Funding Parameters — Making Cultural Spaces Safe During COVID-19 Initiative

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Objectives and expected results

The Initiative will provide 1-time project-based support to arts and heritage organizations to upgrade their space to safely reopen while following relevant public health guidelines related to COVID-19.

The Initiative aims to:

Who can apply?

The following organizations are eligible for funding:

In addition, your arts and/or heritage organization must:

Important

Eligible applicants may only apply once to the Making Cultural Spaces Safe During COVID-19 Initiative administered by the CCSF and must include all proposed activities in one project application.

Application deadline

There is no deadline to apply for the Initiative. Applications will be accepted on a continuous basis for projects to be carried out before March 31, 2022.

Applications will be assessed as they are received by the program, until the funds are fully disbursed.

Eligible organizations are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to ensure that the program has sufficient time to assess their application and the organization has enough time to carry out its project before March 31, 2022.

Although all efforts will be made to assess applications in a timely fashion, the program cannot guarantee that applications received later than January 14, 2022, will be assessed before March 31, 2022.

Eligibility

The Department of Canadian Heritage is responsible for determining the eligibility of each applicant, its project, and project-related expenses.

The Program is highly competitive. Requests for funding typically exceed available resources. If your organization is eligible, applying does not guarantee funding.

Eligible projects

To be eligible for funding from the Initiative, applicants must clearly demonstrate how their project will contribute to the safe reopening of a cultural spaces. This can include:

Feasibility studies are not eligible under this Fund.

Eligible expenses

Only project-related cash expenses are eligible; these may include:

Ineligible expenses include:

The following expenses are not eligible for support under the Fund. This list is not exhaustive:

Only eligible expenses incurred after April 19, 2021 may be considered. If you incur expenses for your project before receiving written confirmation of your funding approval, you will be doing so at your own risk.

Limits of government assistance

How to apply

Only complete applications will be accepted.

Additional information and documents may be requested by Program advisors to complete the assessment, which must be provided within ten business days.

Applicants will also be required to attest to the following:

Application process

Applicants are required to submit their documentation by email to the nearest Canadian Heritage regional office.

Applications will be processed as they are received by the program, until the funds are fully disbursed. However, the Department reserves the right to apply its discretionary judgment to ensure a diversity of projects that reflects the many perspectives of Canada’s cultural life.

Applications will be assessed according to the extent to which the proposed project is expected to contribute to this time-limited initiative’s objectives, and the extent to which it will address the needs of underserved communities and groups, such as official-language minority communities, Indigenous communities, and ethnocultural communities.

Failure to comply with any conditions of a previously funded project will be considered in the evaluation of your new application and could result in a rejection of your new application.

Application processing time

The program will seek to notify applicants of a decision within 16 weeks (from receipt of a completed application to notification of decision).

Funding decisions

Please note that decisions regarding eligibility and funding amounts are final.

How funding is provided

Funding will be disbursed as a grant or as a contribution, as appropriate.

A grant is a payment issued to a recipient for a project. The conditions you agreed to at the time of application will apply. At the end of your project, you may be required to submit a report and/or participate in the evaluation of results.

A contribution is a conditional payment issued for a specific purpose, as outlined in a funding agreement. The agreement is signed by your organization and by us and specifies the terms and conditions to receive payment. At the end of your project, you must submit a final report.

Funding conditions

This funding is subject to the funding conditions outlined in the regular CCSF published guidelines, and to the following additional conditions:

Contact us

For further information, please contact us:

Canada Cultural Spaces Fund
Department of Canadian Heritage
15 Eddy Street
Gatineau QC  J8X 4B3

Email
Please contact the nearest office of the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Telephone
819-997-0055
1-866-811-0055 (toll-free)
TTY
1-888-997-3123 (toll-free)

Agents are available to answer your questions Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5 pm (ET).

Regional offices of the Department of Canadian Heritage

Glossary

Arts organization (operating in a professional manner)
  • A not-for-profit organization that creates, produces and/or presents works in dance, theatre, music, visual arts or media arts where the majority of activities undertaken include professional artists who are remunerated for their work.* Such organizations may include performing arts companies, artist run centres, arts festivals and other presenters;
  • A not-for-profit organization which develops and manages multi-tenant facilities for the creation, production and /or the presentation of artistic works; and
  • A national arts training institution that has a significant impact upon training for a professional career in the above-noted artistic disciplines which is not funded as a provincial post-secondary education activity.

*Under exceptional circumstances, the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund may consider providing support to an organization where less than a majority of activities undertaken include professional artists who are remunerated for their work. Exceptional circumstances will be determined by the CCSF and may include organizations located in rural or remote areas or targeting underserved communities and groups, such as official-language minority communities, Indigenous communities and ethnocultural communities.

Heritage organization (operating in a professional manner)

Incorporated not-for-profit Canadian organizations with a mandate and key policies related to the collection, preservation, interpretation, research and study, and/or the exhibition of cultural collections which are regularly open to the public.

The following are recognized as heritage organizations: museums, art galleries, archives, botanical gardens, aquariums, insectariums, zoos, biodomes, science and interpretation centres, planetariums and archaeological, historical and ethnographic sites.

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