Grant writing assistance
We are available to support you in the following ways:
- Answer your questions about eligibility
- Review a draft of your application
- Help you with navigating the online funding portal
- Provide you with financial aid if you require accessibility support
- Provide feedback on your previous applications
Our team will need advance notice to provide any personalized assistance. Contact us as soon as possible to discuss the options available to you. You can submit a draft application for feedback up until March 2, 2022 at 4pm.
Here is an instructional video that demonstrates how to sign-up and complete your first application.
Have questions? You can participate in a virtual information session. Visit information sessions to see a full list of dates.
Application process steps
Your Cultural Funding Officer can provide additional information regarding this program, your eligibility, and the application process.
Eligibility
You are eligible if you:
- Are between the ages of 18 and 30
- Are current residents of the city of Ottawa and have lived in Ottawa for at least one year prior to the application deadline date, or are Algonquin Anishinabe and live within a 150 km radius of Ottawa
What projects are eligible?
Funding is awarded to projects that further 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 and 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:
- Completing a series of paintings
- Producing a play
- Conducting genealogical and/or historical research
- Creating your own traditional dance regalia
Training projects:
- Covering expenses, including travel, related to taking a masterclass
- Providing you with an artist/administrator fee during an unpaid internship with an arts, heritage, or cultural organization, including festivals and fairs
- Taking a course in a First Nations, Inuit, or Metis language
Mentorship projects:
- Receiving mentorship from an elder in beadwork
- Working with an established storyteller
- Working 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
- You can only submit one application at a time within this program.
- You can only receive one funding allocation for the same activity.
Meeting all eligibility requirements does not guarantee funding.
Assessment criteria
Your application will be evaluated by a committee of your peers who will use the following criteria to evaluate your request.
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
Allocation of funding
An applicant’s success in obtaining funding depends upon the peer assessment committee’s final evaluation and the funding available within the program.
Availability of City of Ottawa funding is subject to the approval of the annual City budget by Ottawa City Council.
The amount requested is not necessarily the amount awarded.
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.
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 Cultural Funding Support Unit 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 Cultural Funding Support Unit, you will be deemed ineligible for subsequent funding. Reporting forms are available through the online portal.
