are concerns about security, let's address them," De Eyre said.

He says that while the TikTok app will remain available, closing its Canadian offices will mean hundreds of jobs lost and less support for homegrown creators.

"It breaks my heart that we're being forced to cancel [these programs]," he said, noting that due to the order being enforced, they cannot commit to renewing their partnerships.

WATCH | Explaining TikTok's legal challenge of the shutdown:

TikTok is challenging Ottawa’s order to close its Canadian offices over national security concerns. We explain what this means for the future of the platform and how a legal challenge works.

De Eyre says TikTok has proposed solutions to address security concerns, increase transparency and maintain investment and jobs in Canada, but that there's been little government engagement.

"We're hopeful we can still avoid [a shutdown], but as it stands, there are starting to be real consequences."

The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada did not immediately provide comment Monday. Last year, the government said it had ordered the wind up of Canadian business carried by TikTok after "a multi-step national security process," but said it would not block the app's use in Canada.

U.S. officials had also raised security concerns about TikTok, with a 2024 law — passed with bipartisan support — requiring TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets by mid-January or face a ban.

Although the app briefly went dark at the beginning of the year, it resumed days later once U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

A subsequent deal proposed to spin off TikTok's American operations into a new U.S.-based firm, majority-owned and operated by U.S. investors. However, the plan stalled after Trump introduced steep tariffs on Chinese goods.

Last month, Trump once again extended a deadline for ByteDance to divest, with Sept. 17 set as the new date. Late Friday, he told reporters he expected to begin talks with China this week about a potential deal.