DEADLINE: DECEMBER 1 annually
ELIGIBILITY: PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS, CANADIAN CITIZENS OR RESIDENTS ONLY

Project Grants support professional visual artists who contribute to contemporary visual arts for research/creation, production, and career development. The project must be significant and advance the long-term artistic practice, dissemination of the artist’s work, or career development of the applicant at a key moment in their career. There are three types of project grants:

  • Research/Creation: This type of grant allows for a period of independent research at a key moment in the artistic practice of the applicant. The project must demonstrate the capacity to advance the artistic practice of the artist.
  • Production: This grant supports production costs of one or more works where there is at least one confirmed public presentation of the work(s) in a professional visual arts context. The project must demonstrate the capacity to advance the career of the artist.
  • Career Development: This grant supports the development of an artist’s career through development activities and/or the growth of a professional network with partners such as critics, curators or art dealers. This can be done in conjunction with the development of tools such as websites, portfolios and small monographs. The applicant must demonstrate that the project occurs in a key period with regard to its impact on the progression of his or her career.

Applicants may apply to only ONE of the above project grant types per deadline.

General Eligibility Criteria: To apply to the Canada Council for the Arts, you must be a Canadian citizen or have Permanent Resident status, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. You must also meet the Canada Council’s definition of a professional artist, which is an artist who:

  • has specialized training in the field (not necessarily in academic institutions)
  • is recognized as such by his or her peers
  • is committed to devoting more time to artistic activity, if financially feasible.
  • To meet the above definition of a professional visual artist, you must have:
  • produced an independent body of work
  • maintained an independent professional practice for at least three years after receiving specialized training.
  • made at least three public presentations of work in a professional visual arts context over a three year period

For additional information, please consult the Canada Council for the Arts website.