The history of ACTRA is the story of Canada’s broadcast industry, from the early 1940s, when CBC Radio dramas such as Jake and the Kid represented the sum total of Canadian drama, to the 1,000-channel universe of the present.

There have been many different incarnations of the performers union, as the Canadian industry has gone from being a world leader of early television production in the 1950s to its current position, in which domestic film and television struggle to attract Canadian audiences saturated by American programming.

In the late 1930s and early ’40s, Canadian performers struggled to make even a modest living. In 1939, a radio drama performer was lucky to make $15 a show, or be paid $6.50 for more than two days’ work on a commercial spot that could be on air for as long as four years.

1941: Toronto-based artists form the Radio Artists of Toronto Society. Contemporary attitudes toward unions force the RATS to meet secretly at first, but they manage to improve fees and working conditions.

1943: Artists groups from Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg come together to form the Association of Canadian Radio Artists. ACRA votes to increase collective bargaining power by joining with the American Federation of Labor.

1952: CBC Television launches in Toronto and Montreal. ACRA withdraws from the AFL and joins forces with its francophone organization the Union des Artistes, forming the Canadian Council of Authors and Artists.

1959: Producers strike against CBC/Radio-Canada in Quebec, causing a rift between francophone CCAA members, who sided with the producers, and anglophone members, who did not. Francophone associations, including the UDA, Societe des Auteurs and Societe des Artistes, withdraw from the CCAA.

1961: The CCAA restructures its constitution after a national/local division caused by the Toronto chapter’s refusal to ratify the TV Commercial Schedule. The organization emerges as the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists.

1965: Montreal series The World of Nature is replaced by NBC’s Wild Kingdom, representing the first of a series of moves that would eventually lead to foreign programs eclipsing indigenous content on Canadian airwaves. Use of American stars in Canadian programming increases.

1968: Pierre Elliot Trudeau is elected prime minister and increases funding for the arts. Trudeau proves to be more sympathetic to ACTRA’s cultural sovereignty mandates and introduces the Canadian Broadcasting Act, leading to the first CRTC Canadian-content rules.

1975: ACTRA protests CBC’s decision to cast an American in the lead role for its production on the life of Canadian writer and political activist Nellie McClung. Anger over use of non-Canadian performers, especially by the CBC, results in the introduction of a work permit system subject to ACTRA approval.

1977: Confrontation with the CBC over use of foreign talent continues when the public broadcaster pushes for foreign talent in its variety/musical production The Goldrush Follies. ACTRA members walk off the set and, with support from sister unions, bring production to a halt. Collective agreements with the CBC are amended to increase ACTRA influence in the use of non-Canadian talent.

1983: ACTRA members vote to restructure, changing the association into an alliance of three autonomous guilds: ACTRA Writers Guild, ACTRA Guild of Broadcast Journalists and Researchers and ACTRA Performers Guild.

1988: Tensions between the ACTRA alliance and the CBC grow when the public broadcaster forces Dale Goldhawk, ACTRA president and journalist on CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup, to resign his position with the union, citing a conflict of interest regarding his journalistic objectivity. ACTRA takes the matter to the courts, and seven years later the Supreme Court rules in its favor.

1990: A group of B.C. performers separate from ACTRA, forming the Union of BC Performers.

1991: ACTRA’s constitution is altered to empower local branches to respond to diverse regional needs. Writers, meanwhile, pursue autonomy from ACTRA and establish the Writers Guild of Canada as a separate organization.

1992: Artists receive cultural exemption from the Free Trade Agreement, as the federal Status of the Artist Act passes.

1994: Tension between ACTRA and UBCP grows as the West Coast union affiliates itself with Teamsters Canada.

1995: Reorganization of bargaining units at the CBC leads to the Canadian Media Guild taking over representation of ACTRA Media Guild members.

1996: The Kelleher Agreement is adopted by UBCP, leading it to drop affiliation with the Teamsters and become UBCP/ACTRA.

2002: ACTRA launches its Campaign for Canadian Programming after its first policy conference.

2003: ACTRA celebrates its 60th birthday with 21,000 members across the country with various special awards ceremonies.