Canada: Project Grant Program — Individuals and Collectives

Funding Information

• Individual artists may apply for up to $20,000 and artist collectives may apply for up to $25,000.
• Total funding available for this program is $2.5 million.
• Projects funded through this program must be complete by December 31, 2025.

Eligible Project Activities

Projects may include any of the following activities, and these activities can take place online or in person — locally, nationally or internationally:

• Research: research projects to inform your artistic work, processes, approaches, etc.
• Creation or production of work: the creation and development of new work, adaptations of previous work, experimentation, etc.
• Professional development and learning: participating in courses, classes, workshops, residencies, trainings, mentorships, apprenticeships, internships, networking and industry events, conferences, etc.
• Presenting or sharing work with the public: sharing, distributing or selling your work through exhibitions, instillations, events, presentations, performances, touring, releases, publishing, etc.
• Marketing and promotion: activities related to publicity and outreach, the branding, promotion and marketing of your work and artistic practice, networking and industry events, etc.

Who Can Apply?

• This program is open to Calgary-based individual artists, artist collectives, cultural workers, and collaborations with artists (i.e. individuals working in the arts and culture sector who are not artists themselves but are undertaking a project that primarily involves and supports artists).
• They welcome applications from those working in all artistic disciplines and their various cultural forms.
  • Individual Artists:
    • Individual artists applying to this program must pursue a professional practice.
    • They consider a professional artist to be an artist who is actively pursuing a career in the arts, and who has invested in the development of their artistic skills, voice, and goals.
    • Artists may have formal or informal training.
    • Artists have shared, or are actively striving to share, their work publicly and be compensated for their work.
    • Artists have a relationship with their artistic communities and peers.
    • Artists do not need to be working professionally in the arts full time.
  • Artist Collectives:
    • They consider an artist collective to be two or more individual artists who have a shared artistic practice that is distinct from their own individual artistic practices (for example, a band, a visual art duo, a theatre collective, co-writers, etc.). Artist collectives may work together on an ongoing basis or partner together ad hoc, for a particular project.
    • Collectives need to define their collective practice, vision, goals and process to demonstrate that all collective members have equal and shared ownership and accountability for the success and completion of the proposed project.
    • A majority of collective members must be Calgary-based artists (i.e. 50% or more).
  • Collaborations with Artists:
    • They will consider applications from individuals working in the arts and culture sector who do not meet the definition of an individual artist or artist collective if they can demonstrate the below, and at the discretion of Calgary Arts Development staff:
      • Artists are core collaborators or participants in the planning, development and implementation of the project.
      • The project and budget provide financial and non-financial support to artists.
      • The applicant has a demonstrated history of working with artists and the arts sector.
  • Cultural Workers:
    • For the purposes of the programs, ‘cultural workers’ refers to individuals who make their living in the arts and cultural sector and contribute to the success of an artist or organization’s artistic work in a creative or technical capacity, but who are not necessarily leading the artistic vision of the work being created. This might include production team members such as a costume designer or cutter, sound designer/operator, set designer, lighting designer/operator, etc.
    • They will consider applications from cultural workers for their own professional development and learning, or for independent projects where they are the lead artist for the creative process. The project should be focused on their own artistic practice, vision and goals.
    • Note: This program cannot accept applications from arts administrators, agents or managers, production companies, registered for-profit corporations or businesses, or registered not-for-profit organizations.
  • Calgary-based Artists
    • While projects do not have to take place in Calgary, applicants must be Calgary-based. They will also accept applications from Treaty 7 nation members living within Treaty 7 (Southern Alberta) if they can demonstrate a clear connection to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis communities.
  • Newcomer Artists — Permanent Residency or Citizenship Not Necessary
    • You do not need to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to receive a grant from them, but you do need to be able to report on this grant to the Canada Revenue Agency. This means you must have a valid Canadian Social Insurance Number or Individual Tax Number to receive this grant.

For more information, visit Calgary Arts Development.