Anne-Marie Canning leveraged a degree in fine art history with a passion for the arts and Canadian cultural promotion in the broadest sense of the word to have a career in cultural marketing.
Anne-Marie was an early supporter of the Canadian experiment known as Harbourfront in Toronto. Founded by the Canadian federal government, in partnership with the province of Ontario and the City of Toronto, its goal was to revitalize a then 100-acre derelict, industrial waterfront wasteland into a dynamic, go-to destination. Through public and private participation, the revitalization gave birth to a unique residential and commercial space home to cultural arts experiences on a year-round basis.
Canning took that experience and those lessons of cultural enterprise to heart becoming a culturalpreneur part promoter, part advisor and significant financial supporter of many Canadian institutions such as the National Ballet of Canada, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the Musical Stage Company whose purpose is fostering the creation and growth of Canadian musical theatre talent. Most recently, Canning became a patron to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and a member of its Advisory Council working on the centenary of the Group of Seven, the unveiling of Canadian women artists of the 20th century who were peers of the Group and supporting a first for the Collection; a global exhibition.
Ms. Canning is a gender empowerment philanthropist giving significant support to the advancement of women through the Canadian Women’s Foundation, the TIFF Share Her Journey Fund helping women in film and the Emmy Noether Society at Perimeter which seeks to mentor, encourage and ensure more women are represented in science and physics. The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is an independent research centre in foundational theoretical physics located in Waterloo, Ontario.
Anne-Marie Canning is also well-recognized for her contributions to supporting research and breakthrough advances in science within the University Health Network (UHN), Canada’s largest health and medical research organization located in Toronto, Canada. Of particular interest to Canning is the application of AI – artificial intelligence – to breakthroughs in cardiac research and care. She is a patron-level donor to Dr. Heather Ross, Canada’s treasured ‘heart doctor’ at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. Ross is leading a multidisciplinary team to transform cardiac care delivery and outcomes for heart failure patients through the use of big data and technology, having a global impact in this field of medicine.
Canning lives in Toronto where she is respected as a modern, conscious philanthropist and a true Canadian nationalist. Canning is unwavering in her commitment to investing in the essence of what creates and sustains a 21st century Canadian society – innovation, culture, diversity of thought and application of the best in technological advances.