Mar 12, 2014
Ottawa, March 12, 2014 – As a partner of the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018: Education, Immigration, Communities, the Canada Council for the Arts will distribute a total of $2.75 million under a market access strategy for artists and arts organizations belonging to official language minority communities.
The Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018: Education, Immigration, Communities is a commitment by the Government of Canada to ensure the linguistic vitality of both French and English throughout Canada, empower official language minority communities, and promote the importance and benefits of two official languages for our national identity.
This year, the Canada Council will start off implementing the market access strategy by distributing $250,000 to support projects that meet the strategy’s objectives for artists from official language minority communities. The funds invested will then progressively increase every year for the rest of the Roadmap’s timeframe.
The strategy’s objectives are to:
- expand national and international market access for works by artists from official language minority communities;
- develop new national and international markets for art produced by these communities;
- build the capacity of artists and arts organizations from official language minority communities to be successful outside their local markets.
Under the Roadmap, the Government of Canada is also channeling $800,000 per year through its National Translation Program for Book Publishing to the Book Publishing Support: Translation Grants program administered by the Canada Council.
The Canada Council’s contribution towards achieving the objectives of the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018: Education, Immigration, Communities is part of the Council’s ongoing efforts to serve all the country’s various communities fairly and effectively.
The Council consulted artists and arts organizations in official language minority communities in developing the market access strategy for artists from these communities. The strategy will gradually be implemented over the next five years.
For more information on how to apply for a grant under this program, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions.
For more information on the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018: Education, Immigration, Communities, please visit http://pch.gc.ca/slo-ols/strat-eng.cfm.
The Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s national arts funder. Its grants and payments to artists and arts organizations benefit Canadians by ensuring a vibrant arts sector in Canada. Its awards celebrate creativity by recognizing exceptional Canadians in the arts, humanities and sciences. The Canada Council Art Bank is a national collection of over 17,000 Canadian contemporary artworks – all accessible to the public through rental, loan and outreach programs. The Canadian Commission for UNESCO operates within the Canada Council.
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Heather McAfee: 1-800-263-5588 or 613-566-4414, ext. 4166
heather.mcafee@canadacouncil.ca
