 CAEA is a member of the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.Stage actors in Canada had been represented informally by ACTRA since the 1940s, but at the time of the founding of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1953, they sought their own union representation.As a result of meetings in Montreal between the Canadian Council of Authors and Artists (an umbrella organization) and the American Actors' Equity Association, AEA, the actors worked under AEA contracts.