Funding and Funding Organizations
Theatre Ontario operates two training grant programs: the Professional Theatre Training Program and the Youth Theatre Training Program.
This page contains links to arts councils and foundations of interest to theatre artists and cultural organizations based in Ontario, as well as training grants, current capital funding programs and online tools to assist in your research and revenue generating plans.
Arts Councils | Foundations | Training Grants | Capital Funding | Resources
A number of arms-length organizations fund theatre artists or special projects of individual artists or collectives or offer operating funding to established theatre organizations. Their funds come primarily from government sources - federal (Canada Council for the Arts), province (Ontario Arts Council through the Ontario Ministry of Culture) and municipal.
Canada Council for the Arts
1 800
263-5588
350 Albert Street, Box 1047,Ottawa K1P 5V8
www.canadacouncil.ca
A
national arms-length agency created to foster the development of the arts
in Canada through grants, services and awards to professional artists and
organizations. The Canada Council Theatre Section provides creation,
production, dissemination and play translation assistance to professional
Canadian theatre artists and organizations. The Theatre Section also
contributes to operating costs and touring costs in Canada and abroad, as
well as to special initiatives for the promotion of coproductions and
artistic collaborations at the national and international levels. Travel
Grant, program deadlines, details and selected theatre application forms
are available for downloading directly off their website.
Ontario Arts Council (OAC)
416.961.1660
151 Bloor Street West, Toronto M5S 1T6
arts.on.ca
The Ontario Arts Council is an independent agency of the Ontario Ministry of Culture that supports artists and arts organizations in Ontario through grants, awards and services. OAC's Theatre programs encourage the work of Ontario-based theatre companies, playwrights and other artists involved in theatre in Ontario.
Toronto Arts Council (TAC)
416.392.6800
141 Bathurst Street, Toronto M5V 2R2
torontoartscouncil.org
Arms-length organization that funds professional artists and cultural organizations in Toronto through funding from the City of Toronto. Detailed grant information, eligibility, jury members and list of past grant recipients available on TAC website.
Community Arts Councils
Many municipalities have arts councils, some of which provide funding for theatre artists and organizations. Visit communityartsontario.ca to find a list of community arts councils.
Community Foundations
Many community foundations fund arts projects through special funds created by family foundations or endowment programs. If you live in a community with a foundation, you may be eligible to apply for project support. Full listings at website of Community Foundations of Canada: community-fdn.ca
Laidlaw Foundation
416 964-3614
365 Bloor St E, Suite 2000, Toronto M4W 3L4
www.laidlawfdn.org
The Foundation is concentrating resources in four areas: environment, inclusive communities, youth arts program, and youth engagement. The Youth Arts Program focuses on providing opportunities for youth ages 15 to 25 to become directly involved in artistic creation. Within the program, there are funds for Strategic Initiative Grants, Project Grants, and Catalyst Grants. Full program information, application process, and deadlines are available from their website.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation
416
963-4927
45 Charles St E, 5th Floor, Toronto M4Y 1S2
www.trilliumfoundation.org
The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Ministry of
Citizenship, Culture & Recreation which welcomes applications in four
broad sectors - Arts & Culture, Environment, Sports & Recreation
and Human & Social Services. In the Arts, they fund organizations and
activities in all disciplines, whether professional or amateur, including
performing, media and visual arts, arts education and community arts
initiatives. Grant program, information, eligibility and deadlines
available for downloading directly off their website.
Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC)
613 562-1535
17 York Street, Suite 201, Ottawa K1N 9J6
www.culturalhrc.ca
Internships provided to Canadian cultural organizations through youth
wage subsidy program funded by Human Resources Development Canada. Interns
must be residents of Canada, under 30 years of age, unemployed (or
under-employed), but ineligible for EI Benefits.
Cultural Careers Council Ontario (CCCO)
416 340-0086
27 Carlton Street, Suite 303, Toronto M5B
1L2
www.workinculture.on.ca
Internships provided to Ontario cultural organizations through youth
wage subsidy program funded by Human Resources Development Canada. Interns
must be residents of Ontario, under 30 years of age, unemployed (or
under-employed), but ineligible for EI Benefits.
George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation
416 926-0366
174
Avenue Road, Toronto M5R 2J1
www.metcalffoundation.com
The Foundation will support the creation of internship opportunities
for administrators, choreographers, composers, conductors, designers,
directors, playwrights, and production staff. These will serve individuals
who have completed formal training and are working in the field. In this
program the Foundation is particularly interested in assisting individuals
in the early stages of their careers.
Ontario Arts Council (OAC)
- Compass / Chalmers
416.961.1660
151 Bloor Street West, Toronto M5S 1T6
arts.on.ca
The objective of Compass is to help arts organizations increase their self-reliance, capacity-building and sustainability. To achieve this objective, the OAC and Compass funding partners will assist arts organizations throughout Ontario by covering some or all of the costs of providing appropriate experts who will help arts organizations increase their effectiveness.
The purposes of the Chalmers Professional Development Grants and Chalmers Arts Fellowships are to support individual arts professionals who wish to pursue arts research, exploration, creation or the development of new work or who wish to undertake apprenticeships, residencies, intensive seminars, or specialized training in their fields.
Capital
fundraising whether from public or private sources is extremely
competitive across the province and requires perseverance, planning and
patience. A detailed analysis of current or upcoming capital funding
opportunities for the culture sector is available in A Study of
Facility Needs of Small and Mid-Sized Professional Theatres in the City of
Toronto by Sandra Tulloch. This report is available from www.pact.ca and was commissioned by Theatre
Ontario, Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT) and Toronto
Theatre Alliance (TTA) with financial support from the Canada Council for
the Arts through the Flying Squad program of the Theatre Section. Here is
a summary of the capital funding programs.
City of Toronto, Culture Division
www.toronto.ca
Non-city-owned, not-for-profit cultural organizations are eligible to apply to the Cultural Facilities Capital Grants Program, through the City of Toronto's Culture Division.
Department of Canadian Heritage
www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/ecc-csp/index_e.cfm
The federal Department of Canadian Heritage's Cultural Spaces Canada program seeks to improve physical conditions for artistic creativity and innovation. It is also designed to increase access for Canadians to performing arts, visual arts, media arts, and to museum collections and heritage displays.
FedNor
www.fednor.ic.gc.ca
Information
on Federal Economic Development Initiative in Northern Ontario and
Community Economic Development Unit.
Industry
Canada
www.ic.gc.ca
Community partnership
initiative for rural communities funded by the Government of Canada.
Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines
www.mndm.gov.on.ca
News releases
and information about the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund program
guidelines.
Ontario Ministry of Public Infrastructre Renewal (formerly Ontario
Superbuild)
www.pir.gov.on.ca
Theatres are eligible to apply to the Sports, Culture and Tourism Partnership Initiative for capital funds which is a 5-year, $300 million program. The Ministry of Tourism and Recreation administers this initiative; contact your regional office.
The
Ontario Trillium Foundation
www.trilliumfoundation.org
Information on community grants and access program funds for capital
projects.
Arts Wire:
Online Communications for the Arts
www.artswire.org
National
communications network for the arts community hosted by New York
Foundation for the Arts with online resources, research tools, tutorials
and directory of cultural resources in the United States.
Centre for Cultural Management
www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/ccm
A virtual, professional development 'school' for cultural managers
with free online resources and free courses for performing arts managers
in Canada.
Imagine Canada
www.ccp.ca
Imagine Canada is a central source of information on fundraising and is the publisher of a directory of grants and other Canadian resources. | 