Emergency Community Response Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations

On April 17, the Prime Minister announced an investment of $500 million in the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage, and Sport Organizations, to support organizations who have had their operations and revenue impacted by COVID-19. This fund will provide much-needed support to organizations who do not qualify for other benefits that have been put in place for the sector.

This funding program will be implemented in two phases. The first phase is currently underway, and will include additional funds given to recipients of existing grants who are projecting significant financial impact due to COVID-19. Existing recipients of the following programs will receive a formula-based top-up from the program that they received funding from:

• Canada Periodical Fund

• Canada Book Fund

• Canada Factor Fund (via FACTOR and Musicaction)

• Canada Arts Training Fund

• Canada Arts Presentation Fund

• Harbourfront Centre Funding Program

• Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage Program

• Sport Support Program

• Digital Citizen Contribution Program

Canadian Heritage will be in contact with recipients of these programs in the coming days to share the attestation form that organizations must submit to access funds. To be eligible, organizations must attest that they need funding to continue operations and safeguard jobs; are operating at the time of application and plan to continue operating; have not received funding from multiple sources to cover the same costs; and, where possible, the funding will be used to support workers, creators, and artists.

Support will also be distributed by Canada Council of the Arts, Canada Media Fund, and Telefilm Canada to organizations who received funding from them from April 2, 2017, through March 31, 2020. Recipients of more than one of these programs will access support through the organization that provided the most funding during the above time period.

Canada Council of the Arts will be contacting eligible organizations in the coming days and encourages organizations who believe they may be eligible to contact them if they do not receive this communication. Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada require organizations to apply online if they meet eligibility requirements. More information can be found on the Canada Council of the Arts, Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada websites.

Organizations can expect to receive up to 25% of their most recently approved funding from the distributing body. By distributing the funds in this way, support will reach organizations in need quickly and efficiently. Organizations who are not eligible in this first phase may be eligible in the second phase, although details on this phase are not fully available yet. More information can be found here.