I would first like to reiterate, in relation to your previous question, that we are still waiting for the money that was announced in the budget almost a year ago. This is fundamental. You can make all sorts of announcements, but if at the end of the day, the money has not been paid out, it is not very effective. That's my first point.
In terms of normality in the sector, as I said earlier, we need to make the investments that were made in 2019 permanent; at the moment they have been extended piecemeal until 2024. These investments are in response to greater client demand at Canadian Heritage and they end a 10‑year freeze. We do not understand why these investments have not been made permanent and integrated into the budget base of the two programs in question. This is an investment of $8 million in the Canada Arts Presentation Fund and $7 million in the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage program. This is fundamental.
As I was saying, at this point, these 2019 investments are not even doing what they should be doing, which is addressing the problem that exists. We also believe that $30 million in new money needs to be invested, $15 million into the Canada Arts Presentation Fund and $15 million into the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage program. This will finally stop the decline in grants.
The problem right now is that festivals are receiving less now than they were before the federal government invested new funds in 2019. It is incomprehensible that these investment increases of 25% to 40% do not translate into an increase in grants. The reason for this is that there are more and more clients. In the Building Communities through Arts and Heritage program, the funds are simply distributed according to the requests and the amount of money available. This can actually lead to a decrease in grants.
Finally, as I said earlier, I think it is important to create a complementary program that will support festivals and events that are not supported by Canadian Heritage. I'm talking about this whole category which also includes agricultural fairs and these types of events that are not supported by Canadian Heritage, because they are not considered to be cultural events.