215 Best Performing Arts Venues in Canada

This international theatrical festival takes over several spaces in late May and early June: the Salle Albert-Rousseau, the Grand Théâtre de Québec, the Théâtre Périscope (near avenue Cartier), and Complexe Méduse. There are usually at least one or two productions in English or with English subtitles, and an outdoor show that takes over different parts of the downtown area.

Montréal's best-known English-language theater company stages everything from frothy musical revues to serious works and prominently features works by local playwrights. Its home is the former stock exchange building in Old Montréal.

On the campus of Bishop's University, this 600-seat theater presents a roster of jazz, classical, and rock concerts, as well as opera, dance, mime, and children's theater.

Packed with intimate screening rooms, recording facilities, exhibition spaces, and a performance space, this center promotes artist-driven film, design, and music from locals as well as international artists. Films are in English and French.

This state-of-the-art arena opened in the fall of 2015, with the hope of attracting a National Hockey League franchise. For now, the hockey is from a junior league, but there are world-class concerts and popular acts playing here regularly.

This vast arts complex on the campus of the University of British Columbia includes a 1,200-seat concert hall, a theater, and a cinema.

This artisan food and beverage fest in September features artisan island produce at its best: charcuterie boards abound with tastings paired with local ciders, microbrews, and more.

A summer theater season, spring and fall music seasons, movie screenings, community theater, and other events keep this venue hopping. Recently reopened after suffering a devastating fire in 2022, this vibrant community arts venue is a fantastic live music venue, too.

Recognized by the Québec government as a historical monument in 2001, this grand Renaissance-style movie theater, complete with ornate ceilings, decorative molding, and red-velvet seats, screens independent films, though on a somewhat irregular basis. It plays host to many cultural events, including the Montréal World Film Festival.

With more than 35,000 films in its collection, and a ticket price of just C$13, Montréal's Museum of the Moving Image is the best place in the city to catch a foreign flick in its original language (with subtitles), in addition to Quebecois and other Canadian productions. The museum also stocks scripts, television shows, and various new media, with a permanent display of vintage cinema equipment. The Cinémathèque also has a nice café-bar with a large outdoor terrace.

Edmonton’s foremost theatrical institution, The Citadel is one of the largest not-for-profit theaters in North America. It houses three stages: a cabaret-style black box theater, an auditorium/cinema, and the Tucker Amphitheatre, which allows the resident theater company to put on bold and distinctive productions year-round.

An energetic revue—featuring more than 30 bagpipers, Highland dancers, step dancers, and fiddlers—is hosted in the 290-seat theater here several nights a week, along with a few matinees, in July and August. During the same months, miniconcerts also run five times daily weekdays, and the C$7 tab can be credited toward the price of evening show tickets. Other events include piping contests and a Robbie Burns Dinner on the Scottish bard's birthday in January.

Cowboys Dance Hall includes a bar and a dance hall that plays Top 40 country, dance, and rock tunes, with live entertainment on occasion. It's open Wednesday through Saturday and holds 1,200 people.

The Vancouver East Cultural Centre is a multipurpose performance space set in a 1909 church. Usually just called "The Cultch," it hosts concerts, theater productions, dance shows, and more.

The Rebecca Cohn Auditorium at Dalhousie University's Arts Centre hosts a full program of performances, including touring national and international entertainers—recent shows have ranged from Rufus Wainwright and Mavis Staples to comedian Billy Connolly and various tribute bands—and opera and classical concerts featuring Symphony Nova Scotia.

The hub for dance in British Columbia, this striking former bank building with an Art Deco facade hosts full-scale performances by national and international artists, informal showcases, and also classes and workshops. There are often informal noon performances as part of the Discover Dance! series.

The center presents a summer-long program of concerts, dinner theater, comedy, pipe bands, Highland dancing, and ceilidhs with Gaelic music and dance. Past headliners have included acts ranging from k.d. lang to the Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

With a focus on Francophone cultural events, theater, and exhibits, this beautiful space is always worth a visit to check out the art exhibits. It's also home to several local dance companies, offers some fun craft workshops, and has a dedicated ceramics studio. Place 1604 outside is a small park where you can catch live music and events throughout the summer, and in the winter it is transformed into a skating oval with free skate rentals available. 

This music and dance academy has a 604-seat hall in Ste-Irénée, 15 km (9 miles) south of La Malbaie. Musicians from around the world, many of whom teach or study at the school, perform during its International Festival. The festival, which runs from mid-June to late August, includes Sunday brunches with music, a buffet, and a view of the St. Lawrence. Some weekend concerts are also held in the fall and spring.

For two weeks every June, students of this circus school and others take to the trapeze to promote their art form through the Circus Days festival. Throughout the year, students and teachers put on various shows, training camps, and workshops, including a Christmas Cabaret, in the former church that now houses their school.

This 1920 vaudeville theater has gone by many names over the years, including the Pantages, the Imperial and the Canon. Now named for local businessman and theater impresario Ed Mirvish, it ranks among the most architecturally and acoustically impressive live theaters in Toronto. Designers consider it one of the most beautiful theaters in the world. The building underwent a major refurbishment in 1989. World-renowned theater architect Thomas Lamb designed the space, which features a grand staircase, gold-leaf detailing, and crystal chandeliers.

This historic music venue is famous for legendary '70s concerts by the Rolling Stones and Elvis Costello, but after local celebrity investor Michael Wekerle bought it and gave it an expensive renovation, it's active again in the 2020s. Still an intimate space with two different stages, the Elmo (as it's affectionately known) is now a very shiny, neon-lit tribute to classic rock with some of the crispest sound and lighting in town. Tickets can be costly.

This is one of several venues hosting events that are part of the Just for Laughs Festival. Touring Broadway productions, concerts, musicals, and dance performances can often be seen here. Formerly known as Théâtre St-Denis, the space expanded in 2023 and rebranded as Espace St-Denis. The new complex houses the original Théâtre St-Denis, a studio-cabaret for events such as nouveau cirque performances and virtual art shows, rooftop bar Le Marie-Louise, French brasserie Le Molière, and the Trattoria del Teatro.

This is the country's largest producer of exclusively Canadian plays. Many of the company's shows are world premieres that have gone on to tour Canada and win prestigious awards.

Fantasia is Montréal's premiere genre film festival, showcasing a diverse range of films spanning horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and more. It's a platform for innovative storytelling that attracts cinephiles and creators alike to explore cutting-edge narratives and imaginative worlds.

Canada's longest-running dinner theater, established in 1979, specializes in fun, fluffy musicals, with a season spanning late June through August. Watch lively shows while chowing down on a buffet meal.

Tons of fun and completely free, the very popular five-day jazz festival in early August draws in at least 15,000 tourists and locals to Mont-Tremblant. The concerts take place under the stars on two outdoor stages and in at least 10 restaurants, bars, and hotels in the village or St-Jovite (downtown area).

People don't just flock to Mont-Tremblant for outdoor fun. This place is becoming a music lovers' paradise, especially for 10 days in July when the Blues Festival takes place with more than 130 shows. Artists such as Otis Taylor, JJ Grey & Mofro, and Thornetta Davis entertain fans on outdoor stages and in intimate clubs right in the village.

From France to Jamaica and Cabo Verde, from traditional to contemporary sounds, this eclectic two-week music and dance festival brings together over 700 artists from 30 countries, for the biggest world music gathering in the Americas. At the outdoor stages in the Quartier des Spectacles, you'll find an appealing selection of pop-up restaurants and bars, a family area, open-air workshops with master dancers and drummers, and a Timbuktu market.