Alberta Creative Development Initiative: Grants to Organizations

A professional arts organization or company

• is legally constituted as a non-profit organization (with the exception of publishing companies);
• has a primary mandate in the arts;
• is staffed by arts professionals (artists and administrators who are paid for their work); and
• supports, presents or produces the work of professional artists.

Organizations that do not currently receive an operating grant from the Canada Council can apply to ACDI for an annual or multi-year project grant for research, creation, production, dissemination, administrative capacity building and/or audience development activities. Organizations that wish to apply for a multi-year project grant must have been in operation for at least three years as of the application deadline. They can apply to both ACDI and to other Canada Council programs, but cannot apply to both for support for the same costs or for the same phase of activity.  

Organizations that currently receive an operating grant from the Canada Council can apply to ACDI for annual administrative and audience development project grants only. They cannot apply to other Canada Council programs for support for the same costs or for the same phase of activity.  

General Eligibility Criteria for all ACDI applicants

The objective of the Alberta Creative Development Initiative is to support the development of professional artists and arts organizations in Alberta and to foster a dynamic, vibrant arts community in the province. Organizations may apply to the program more than once per year provided that they have no outstanding final reports at the Canada Council.

Applicants to the Alberta Creative Development Initiative may resubmit an unsuccessful project once to a subsequent ACDI competition. Applicants may also submit an application for a new project in a subsequent ACDI or other Canada Council competition.

Specific Eligibility Criteria for all ACDI applicants

See Appendix A in the guidelines for discipline-specific eligibility criteria. You must meet the criteria in your discipline to be eligible to apply to ACDI.

Applicants are encouraged to contact the Program Officer before applying in order to confirm their eligibility.

Applicants should be aware that meeting the eligibility criteria allows them to apply for a grant, but it does not guarantee funding.

If your application to ACDI is successful, this does not guarantee success in other programs of the Canada Council or the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Grant Amounts

• Annual project grants are available in amounts of up to $30,000 for any combination of eligible activities.
• Multi-year project grants are available to a maximum of $75,000 over three years.

Eligible costs

Eligible costs include project costs such as artists’ fees, fees for project personnel, production and material costs, audience and market development costs, dissemination costs, equipment rental costs, research costs, and travel costs related to research on a specific project.

Ineligible costs

Applicants’ ongoing operating expenses, including permanent staff salaries, general administration costs and maintenance costs, are ineligible for support. Capital costs and major equipment purchase costs are also ineligible. Applicants must demonstrate sound financial management in their budget forecasts and a serious commitment to carry out the project.

General

Funding is not available for activities carried out before the application deadline.

Successful applicants may not necessarily be awarded the full amount requested given the limited funds available in this program.

A multidisciplinary peer assessment committee reviews applications to the program. Comprising assessors from both Alberta and outside the province, the committee is made up of practicing artists and arts professionals selected for their knowledge of a broad range of artistic disciplines and practices as well as their experience in multidisciplinary and diverse cultural practices. Committee members are also selected to ensure fair representation of gender, regional and cultural diversity, Aboriginal peoples and Canada’s two official languages.

The peer assessment committee establishes funding priorities and specific grant amounts based on the overall merit of each application in comparison with all other applications, according to the following weighted assessment criteria for the program:

Assessment Criteria

Artistic (60%) criteria include

• excellence in the quality of programming and merit of the artistic goals of the project;
• clarity of intentions and merit of the proposed process and strategies; and
• experience of the organization and artists involved (including their qualifications and commitment to collaborators and partners), and their proven ability to carry out the project.

Public impact (20%) criteria include

• the public impact of the project and the quality of engagement with an audience, such as targeted audience development and outreach activities.

Administrative (20%) criteria include

• presentation of a realistic budget for the project;
• the anticipated impact of the project on the organization;
• the organization’s ability to forecast potential risks of a project;
• the financial stability of the organization;
• appropriate planning and allocation of resources; and
• a diversity of revenue sources.

Application Form

ACDI - Organizations (pdf, 706 KB)
This form can only be printed and cannot be filled out on-line.

Further Information

Stephen Williams
Western Canada Program Officer
Canada Council for the Arts
350, Albert Street, P.O. Box 1047
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8

Téléphone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 4690
In Alberta: 780-428-2956

TTY (TDD) machine, for hearing-impaired callers: 613-565-5194

Fax: 613-566-4390

October 2007