Glossary (Cultural Capitals of Canada)

Aboriginal –

(As used in these guidelines) First Nations, Métis, and Inuit groups.

Access to Information Act –

The Access to Information Act provides every Canadian citizen or resident in Canada with the right of access to records under the control of the federal government, subject to certain specific and limited exceptions. The full text of the Act can be found at http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/A-1/index.html.

Action plan –

A document that identifies the steps the municipality intends to take over the next one to five years to achieve the objectives identified in the cultural policy.

Arts –

see under Culture.

Capital projects –

Projects for the construction, transformation, or renovation of permanent cultural infrastructure (e.g., theatres, galleries, museums, stages, etc.); restoration of artifacts, artworks, or cultural venues; or the permanent acquisition, purchase or installation of specialized equipment, such as sound systems, lighting, tents, etc., used to support and sustain cultural activities.

Community art program –

A program that provides opportunities for cultural expression, learning, and involvement at the community level.

Contribution agreement –

A detailed legal agreement, signed by the Department of Canadian Heritage and the recipient of the contribution, outlining the scope of the project, the activities to be supported, the eligible costs, the budget, the timeline, reporting requirements, etc.

Cultural policy –

A document that articulates the municipality's vision for culture and cultural development within its jurisdiction, identifies the overall directions the municipality wishes to follow in regard to cultural development and sets out the concrete measures that will enable it to achieve its vision.

Cultural tourism –

Tourism motivated wholly or in part by interest in the historical, artistic or lifestyle/heritage offerings of the tourism destination, be it a community, region, group or institution.

Culture –

(As used in these guidelines) The expression of ideas, experiences, and customs of Canadians or groups of Canadians through the arts, heritage, and festivals. [Libraries, amateur sport, and recreation are often considered to fall within the domain of culture. This program, however, does not support projects relating to these elements.]

Arts –

The arts refer to the expression of ideas and experiences through the fine arts. These include visual art such as painting and sculpture, crafts such as pottery and drum-making, live performance such as dance, theatre, comedy, storytelling, circus, music, opera, and literary readings, and media arts such as art films and multimedia installations. As used in these guidelines, the arts also refer to commercial products derived from artistic expression, such as music recordings, film and television, books and magazines.

Heritage –

Heritage refers to the ideas, experiences, and customs of Canadians or groups of Canadians that are passed on to future generations, and to the means of their preservation and recollection. Traditional cuisine, dress, religion, and language are examples of elements of heritage. Museums, art galleries, and historic sites are some of the means used to preserve the elements of heritage and to interpret them to a broader public.

Festivals –

Festivals are a means of bringing ideas, experiences, and customs to a broad public in a concentrated package over a brief period of time. Festivals can occur around many themes or forms of expressions, in both arts and heritage—for example, dance, particular genres of music, film, theatre, particular ethnic traditions, and so on.

Designation –

The state of being granted a distinguishing title, in this case that of Cultural Capital of Canada, which sets the designee apart from other municipalities and confers on it a special status for the one-year period of designation.

Eligible costs, Eligible expenses –

Expenditures that can be linked directly to the project's objectives. In the context of Cultural Capitals of Canada, they may include: fees for consultants and/or contractors for event management, research, writing, editing, or translation; fees/costs of preparation and production of celebratory events or cultural tourism promotional materials; fees/costs for design and construction of web sites directly related to project activities; fees/costs for feasibility studies and/or market research; reasonable costs of holding meetings, conferences, workshops, or other specialized fora to develop partnerships and linkages; and reasonable travel costs directly related to the project; fees for the creation of public art to recognize the designation; fees/costs for performance of an audit for the purposes of submitting an audited financial statement, as per the requirements of the contribution agreement; fees for a project coordinator; fees for consultants/contractor to perform an evaluation of the project. The Cultural Capitals of Canada program does not provide funding for existing cultural activities. It only provides funding for new activities, or only those expanded (supplementary) portions of existing activities.

Endowment funds –

A fund established by a bequest or gift to an institution or agency, which is invested and the income from which is used to provide ongoing funding for the institution's operations or to provide grants to other groups for specific projects or activities in a given area of interest, such as arts and culture.

Feasibility study –

An analysis of the factors determining the potential for successful completion of a project or attainment of the project objectives. The purpose of a feasibility study is to analyze the costs and benefits of undertaking a given project, in order to determine the best approach to accomplish specified goals.

Festivals –

see under Culture.

Heritage –

see under Culture.

Independent advisory committee –

(As used in these guidelines) A panel of assessors drawn from various areas of expertise in the cultural field, including municipal workers, researchers, non-governmental organizations, federal agencies, other experts in culture and cultural tourism, and/or independent artists. It also includes elected officials from previous Cultural Capitals of Canada.

In-kind contributions –

Materials or services that are donated to a project by arms'-length parties or by the applicant (i.e., part of the applicant's contribution). To be eligible as an in-kind contribution, the donated materials or services must be eligible expenses. In addition, the donated materials or services would otherwise be purchased and paid for by the recipient, can be measured at fair value at the date of contribution, and must be incremental, i.e., must represent an increase in the costs or capacity of the municipality. Fair value would be estimated using market or appraisal values. For example, fair value could be determined in relation to the purchase of similar materials and services. Examples of in-kind contributions include office space dedicated to the project which the municipality formerly rented out; salaries of municipal employees directly related to undertaking the project where this results in an increase in employee time or hiring of other personnel, and so on. In-kind contributions and expenditures must be clearly detailed in the budget.

Legacy, Legacy-building –

A community builds a legacy for arts and culture by developing a vision for its cultural identity and expression, supplemented by sustainable cultural policies and action plans for the realization of that vision, carried out in coordination with the arts and heritage communities and private sector partners.

Linkages –

(As used in these guidelines) The making of connections and the exchange of information or resources among municipal cultural workers and other individuals, groups, or institutions with respect to culture and cultural development.

Market research –

Research to determine the size and characteristics of the market for a given product, i.e. how many people are likely to purchase the product and their defining characteristics.

Contributions, funding –

Contributions whereby the Government of Canada provides support towards specific eligible costs of an approved project, up to a predetermined maximum amount.

Municipal cultural worker –

A municipal employee responsible for various aspects of cultural development, including policy, programming, and service delivery to residents of and visitors to the municipality. (These need not be their exclusive functions.)

Municipality –

(As used in these guidelines) An identifiable geographic area with a duly elected government, including First Nations, Inuit and Metis equivalent governments, such as Band Councils. Organizations such as Friendship Centres are not included.

Outcomes –

The changes brought about as a result of project outputs, in other words, the project's effects or consequences. Outcomes may occur within organizations, communities, or individuals; they may relate to behaviour, skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, conditions, or other attributes. Outcomes must be measurable, either by quantitative or qualitative means. (For example, as a result of this project, you anticipate an increase of X% in tourism to the municipality; the development of X more cultural policies in the community; greater engagement of culturally diverse communities in new or existing cultural activities to share their rich heritage and active arts practice with the residents.) While there is less degree of control over the outcomes, there should be a direct relationship between outputs and outcomes.

Outputs –

The most immediate results of your project, usually involving the creation of products and/or services.

Privacy Act –

The Privacy Act provides every Canadian citizen or resident in Canada with the right of access to personal information about themselves held by the federal government subject to certain specific and limited exceptions. The full text of the Act can be found at http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/P-21/index.html.

Professional artist –

An individual who has specialized training in his or her artistic field (not necessarily in academic institutions), who is recognized as such by his or her peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition), who is committed to devoting more time to the artistic activity, if financially feasible, and who has a history of public presentation.

Public art program –

A program for the purchase and display of visual art (painting, sculpture, etc.) in publicly accessible spaces such as parks, municipal building foyers, etc.

Reasonable costs of holding meetings –

Includes room and equipment rental, payments to facilitators and speakers, preparation of materials (program kits, nametags). Does not include meals, refreshments, snacks, or entertainment.

Reasonable costs of attending conferences –

Costs not to exceed Treasury Board approved guidelines for public employee conference attendance; see www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hrpubs/tbm_113/con1-1e.asp.

Reasonable travel costs –

Costs not to exceed Treasury Board approved guidelines for public employee travel within Canada; see http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hrpubs/TBM_113/td-dv_E.asp.

Reciprocal cultural exchange –

(As used in these guidelines) An exchange in which the culture of two municipalities, regions, or groups are shared with each other, for example, an Aboriginal cultural group from a rural community presenting its work in a neighbouring city or town, and a cultural group from the urban community presenting its work in the Aboriginal community.

Traditional knowledge –

Refers to the knowledge and practices of indigenous (Aboriginal, Inuit and Métis) communities. Developed from experience gained over the centuries and adapted to the local culture and environment, traditional knowledge has been transmitted orally from generation to generation. It tends to be collectively owned and takes the form of stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, cultural values, beliefs, rituals, community laws, local language, and healing and agricultural practices.

Trust funds –

An arrangement by which property is put under the ownership and control of a person (trustee) who bears the responsibility of administering it for the benefit of another (beneficiary).