Youth in culture pilot program

Deadlines

• Wednesday, March 3, 2021
• Wednesday, September 15, 2021

The application can be filled and submitted through our new Application Portal. This document is for reference only. 

Contact Information

Mariella Montreuil

Program objectives

• To support the development of youth aged 18-30 towards professional careers in arts, heritage or culture
• To empower youth to identify needs and gaps in their career development, and support their initiatives
• To provide direct funding to youth aged 18-30
• To support activities that address the priorities identified in the Renewed Action Plan for Arts, Heritage and Culture in Ottawa (2013 - 2018).

First time grant applicants are encouraged to submit their projects.

The City will provide funding to a maximum of $1,000

Grant writing assistance

We are available to help you prepare your grant application in the following ways:

• Discuss eligibility of your project, requirements of the program and answer any questions about the application and evaluation process
• Review a draft version of your application prior to the deadline. Drafts can be emailed at any time up until Wednesday, February 17th, 2021 directly to infoculture@ottawa.ca.

Funding priorities

The Cultural Funding Support Unit (CFSU) will look at prioritizing applications from the following Indigenous and equity-seeking communities:

• Algonquin Anishinabe Host Nation
• First Nations
• Inuit
• Métis
• Francophones
• 2SLGBTQIA
• Immigrants/Newcomers
• People Living in Poverty
• People of Colour
• People with Visible and Invisible Disabilities
• Deaf People
• Rural Residents
• Seniors/Older Adults
• Women+
• Youth

Eligibility

Who is eligible?

Eligible applicants must:

• be between the ages of 18 and 30
• be an Ottawa resident, or be Algonquin Anishinabe and living within 150 km radius of Ottawa

What is eligible?

You must demonstrate that your project furthers your professional career in the arts, heritage or cultural sectors.

This program is intended to provide you with an artist fee and/or cover project/living expenses relating to:

• creation & production: research, creation, production, and presentation projects relating to arts, heritage, or culture
• training: masterclasses, workshops, residencies and other training opportunities in the arts, heritage, cultural festival or agricultural fair sectors (including administration and/or management training)
• mentorship: opportunities for youth to work with mentors within the arts, heritage, festivals and fairs sectors. Mentors include established cultural workers, professional artists, or elders/knowledge keepers including administration and/or management training

Examples of eligible projects

Creation projects:

• To complete a series of paintings
• To produce a play
• To conduct genealogy and/or historical research
• To create your traditional dance regalia

Training projects:

• To cover expenses, including travel, related to taking a masterclass
• To provide you with an artist/administrator fee during an unpaid internship with an arts, heritage, or cultural organization, including festivals and fairs
• To take a course in a First Nations, Inuit, or Metis language

Mentorship projects:

• To receive mentorship from an elder in beadwork
• To workshop with an established storyteller
• To work with a recognized knowledge keeper on a language preservation project

Who is not eligible

• organizations, including collectives
• individuals who have received three or more grants from this program
• City of Ottawa employees or elected representatives may not apply for individual cultural funding or awards. City of Ottawa staff are required to act in compliance with the City of Ottawa Employee Code of Conduct and all applicable laws and regulations

What is not eligible

• projects that are not related to the arts, culture or heritage sectors
• commercial initiatives, sales and commissions
• projects that have been completed prior to the application deadline date
• projects that are part of your school, college or university’s curriculum
• fundraising initiatives
• projects paid for entirely through other sources
• projects that are eligible for funding under the City of Ottawa’s Creation and Production Fund for Professional Artists

Restrictions

• an applicant may only submit one application at a time within this program
• an applicant may only receive one funding allocation for the same activity

Meeting all eligibility requirements does not guarantee funding.

Assessment criteria

Applications are assessed according to:

Merit

• relevance of the proposed project as it relates to the applicant’s previous cultural experiences
• strength of the goals and objectives
• Clear intent to pursue a career in arts, heritage or culture

Impact

• benefit to the applicant’s career

Effective planning

• Realistic goals and appropriate planning
• Effective and appropriate budgeting

Reporting

All funding recipients are required to submit a final report detailing how they used the funding awarded to them. This report must be submitted to and approved by the CFSU either:

• following completion of the funded activities or
• twelve months after receipt of the funds or
• at the time of subsequent application to the program

Without a Report approved by the CFSU, you will be deemed ineligible for subsequent funding. Reporting forms are available through the application Portal.

If you are not awarded funding

Try again! If you do not receive funding, you are encouraged to try again. The program’s limited envelope cannot fund all applicants, regardless of their merit.

• Application Form will be available February 1, 2021
• Terms and Conditions [ PDF - 44.3 KB ]

Please note: You must download the form onto your computer and open it with Adobe Acrobat Reader to complete. Any information added to the form through a web browser will be lost when the form is downloaded, printed, or saved.

Activity report on previous funding

If funding was previously received from the City of Ottawa, an activity report detailing how the funds were used must be submitted at the completion of the project, or attached with a subsequent application. Applicants who fail to provide an activity report on previous funding will NOT be eligible to apply for subsequent City of Ottawa funding.

Youth in Culture Pilot Program Report form [ PDF - 166 KB ]

Please note: You must download the form onto your computer and open it with Adobe Acrobat Reader to complete. Any information added to the form through a web browser will be lost when the form is downloaded, printed, or saved.

Contact Us

Mariella Montreuil : mariella.montreuil-gallegos@ottawa.ca

General inquiries

For general information, technical issues, or to request an application form, contact infoculture@ottawa.ca.

Support material is an essential part of your application and plays a vital role in the jury’s assessment. Include examples that relate most closely to the proposed project. 

Support material must be submitted via links. You may NOT include any support material as attachments to your email submission. You can submit your support material one of three ways:

1. Submitting support material through a file hosting platform, such as Google Drive, Onedrive or DropBox: Create one folder of your application that includes all supporting documents required: artistic samples, CVs, board list, financials, and promotional material. You must grant us permission to edit and download the files so that we may retrieve them. Include the link and description of your items on the support material pages in the application.
2. Submitting support material using a file transfer service, such as WeTransfer: If you do not want to upload your support material to a file hosting platform, you can send your application documents using WeTransfer. Create one folder for your application on your desktop. Include all supporting documents required, including artistic examples, CVs, board list, financials, and promotional material. Insert infoculture@ottawa.ca as the recipient. WeTransfer will allow you to select this folder from your computer and send it directly to us, regardless of the size.
3. Submitting audio and video files through YouTube, Vimeo, soundcloud, bandcamp, etc. links. Include the links to your audio or video recordings on the support material page in the application.

For all submissions:

• Include your name on each file and folder.  
• Make sure we have a description of what we are looking at on the material support page.
• Adhere to the program’s limits on submitting support material. If the supporting documents provided exceed program application limits, assessors will be instructed to restrict their review time.
• The total time allotted to review all audio and video files in jury cannot exceed 7 minutes per application. Please select your recordings with this time constraint in mind. 
• Accepted file formats:
  • Text-based documents: PDF
  • Images: .jpg or .png
  • Audio files: .mp3
  • Video files: .mpeg, .mp4 or .wmv
• All files must be compatible with Windows OS. QuickTime files are not accepted (.mov or .aiff) .
• Mailed submissions are not accepted. 
• Test all electronic materials to ensure readability and quality.
• Please note that the City of Ottawa is not liable for files saved to any of the above mentioned platforms.

Applicants must complete the application, answer all questions, and attach all required documentation.

The questions in the application form may be answered in writing, by audio recording, or by audio-visual recording. The quality of your recording will not be assessed, however, recordings must be clear and intelligible.

Fill and submit your application on our SurveyMonkey Apply Portal. If you have decided to submit by audio or audio-visual recording, please answer these following questions:

Application questions

Merit

1. Provide a detailed description of the project. (max 1000 words)
2. Provide a project timeline with start/end dates
3. Include your résumé/bio or tell us about your previous cultural experiences (examples: your artistic, heritage or festival practice, work, volunteering and/or school).
4. For Mentorship Projects only
   1. Complete Section E. Mentor’s letter on the application portal
   2. Describe the nature of the mentorship, and list desired outcomes
   3. Include your Mentor’s résumé or bio as an attachment on the portal

Impact

1. How will this project help further the development of your career in the arts, cultural and heritage sectors? (max 750 words) 

Effective planning

Fill in the attached budget template on the portal OR answer the following two questions:

1. What are the costs associated with your project?
2. If your expenses exceed the amount requested in this application ($1,000), how will you cover the extra cost?

List of required materials to apply

Make sure all of these documents are ready before applying:

1. You audio/vidual recording if you are applying that way. 
2. Your written answers to the question above. (It is much easier to edit your responses on a word document and you can simply copy/paste your answers to the online form when ready to apply)
3. Your résumé/bio (examples: your artistic, heritage or festival practice, work, volunteering and/or school)
4. Your Mentor's approval letter (if your project is a mentorship). Please submit a letter from your mentor, accepting that they voluntarily enter into a mentoring relationship with you for the purpose of this project and that they are prepared to commit to the number of hours confirmed above. Please include a description of what the mentorship includes, their name, a date and their signature.
5. Your support material files and links with their accompanying descriptions.