Original Peoples Investment Program (Canada)

The Original Peoples Investment Program (OPIP) supports the development, preservation and revitalization of First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) art through art-based projects that are supported and validated by FNMI artists, community, Elders and Knowledge Keepers. They recognize and support both traditional and contemporary Indigenous artists and arts practices. This program is developed and validated annually with the support of their Indigenous Advisory Committee.

Funding Information

• Total funding available for this program is $650,000.
• Individual artists may apply for up to $20,000, artist collectives may apply for up to $25,000, and Indigenous arts organizations may apply for up to $30,000.

Eligible Projects

• Projects may include:
  • 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, installations, 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.

Ineligible Activities

• This program is not intended to support any of the following:
  • Projects that are fully complete before the application deadline.
  • Projects that have already received funding from another Calgary Arts Development grant program.
  • Projects related to post-secondary or credit, degree, certificate, or diploma granting educational programs or artistic work related to those educational programs.
  • Fundraising activities (e.g., activities undertaken to raise funds on behalf of a political party or charity).
  • Contests and competitions (e.g., grant funding cannot be re-granted in the form of prizes or awards). Note: this grant can fund activities related to pow wow such as the creation of regalia or song, but not pow wow prizes.
  • Activities that do not comply with or respect cultural protocols.
  • Activities that use or present Indigenous cultural material, traditional knowledge or stories without permission from the community and or clear connection to the originating community.
  • Activities that promote hatred or intolerance.
  • Activities that are illegal or contravene provincial or federal law.
  • Activities that contravene municipal bylaws.
  • Activities related to campaigning for a specific political candidate or party in an election.

Who can apply?

• This program is open to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) individual artists, FNMI artist collectives, and Indigenous-led and centred art organizations practicing and operating in the Treaty 7 region in any artistic discipline.
• This program is also open to projects from FNMI cultural workers, arts administrators and curators (as long as they are the lead artist/organizer for the creative process and artistic vision).
• Please review the full definitions for each below to ensure eligibility before applying:
• Individual Artists:
  • Individual artists applying to this program must have a serious dedication towards developing and sharing their career and work.
  • Artists may have formal or community-based training including, but not limited to, apprenticeships, sustained relationships and learning from elders/artist mentors, and/or post-secondary education. They value all ways of knowing, learning and developing an artistic practice.
  • Artists have shared, or are actively striving to share, their work publicly and be compensated for their work.
  • 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 work together in either an ongoing or casual way, who have a shared artistic practice that is distinct from their own individual artistic practices. Collectives need to define their collective practice, vision, goals and processes in order to demonstrate that collective members have equal and shared ownership and accountability for the vision, success and completion of the proposed project or activities.
  • A majority of collective members must be Treaty 7 based artists (i.e. 50% or more).
  • An artist collective does not include for-profit organizations or businesses, groups that are formally registered as a non-profit society, or those which intend to govern themselves like a non-profit society.
• Eligibility will be determined based on whether the Indigenous artist(s) are leading and guiding the proposed project.
• Cultural Workers:
  • For the purposes of their 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.
• Arts Administrators & Curators:
  • FNMI Arts Administrators refers to individuals who facilitate programming within cultural organizations. In this case, the arts administrator must have their own independent project they are wanting to pursue independently of an arts organization such as; taking a professional development course or undergoing research projects of their own accord.
  • Curators must also have their own project independent of an arts organization they are wanting to pursue, such as curating an independent show, pursuing research for future shows, undergoing curatorial residencies, etc.
• Indigenous-led and -centred Arts Organizations:
  • Indigenous-led and -centred non-profit Arts Organizations applying to this program must have a serious dedication towards developing and sharing their artistic work and organizational mandate.
  • Indigenous Arts Organizations should have a mandate to serve the Indigenous arts community and be led by FNMI people.
  • This program cannot fund incorporated for-profit businesses. If your organization is not registered as a non-profit society, please reach out to program specialists to discuss eligibility.
• Other Eligibility Requirements
  • Applicants may submit only one application per program deadline.
  • They will not accept more than one application from the same account on the online grant platform. This means that individual artists must apply using their individual account, artist collectives must apply using their collective account and arts organizations must apply through their organizational account.
  • A project may only be submitted by one applicant per program deadline. This means that multiple members of a group cannot submit for the same project to the same program deadline.
  • They cannot fund the same phase of a project more than once (regardless of calendar year) so please ensure you are planning larger projects ahead of time and clearly outlining the phase of work you are applying for. As long as the phases of a project are distinct, you may apply for a future Calgary Arts Development grant to support the next distinct phase of the work.
  • You may reapply for the same project if a previous application was unsuccessful, regardless of calendar year.
  • You may not apply to this program if you have any final reports past their due date for prior grants.

For more information, visit Calgary Arts Development.