21 Best Performing Arts Venues in Canada

Showcasing the work of regional and international artists, the nonprofit Le Centre d’Exposition de Val-David is the largest art gallery and exhibition hall in the area. Admission is free.

A main theater with just under 1,000 seats is the focal point of this center, which also houses the St. John's Public Library. It is the site of musical and theatrical events from September through June.

Moncton's C$100-million-plus downtown events center is home to the Wildcats ice hockey team, and a variety of events, including concerts and comedy shows, are held in the 8,800-seat arena. The box office is open 9--6 weekdays year-round and additionally from 10 to noon Saturday from September through April. Tickets also may be purchased via Ticketmaster.ca.

Most of the cultural activities in the Canadian Rockies take place in and around Banff, and these 16 buildings spread across 43 acres are the hub of that activity. The center presents pop and classical music, theater, and dance throughout the year. The season peaks in summer with concerts, performances, films, and other events, many in an outdoor amphitheater. The Walter Phillips Gallery showcases contemporary artworks by Canadian and international artists.

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.

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 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 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.

Québec City's main theater has two stages for symphonic concerts, opera, plays, and touring companies of all sorts. The Grand Théâtre also presents a dance series with Canadian and international companies. Inside, a three-wall mural by the Québec sculptor Jordi Bonet depicts death, life, and liberty. Bonet wrote "La Liberté" on one wall to bring attention to the Quebecois struggle for freedom and cultural distinction.

More than just a port for the many cruise ships that dock here each year, the pavilion is a popular entertainment venue, too. Its main stage and lighthouse stage host many musical acts, especially during events like Sydney's nine-day Sydney Harbour Front Festival in August and the 10-day Celtic Colours International Festival in October. Even if you're not arriving by ship, the pavilion is easy enough to find: just look for the 60-foot fiddle that towers outside it.

Le Diamant is a multidisciplinary space that welcomes the world's most prestigious contemporary creations to its strikingly modern stage in the heart of Old Québec. It is also the home of EX MACHINA, the production company of Robert Lepage, director and author known worldwide for his large-scale projects (including the Image Mill, the largest architectural projection ever created). At Le Diamant, dance, theater, and opera productions are enhanced by new technologies, continuously pushing the limits of the imagination.

Known locally simply as The Hall, this historic building was constructed in the 1920s and served as the headquarters of the Longshoremen's Protective Union. In recent decades, it has been established as an innovative theater housing the Resource Centre for the Arts Theatre Company (RCAT). It showcases professional main-stage and experimental second-space productions year-round. This theater and RCAT have been the launching pad for the province's most successful theatrical exports.

Formerly the Sony Centre, this iconic 3,172-seat hall was deemed a heritage building by the City of Toronto in 2008 and boasts an international program of diverse yet mostly mainstream artists. Paul Simon, the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and RuPaul's Drag Race Werq the World Tour are among those who have graced the hall’s stage.

Occasional classical musical events include a Summer Classics Series and an Early Music Festival in May. The center also houses several art galleries and runs arts and crafts workshops for all ages.

This venue stages a diverse repertoire, primarily showcasing some of the biggest French-speaking acts in the province, though occasional English-speaking productions also grace its stage.

Concerts, plays, and musicals are presented at this arts center that is also one of the many venues for the annual Celtic Colours Festival.

Inaugurated in 1929, this gorgeous Art Deco theater rapidly became a local favorite and had its heyday in the '70s before it fell into disarray. After reopening its doors in the early '90s, the theater has regained much of its steam with mostly theater and live music acts, but also film screenings, comedy, and circus performances.

This center has been presenting theater, music, dance, opera, film, and forums on public issues since 1970. The two main halls are the luxuriously appointed Bluma Appel Theatre and the Jane Mallett Theatre, both venues for recitals and performances by companies like the Canadian Stage Company, the Toronto Operetta, and Music Toronto (chamber music).