What is cultural planning?

A simple picture

A city plans its streets, its parks and its buses. It can plan culture too. And culture is not only the theatre or the museum. It is also a street party, a library, a choir, the languages we speak at home.

Planning is simple to explain: look at what is already there, listen to people, choose together what matters most, then check whether it worked.

And Matin? Matin starts by listening. At our gatherings, such as the “Café des cultures”, we will ask residents what is missing for them.

An example close to home

Montréal has a network of maisons de la culture in its neighbourhoods. You can see a show or an exhibition close to home, often for free. Why? Because the City made a choice: culture should not stay downtown.

Elsewhere in Canada, you see the same idea. Every autumn, the Journées de la culture in Québec, and Culture Days across the country, open artists’ studios, museums and concert halls for free, from Gaspé to Vancouver.

In LaSalle, the borough has adopted a Cultural Action Plan for 2026 to 2030. It wants cultural life to be diverse, accessible, unifying and innovative, everywhere in the borough.

And Matin? Matin has chosen to act in LaSalle first. A page on our site shows how our activities connect to this plan.

A common mistake

“Cultural planning means more festivals.” Not always. Sometimes all it takes is a room open in the evening, a sign in several languages or a safe walk to the library.

And Matin? Matin publishes its texts in French first, and also in English and Persian, so more people feel invited.

To remember

• Culture is like a park: it belongs to everyone, and it needs planning.
• Start by listening, not with a list of projects.
• Think of the people who never come, too.
• The City is not alone: community groups, artists, educational institutions and residents all have a say.