Canada Arts Training Fund

The Canada Arts Training Fund (CATF) supports arts training in Canada. The CATF provides financial support for the ongoing operations of Canadian arts organizations that specialize in training artists for professional national or international artistic careers, at the highest levels.

Budget 2022 Supplemental Funding

• In the Federal Budget 2022, the Government of Canada announced that it will provide an ongoing increase of $5 million to the budget of the Canada Arts Training Fund (CATF) starting in 2022-2023. The increase to $5 million will be phased in progressively over three years, between 2022-2023 and 2024-2025.
• The “Supporting A More Inclusive Arts Sector” initiative will continue to support the arts sector’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and to address historic inequities in funding levels for Indigenous and racialized arts training organizations. Applicants are advised to address these priorities when preparing their funding applications.
• If you have any questions regarding the eligibility of your organization for the Canada Arts Training Fund, please contact the program at: fondsducanpoursecdesarts-canartstrainingfund@pch.gc.ca

Who can apply

To be eligible for funding, your arts organization must:

• be incorporated in Canada as a non-profit organization;
• exist primarily to provide professional arts training, or have established professional arts training as an integral component of your overall activities;
• offer training activities in Canada that clearly align with program objectives;
• demonstrate that the training for which funding is requested is not funded as a provincial post-secondary education activity. For example, arts organizations who operate independently from a provincial / territorial educational program, are governed by their own Board of directors and administer their own budget;
• receive support for at least 30% of costs related to the training work, from sources other than the Canada Arts Training Fund, such as tuition, other levels of government, fundraising (20% for Indigenous and ethnocultural organizations);
• be directed by recognized professionals in the discipline in which training is provided. While you may operate other concurrent activities for different purposes, the training program should be staffed with professionals from that artistic discipline;
• have sufficient administrative capacity to support organizational objectives and to comply with funding conditions;
• have delivered for a minimum of three consecutive years the professional training program and have maintained full time administrative operations in support of the training program;
• have a track record of significant artistic achievement at the national level, with graduates having a national impact and achieving wide recognition in their discipline; often in a leadership capacity within their artistic field, for example a principal dancer, choreographer, artistic director, lead actor, musician, circus artists, playwright, composer, visual artists;
• be accessible to Canadians through a national, competitive admission process available in both of Canada's official languages, including a bilingual website and information material, and a bilingual audition process. An exception will be made for training programs in a language-specific art form such as theatre. Exceptions may also be made for training programs involving students aged 10 to 19 years, where the accompanying academic education is offered in only one language; and
• have a national student body with at least 20% of its student body from regions outside the training area.

Indigenous and ethnocultural organizations can be exempted of having:

• a national, competitive admission process in both official languages;
• a bilingual website;
• a bilingual audition process; and
• a national student body with at least 20% of its student body from outside the training area.

Application deadline

June 30

How to apply

• Read the Application Guidelines; and
• Create or access your Canadian Heritage account and apply online.

• Apply

Contact us

Department of Canadian Heritage
Arts Branch
Canada Arts Training Fund
25 Eddy Street
Gatineau (Québec)
J8X 4B5

Email

For technical support with the Canadian Heritage Online System: enligne-online@pch.gc.ca

For program-related inquiries: fondsducanpoursecdesarts-canartstrainingfund@pch.gc.ca

Telephone

819-997-0055
1-866-811-0055 (toll-free)

TTY

1-888-997-3123 (toll-free)

Agents are available to answer your questions Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST).