September 2025 – In its earliest years, through the 60s and 70s, the League’s small membership was filled with energy and inspiration in a social climate that welcomed arts innovation – they pioneered new kinds of poetry and arts programming, received funding for it, and took it on the road. This formed the basis of what the League would continue to grow around: an organization that keeps poetry moving, keeps poets on the arts scene, and keeps culture alive.

The changes the League made to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic meant the organization was able to survive, where many others weren’t: our dedicated membership, our committed Board, and poetry lovers across Canada kept this pocket of Canadian arts alive throughout an impossible time. And now, embarking on a new normal, we often find ourselves at odds, each of us trying to find footing in a hostile, unfamiliar place.

The past decade has been rife with grief: tragedy after tragedy in the world, far away and close to home, have destabilized nearly everything that we all used to rely on. And our members have grieved some parts of the League: the loss of in-person gatherings, a change from feeling like one of a kind to one of 1,000, and updates and changes to how programs and services are accessed and delivered. Our community has grieved the loss of incredible poets, with full careers and with careers cut too short, too early. We have grieved, and we have sought solace, and we have sought company – and when our members have sought the company of each other, it often looked so different from its past as to be unrecognizable.

No organization can be all things to all people, but we do want the League to feel like home for our poets, and it’s with some sadness that we come to you today with an update on the member motion for an in-person conference. After carefully evaluating the operational and financial impact, the Board has determined it is not feasible to commit to going ahead with a conference in 2027.

Here’s why

At a time when festivals, arts organizations, and writers are grappling with widespread loss of public funding, the League is the grateful recipient of operating funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council, for which we have already been approved. These funds must be used as outlined in our applications and reported on each year. Funders are entitled to withdraw their support if they do not feel a grant recipient has used their grant in accordance with their original application. Funders may also deny future applications that do not serve our members, poetry, and the wider public in a way that aligns with their own strategic priorities.

The Board’s legal responsibility is to ensure the continued survival of the League.

The long-term survival of the League is paramount to the continued presence and support of poets and poetry in the Canadian literary landscape. After intensive investigation, the Board has determined that to reallocate more than $50,000 of the organization’s programming budget would put our future at risk. A detailed breakdown of costs can be found in the 2025 AGM Member Package.

Supporting poets and their work is the League’s priority.

Although the League currently supports more than 300 poets annually with honoraria and travel payments, the demand for funding is already more than double what the current budget can support. Reallocating any amount of money for an in-person conference would force the League to cut this already limited funding. This hurts not just the overall reach and impact of our programs, but the individual careers of poets across Canada.

From now through to December 2026, the League has a small team with just one full-time staff member, with no budget to increase staffing. The volunteer Board members work to guide the organization in the best interests of the membership, while giving up their own access to member benefits. Over the past ten years, League programming for poets has doubled and diversified: the League funds more poets, publishes more poetry, and supports more events than ever before--all without increasing administrative expenses or staff resources.

Planning for the future

Although a 2027 conference is not feasible for the League, the Board has a goal of increased in-person programming, and will continue to evaluate the potential of organizing and hosting an in-person poetry conference with the following conditions: the conference must not operate at a financial lost, and must serve a minimum of 15% of the membership. The organization is committed to completing the essential work outlined in the 2024-2027 strategic plan.

Engaging you, our membership

Our 2025 AGM brought to light many questions of transparency at the League, and our Board will work closely with the Executive Staff to develop public policies and new procedures to increase transparency and create more efficient mechanisms for member input. First and foremost, we will be addressing the way that members can bring programming questions and concerns to the attention of the Board of Directors, and how and when the wider membership should be consulted and polled.