Multi-Year and Annual Operating Grants to Professional Theatre Organizations
Deadline
The application closing date for Annual Funding is 1 March 2007. If the date falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.
The Canada Council will not accept applications postmarked after the deadline, incomplete applications, or those submitted by fax or email.
Program Description
Operating Grants to Professional Theatre Organizations provide a contribution to the general operating costs of professional, non-profit theatre organizations. The program has two components: a multi-year component and an annual component.
Eligibility
Organizations must meet the following eligibility criteria to apply:
- they must be incorporated as non-profit organizations
- they must be directed by recognized theatre professionals
- they must operate on a full-time basis and support ongoing activities
- if not previously funded under this program, the organization should have had at least two of its productions from the last three years of sustained activity assessed by the Canada Council for the Arts. During the same period, the organization should have received at least one grant through the Canada Council Theatre Production Project Grants program.
It is the responsibility of applicants to ask the Theatre Section for an assessment of their work. Applications are reviewed for eligibility, according to the published criteria, by the Theatre Section, with outside consultation if needed.
All Canada Council for the Arts programs are accessible to Aboriginal arts organizations and arts organizations of diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.
How to Apply
Applicants must complete an application form posted of this website or which may be obtained from the Theatre Section, and submit the required support material.
Assessment of Applications
Eligible applications are evaluated, in a national comparative context, by a peer assessment committee, which is a standing committee of the Canada Council Theatre Section. The committee is a representative body of theatre professionals, with various kinds of expertise, whose members are chosen to ensure fair representation of regional, cultural and artistic diversity.
The committee incorporates into its deliberations the assessments of productions done by companies or by artists. These assessments are undertaken by Theatre Section Officers or by independent assessors appointed by the Theatre Section.
The committee bases its review of applications on the following weighted criteria:
Artistic Criteria (70 percent)
- Artistic quality and interest of the work (20 percent)
- Relevance of a company’s programming to its artistic mission and audience, and the vitality of its artistic direction (20 percent)
- Commitment and contribution to the production and/or development of Canadian theatre works (20 percent), and
- Commitment and contribution to the development of Canadian theatre artists (10 percent).
Dissemination Criteria (15 percent)
- Impact of the organization and its work on the public, and
- Impact of the organization and its work on Canadian theatre.
Administrative Criteria (15 percent)
Financial stability of the organization, judicious planning and allocation of resources, realistic ratio of sources of revenue and adequate and appropriate administrative structure.
The peer assessment committee will recommend whether applicants should receive a multi-year commitment based on their assessment performance and the following standards:
- prior receipt, as a rule, of operating support from the Canada Council
- a pattern of positive artistic assessments over the last three years
- sound financial management – if an applicant's accumulated deficit represents more than 10 percent of its total revenue (as verified by its last audited financial statement), the applicant has to explain the cause of the deficit and propose a realistic plan to reduce it, and
- artistic and administrative stability leading to continued strength in artistic growth and development.
The peer assessment committee recommends funding priorities as well as minimum and maximum grant amounts to the Theatre Section.
Notification of Results
Applicants will be notified of the results of the competition, in writing, following the June meeting of the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts. Results will not be released over the telephone or email.
Application Form
This application form consists of all documents below. These documents can be printed. The form cannot be filled out on-line.
Further Information
For further information, contact the Theatre Section in one of the ways indicated below.
Telephone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 4480
TTY (TDD) machine, for hearing-impaired callers: 613-565-5194
Fax: 613-566-4410
Theatre Section
Canada Council for the Arts
P.O. Box 1047, 350 Albert Street
Ottawa, ON K1P 5V8
January 2007