Guidelines: Artist Development Microgrant 2026

We understand that our programs and processes create barriers to access for many artists and organizations who want to apply. Help is available for applicants even if they choose not to apply for the program.

If you experience accessibility, cultural or language barriers, our staff members can help you with:

• Checking if you are eligible to apply
• Finding the right grant program for your project
• Creating and submitting your grant applications
• Providing any project updates 
• Submitting your final report

Staff Support for Applicants

One of the options for application support is working one-on-one with a staff member to identify your needs and how we can meet them. Our team can assist you over the phone, in-person or online.

Outside Support for Applicants

You also have the option to seek personal one-to-one support from someone outside of Calgary Arts Development to help you with the application process. If this is something you need, we may be able to directly pay that external support person for the hours they spend helping you with your application. It is up to the applicant to determine the amount of time and kinds of support needed, and to set an hourly rate with whoever they choose to work with. If you are new to grant writing, it may be helpful to seek support from someone who has applied for an art grant before or is familiar with writing grants or essays.

To learn more about the kinds of services you can request, please review the Applicant Support & Accessibility Policy.

Staff are able to provide feedback on your drafted application if you reach out before March 16 (for Intake 1) and before September 14 (for Intake 2). After these dates, staff cannot guarantee that your application can be reviewed based on the volume of requests. Please keep in mind that requesting staff feedback is optional and does not guarantee success within a program; however, it may help ensure your application is generally clear, eligible and complete.

Please review these guidelines in full prior to reaching out to program staff. If you have any questions or need help applying, please contact Community Investment Program Specialists:

• Caitlin Russell caitlin.russell@calgaryartsdevelopment.com 403.264.5330 ext.141
• Jasmine Piper jasmine.piper@calgaryartsdevelopment.com 403-264-5330 ext.121

The Artist Development Microgrant provides one-time funding to professional Calgary-based individual artists, artist collectives and cultural workers, working in any discipline, to help support activities related to either artistic professional development or career development and promotion.

The goal of the program is to contribute to the skills and knowledge required to advance artists’ careers and further develop artistic practices in Calgary, by investing in access to education, training and mentorship, marketing and promotion, building skills and networks, and developing entrepreneurship and business skills and strategies.

This program is NOT intended to support activities primarily focused on the research, creation or production of artistic work, presentations, events, workshops, tours or exhibitions. If you are seeking funding for these activities, please refer to the 2026 Project Grant Program for Individuals and Collectives.

Activities funded through Intake 1 may occur anytime between January 1 – December 31, 2026; however, grant results and funding will not occur until May/June of 2026, so applicants must keep this in mind when planning.

Activities funded through Intake 2 may occur anytime between July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027; however, grant results and funding will not occur until November/December of 2026, so applicants must keep this in mind when planning.

Applicants cannot receive the Artist Development Microgrant in back-to-back intakes; however, if you are unsuccessful in Intake 1, you may reapply to Intake 2 if your activities are eligible and fall within the Intake 2 timeline.

Applicants may apply for up to $5,000.

Total funding available for this program is $700,000 ($350,000 per intake).

This program piloted a lottery process in 2024 and 2025 and will utilize a lottery process again for 2026. For more information about the lottery process, please see ‘How Are Grants Awarded’ below.
 

You can learn more about this program by watching our online information session or by bringing your questions to our program staff at one of the live virtual ‘open office spaces’.

Online Information Session

The online information session for the 2026 Artist Development Microgrant is now available on our website.

In this info session, we provide an overview of the program guidelines and application process. ASL interpretation is included in the recording. 

Virtual Open Office Spaces

We are hosting virtual ‘open office spaces’ over Zoom for both intakes of the 2026 Artist Development Microgrant. These sessions are open to any artist interested in applying to this program. 

Artists are encouraged to attend and bring their questions and ideas to program staff and hear from other artists as well! Attendees do not have to stay the whole time and can come and go as they please. There is no formal presentation – just 60 minutes of artist Q+A!

For Zoom security reasons, we ask folks to register before attending. The Zoom link will be provided upon registration. Registering for this session confirms that you agree to our group agreements for this event. Be sure to read the document before signing up.

Intake 1

• February 27, 2026, from 9:30 – 10:30 am. Register here. This session is no longer available.
• March 12, 2026, from 4:30 – 5:30 pm. Register here. 
• March 24, 2026, from 12 – 1 pm. Register here. 

Intake 2

• August 20, 2026, from 9:30 – 10:30 am. Register here. 
• September 9, 2026, from 4:30 – 5:30 pm. Register here. 
• September 22, 2026, from 12 – 1 pm. Register here. 

These drop-in Q+A sessions will not be recorded.

*ASL is not currently booked for these drop-in Q+A sessions. If you are an artist with specific access needs or require translation or interpretation services, please let us know and we will arrange to make sure you have the support and information you need to fairly access the application process. This could include booking a one-on-one session with us instead.

We acknowledge that the land we gather on is the ancestral territory of the Siksikaitsitapi — the Blackfoot people — comprising the Siksika, Kainai and Piikani Nations, as well as Treaty 7 signatories, the Tsuut’ina Nation, and the Îyârhe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney First Nations. Today this land is home to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government Districts 5 and 6 as well as many First Nations and Inuit from across Turtle Island.

Calgary Arts Development is committed to the process of eliminating institutional racism, ableism and barriers in our programs, policies and practices by centring the creativity and leadership of those communities most impacted by structural inequities. Read our full Commitment to Equity statement on our website.

This program is open to Calgary-based (1) individual artists, (2) artist collectives and (3) cultural workers.

Please review the definition for each category below before applying:

1. Individual Artists:
   • We consider a professional artist to be actively pursuing a career in the arts by:
     • Investing in the development of their artistic skills through specialized training, either formal (post-secondary institutions, certificate programs) or informal (mentorship or apprenticeship with a qualified practitioner, cultural knowledge transfer, community or peer-based learning).
     • Investing in the development of their own artistic voice, vision, and goals (i.e. understanding what they make, how, why, and for who).
     • Sharing their original artistic work publicly through exhibitions, performances, publications or other presenting opportunities and being compensated for their work in a manner that is appropriate for their practice.
     • Building relationships with their artistic communities.
     • Artists do not need to be working professionally in the arts full time but are active in the development of their artistic practice. 
     • Artists must be 18+ years of age.
2. Artist Collectives:
   • We consider an artist collective to be:
     • Two or more individual artists with a shared artistic practice where each member of the collective contributes to the vision, accountability, success and completion of their proposed projects.
     • A collective’s shared artistic practice should be distinct from their own individual artistic practices or personal projects.
     • Each collective member must meet Calgary Arts Development’s definition of individual artist or cultural worker to be considered eligible.
     • Collectives should consider having working agreements between members that outline roles, responsibilities, ownership, intellectual property and copyright, decision-making processes, etc.
     • A majority of collective members must be Calgary-based artists (i.e. 50% or more).
     • Collectives may partner together for a specific project or work together on an ongoing basis.
     • Examples of collectives: a band or vocal ensemble, a visual art duo, a theatre or dance collective, a writing partnership (co-writers).
     • An artist collective does not include for-profit organizations, incorporated businesses or non-profit organizations. 
3. Cultural Workers:
   • We consider a cultural worker to be:
     • An individual who makes their living in the arts and culture sector and contributes to the success of an artist or organization’s artistic work in a creative or technical capacity, but who is not necessarily leading the artistic vision of the work being created. This might include production team members such as a costume designer or cutter, sound designer/operator, set designer, lighting designer/operator, etc.
     • In this program, we will consider applications from cultural workers for their own professional development, learning and promotion. The application should be focused on their personal artistic practice, vision and goals.

This program cannot accept applications from arts administrators, agents or managers, production companies, registered for-profit corporations or businesses, or registered not-for-profit organizations.

Artistic disciplines

We welcome applications from those working in all artistic disciplines and their various cultural forms. This includes, but is not limited to: Art for Social Change, Arts Education, Arts Service, Circus Arts, Community Art, Craft, Curatorial Practice, Dance, deaf/Deaf Arts, Digital Arts, Disability and/or Mad Arts, Film, Indigenous Arts, Interdisciplinary, Literary Arts, Media Arts, Multidisciplinary, Music, Opera, Orchestra, Performance, Public Art, Social Practice, Sound Art, Theatre, Transdisciplinary, Visual Arts.

Calgary-based Artists

While projects can take place anywhere, Calgary Arts Development’s granting programs exist to support applicants who are based in Calgary. This means you maintain a permanent residence within Calgary and live at that address for at least six months of the year.

There are exceptions for artists that are away, attending a formal program of study or temporarily touring, exhibiting or presenting their work nationally or internationally. Staff ask artists who are away six (6) months or more of the year to please contact program staff to discuss eligibility before applying.

Calgary Arts Development will consider applications from artists living outside of Calgary city limits within surrounding communities if they can demonstrate:

• That the majority of their work is accessible to Calgarians
• That they have a meaningful and ongoing relationship with the city of Calgary and its artistic communities (including Calgary artists, groups, organizations, venues, audiences, etc.)

Staff will determine eligibility on a case-by-case basis which may require following up with applicants for more information. Staff may also contact out of town applicants in future years to ensure that eligibility requirements are still being met.

Newcomer Artists — Permanent Residency or Citizenship Not Necessary

You do not need to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to receive a grant from us, but you do need to be able to report on this grant to the Canada Revenue Agency. This means you must have a valid Canadian Social Insurance Number or Individual Tax Number to receive this grant. If you are a newcomer, immigrant or refugee artist and have questions or concerns, please contact the program staff listed at the bottom of the page under ‘Contact Information’.

Please review the following eligibility requirements before applying and reach out if you have any questions or need clarification:

• Applicants may not have more than two open grants with Calgary Arts Development. An open grant refers to any grant that you have not submitted a final report for. This does not include open projects in Public Art programs. For more information, please review the Open Grant Policy.
• Applicants may not receive an Artist Development Microgrant in back-to-back intakes, regardless of calendar year. This means if you received an Artist Development Microgrant in Intake 2 of 2025, you cannot apply to Intake 1 of 2026. If you receive an Artist Development Microgrant in Intake 1 of 2026, you may not apply to Intake 2 of 2026.
• Applicants may submit only one application per program deadline.
• Individual artists may be involved in more than one application, either as a participant in another artist’s application, or as a member of an artist collective.
• We cannot fund the same phase of a project or activity more than once, regardless of calendar year.
• You may not apply to this program if you have any final reports past their due date for prior grants.

Applicants may apply for activities that fall within ONE of the following program streams, but not both. Applicants may choose to apply to EITHER:

• Artistic Professional Development, or
• Career Development & Promotion

Please see ‘Program Streams’ below for a full description of each stream including a list of eligible activities and expenses that fall within each.

IMPORTANT: Your application must include specific details and dates for all planned or completed activities. While activities do not have to be fully confirmed at the time of applying, applicants must provide specific details about their proposed activities. For example, who they will engage as a mentor, which courses they will be taking or which residency they are applying to.

Applicants may apply for up to $5,000.

Activities funded through Intake 1 may occur anytime between January 1 – December 31, 2026; however, grant results and funding will not occur until May/June of 2026 so applicants must keep this in mind when planning.

Activities funded through Intake 2 may occur anytime between July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027; however, grant results and funding will not occur until November/December of 2026, so applicants must keep this in mind when planning.

Applicants can only apply to one program stream, not both. Please select the stream that best fits the core goal and purpose of your activities. Below are descriptions for each of the two program streams, along with a list of eligible activities that fall within each:

Stream 1: Artistic Professional Development

This stream is for activities related to the professional development of your artistic practice, skills, knowledge and relationships through mentorship, continuing education, training, learning or development opportunities. Activities may take place online or in person — locally, nationally or internationally.

Eligible activities in this stream may include:

• Courses, classes, workshops: This refers to accessing and attending artistic training opportunities to develop your artistic skills, techniques or knowledge.
  • This does not include post-secondary degree or diploma granting educational programs but can include continuing education courses or certificates.
  • This does not include planning or offering your own courses, classes or workshops to the community.
• Mentorships: This refers to a structured agreement with a mentor(s) with clear learning goals. Mentorship in this stream would be related to developing artistic skills, techniques or approaches to your practice.
  • Applicants must clearly describe the benefit of the mentorship, their learning goals, the mentor’s role, time commitment and compensation.
  • Artistic creation or production cannot be the primary activity or focus of a mentorship but may be a byproduct or a secondary outcome.
  • This does not include activities related to hiring someone to help edit or finalize your artistic work (such as hiring an editor to complete your book, a dramaturg to workshop your play, or a producer to record your album). While you may learn through these artistic relationships, they are primarily centered on the creation and completion of work, not on mentorship.
• Residencies: This refers to a formal residency program with an application process and cost to attend. Self-planned residencies are not eligible.

Stream 2: Career Development & Promotion

This stream is for activities related to the strategic development and promotion of your artistic practice. This could involve activities or opportunities related to documenting, marketing, promoting or sharing your completed artistic work. Activities could also involve learning specific administrative skills or developing business models for your art practice, or developing artistic networks, markets, or income streams. Activities may take place online or in person — locally, nationally or internationally.

Eligible activities in this stream may include:

• Courses, classes, workshops: This refers to accessing and attending training opportunities in the areas of legal, finance, accounting, entrepreneurship, marketing, etc. in relation to your artistic practice.
  • Artistic training would fall under Stream 1 (Artistic Professional Development).
• Mentorships: This refers to a structured agreement with a mentor(s) with clear learning goals. Mentorship should be related to learning skills and knowledge, such as legal, financial, accounting, entrepreneurship, marketing, etc.
  • Applicants must clearly describe the benefit of the mentorship, their learning goals, the mentor’s role, time commitment and compensation.
  • Artistic mentorship would fall under Stream 1 (Artistic Professional Development).
• Development of plans, models, frameworks or strategies: This refers to the development of strategies, models, frameworks, tools, templates or plans related to your personal artistic practice. This may include hiring a consultant to work on developing these with you or purchasing specific programs to help support the administration of your artistic practice.
  • For example, investing in accounting software, a budgeting tool or project management system, or hiring a consultant to develop a strategic plan for your artistic practice.
• Documentation of work: This refers to having your artistic work or processes professionally documented for portfolio development, marketing and promotion, archiving, etc. This might include photography, audio or videography costs to have your completed artistic work documented.
  • This grant cannot cover costs related to the creation or development of the work itself.
• Marketing, branding and promotion: This refers to activities related to the marketing, branding and promotion of your artistic practice. This might include website development or redesign, social media marketing, content strategy and development, interviews, business cards, releases or launches, etc.
  • This grant cannot cover costs related to the creation or development of the artistic work itself.
  • While this grant is not intended to produce presentations, events, tours, or exhibitions, we will consider launches or releases of newly completed work to be part of marketing and promotion. For example, a book launch, album release, film premier, or an invited performance showcase that is intended to get your work picked up.
  • We will also consider the production and release of a music video to be part of the marketing and promotion of a song or album that has already been created.
• Invited opportunities, conferences, conventions, or industry events: This refers to attending events with the primary focus of networking, learning about the industry, and/or promoting and sharing your artistic work or knowledge. This could include being invited to present at a conference or perform at an awards show. It could include attending a conference, having a booth at a convention, traveling to a screening of your film, or traveling to present your work at an exhibition.
  • This grant cannot cover artist fees or costs related to the creation or development of the work itself. And this does not include self-produced presentations, events, tours, or exhibitions.

IMPORTANT: Only eligible applications and expenses will be included in the lottery. If your application includes both eligible and ineligible activities and expenses, program staff may only include the eligible portion of the grant request in the lottery, at their discretion. Please review the guidelines and reach out if you have any questions before applying.

Eligible Expenses

Please ensure that your activities are eligible for this program, then refer to the list below for guidance on eligible expenses. Any expense requested must be directly related to the completion and success of your proposed project.

• Accessibility expenses (e.g., interpretation, translation, support workers, aid devices or tools such as screen readers)
  • You may only request the purchase of accessibility equipment and software and/or request a support worker if it is directly related to carrying out the activity. You must specify the accessibility equipment you wish to purchase, the support worker’s role, why it’s needed, and what it costs.
• Course fees (for courses that do not count toward the pursuit of a credit, diploma or degree-granting program)
• Documentation (e.g., photography, videography, audio)
• Elder and knowledge keeper fees (fees paid to an Elder or knowledge keeper who provided their time and expertise)
• Marketing, promotion, publicity or outreach (e.g. ad purchases, printing promotional materials, hiring a marketing company)
• Professional fees (e.g., fees paid to individuals offering professional services such as mentorship, web design, publicity or marketing, financial, accounting or legal services)
• Technical fees (e.g., web service fees, licensing fees, subscription fees – for the duration of your proposed activity, up to one (1) year maximum)
• Honorariums (a gifted payment made to a person who provided their services in a voluntary capacity)
• Subsistence expenses (living expenses for your primary residence which may include housing, food, internet, dependent care – up to $3,000 per month)
  • You may only request subsistence if it is necessary to complete your activity. The amount requested should directly correspond to the duration of your proposed activity and the time commitment required to undertake it.
• Travel expenses (e.g., such as airfare, gas mileage, transit or ride services to attend a conference, residency, course, etc.)
• Accommodation (e.g., hotels or short-term rentals while not at your primary residence)
• Per diem (a daily rate for meals and incidentals while not at your primary residence)
• Materials
  • You may only request materials if they are necessary to complete your activity. For example, you may need to purchase specific supplies for a residency or training course.
• Rental of equipment
• Purchase of equipment (including hardware and permanent software)
  • You may only request the purchase of equipment if it is necessary to complete your activity. You must specify the equipment you wish to purchase, why it’s needed, and what it costs. Equipment primarily intended for the creation and production of work is not eligible.
• Rental of space
  • You may only request space rental if it is necessary to complete your activity. For example, renting space to have your work documented in, or covering your studio rent during the period that you are undertaking a mentorship or training that requires dedicated space.

Please note that eligible expenses for this program (such as personal living expenses like subsistence) may not be considered deductible project expenses by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Please consult CRA guidelines as needed when creating your budget.

Ineligible Activities

This program is not intended to support the following:

• Activities primarily focused on the research, creation or production of artistic work, presentations, events, workshops, tours, or exhibitions.
• Activities that do not comply with or respect cultural protocols.
• Activities that use or present Indigenous cultural material, traditional knowledge or stories without express permission from the community and/or clear connection to the originating community.
• Activities or individuals that willfully or in bad faith promote intolerance, hatred or hate speech to incite violence or harm.
• Activities that are illegal or contravene provincial or federal law, or municipal bylaws.
• Contests and competitions.
• Fundraising activities (e.g., undertaken to raise funds on behalf of a political party or charity).
• Activities related to campaigning for a specific political candidate or party in an election.

Ineligible Expenses

Funds from this program are not intended to support the following:

• Artist fees
  • Artist fees are specific to the creation, production or presentation of work. As this grant is not intended to support the creation, production or presentation of work, artist fees are generally considered an ineligible expense.
  • Subsistence, honoraria, and fees intended for creation are not eligible.
  • There may be exceptions around the inclusion of artist fees in some cases. Please reach out to program staff before including artist fees in your budget.
• Lost wages or salaries.
• Purchase of any equipment not directly related to an eligible activity.
• Purchase of, or financial contribution towards land or buildings.
• Tuition or other costs related to the pursuit of post-secondary degree or diploma educational programs, or artistic work related to those educational programs.

Please note that the eligible and ineligible expenses listed are given as examples and are not exclusive. If you are unsure about expenses, please reach out to discuss before applying.

We accept applications through an online grant platform. If you don’t already have an account with us, you will need to create an account and set up your user profile before you can apply.

Individual artists must apply using their individual account, and artist collectives must apply using their collective account. These must be distinct accounts that use a unique email address when registering.

The application for this program will become available in the online grant platform at 9 am on February 23, 2026 (for Intake 1) and August 10, 2026 (for Intake 2). You will find the application form under ‘Open Opportunities’ when you login.

Please contact grants@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or call 403.476.2031 for help with any questions or technical issues.

Complete Your Profile

In the online grant platform, you will need to ensure your ‘individual artist’ or ‘artist collective’ profile is filled out and up to date before you submit your grant application.

Your profile includes important information, such as:

• Contact Information; Years of Practice; Artistic Discipline(s); Artistic Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV); and an Artistic Practice Statement (100 – 300 words)

Some of your profile information will be automatically transferred to your grant application.

Complete Your Application

To begin your grant application, login to the online grant platform and select ‘Open Opportunities’. There you will see any grant programs that are currently open. Once available, select this program and begin a draft application. As you work on your application, remember to save your progress regularly.  Once your application is complete, please ‘submit’ before the stated application deadline. You should receive an email confirming your submission. If not, please call or email us to confirm.

The application form will ask for the following information:

• Brief Description (25 words or less)
• Funding Request (up to $5,000)
• Project Start and End Date
• Primary Discipline
  • Select the artistic discipline that is most relevant to this application.
• Program Steam
  • Read the definitions and select the program stream that best fits the core goal and purpose of your application: (1) Artistic Professional Development, or (2) Career Development & Promotion.
• Written Description
  • Question 1: Describe what you want to do with this grant, including what will happen or has happened, when and where activities will take place and who is involved. (300 words max)
  • Question 2: Describe your goals and why this activity or opportunity is important to you at this stage of your practice/career. (300 words max)
• Budget
  • Fill out the budget form with all relevant project expenses and revenues.
  • Use the notes section of the budget form to describe each expense in detail and show your calculations. Please be specific and break down your expenses for clarity.
• Support Material (upload pdfs or audio/visual files)
  • Support material is mandatory to include and can impact the eligibility of your application.
  • If your application includes any of the activities or expenses below, you will need to include the corresponding support material described in the table below.

Staff are reviewing many applications, so please only provide information that is directly relevant to your activities and budget. Feel free to combine multiple PDFs into one upload area as well.

Program staff will be reviewing applications for completeness and eligibility based on the following five (5) program considerations. Each of these program considerations must be met for an application to be considered eligible and put forward into the lottery process. For more information about the staff review and lottery process please see “How Are Grants Awarded”.

1. Does the applicant appear to be eligible?
   • Applicants must meet Calgary Arts Development’s definition of Calgary-based.
   • Applicants must meet Calgary Arts Development’s definition of professional individual artist, artist collective or cultural worker.
2. Do the activities included in the application appear to be eligible?
   • Multiple activities may be included in one application; however, all activities must fall into either the ‘Artistic Professional Development’ stream or the ‘Career Development & Promotion’ stream, not both.
   • Activities cannot be primarily focused on the research, creation or production of artistic work, shows, events, workshops, tours, or exhibitions. Artistic creation or production may be a byproduct in some cases. For example, a secondary outcome of attending an artist residency may be the creation of work, but it should not be the primary focus.
3. Do all expenses in the budget appear to be eligible?
   • Requested expenses must fall within the list of ‘eligible expenses’ outlined in the ‘Program Streams’ section.
   • Any requests for equipment, materials, space rentals or subsistence will only be deemed eligible if they appear to be necessary to complete your activity. These requests must be specific and clearly broken down in the budget notes and support materials.
   • Artist fees or other payments made to support artistic creation are ineligible within this program. There may be some exceptions (for example, launch events, releases, or the production of music videos may include artist fees). If you intend to include compensation for artistic creation, we recommend reaching out for staff approval first.
4. Does the application include the support material required to describe their proposed activities and expenses?
   • Staff will reference the Support Material table outlined in the ‘Application Checklist’ section to ensure required support material has been included.
5. Does there appear to be clear and supported relationships and compensation for others involved, if relevant?
   • If an application involves accessing mentorship from a specific person, has the applicant include confirmation from the mentor directly? Do they clearly describe the benefit of the mentorship, their learning goals, the mentor’s role, time commitment and compensation?
   • If there are other people that are being hired or engaged (such as a photographer, website designer, marketing company, legal expert, or other service provider), has the applicant included information that demonstrates the service they are providing, the scope of the work and their payment (from either a quote, negotiated rate or researched cost)?

Applications to this program will be reviewed by program staff on the Community Investment team. Staff are responsible for reviewing applications for eligibility and completeness according to the Program Considerations outlined above.

Only eligible applications and expenses will be included in the lottery process. If your application includes any ineligible activities or expenses, those will not be included in the lottery. Program staff will determine the eligible and ineligible portions based on what has been provided in your grant application. If there is not enough information in the application to determine this, the full grant request will not move forward to the lottery.

LOTTERY PROCESS

In each intake, the funding pool ($350,000 per intake) will be divided between the two program streams based on the number of applicants that apply to each stream, and the dollar amount requested within each stream:

• Stream 1: Artistic Professional Development
• Stream 2: Career Development & Promotion

All eligible applications will be entered into a lottery for each stream. Applications will be drawn at random and awarded funding until the available funds run out. If anyone declines the grant after being awarded, the next person on the original randomized list is offered funding.

Calgary Arts Development reserves the right to adjust assessment processes and the program timeline due to application volume. Applicants will be notified if significant changes occur.

Applicants will be automatically notified of their results by the online grant platform to the email address indicated in your profile. Please add the email address donotreply@smartsimplemailer.ca to your contact list to minimize delays in receiving notifications from us.

If you have not received an email notification by May 8, 2026 (for Intake 1) or November 9, 2026 (for Intake 2), please check your junk/spam folder before reaching out to grants@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.

Successful applicants will receive an automated notification through the online grant platform with instructions on how to accept their grant and receive funding.

Successful applicants will be required to provide the following information via a ‘Detailed Information Collection Form’: legal name, current mailing address, Social Insurance Number and a direct deposit form with your banking information. We use electronic fund transfers to make grant payments. This ‘Detailed Information Collection Form’ will be made available to successful grantees in the online grant platform under ‘My Action Required’.

Once the form has been submitted and approved by a staff member, successful applicants will be sent an investment agreement via DocuSign and must sign and return the agreement within 30 days to receive funding.

Calgary Arts Development will provide a T4A tax form to successful grantees for the full grant amount received during a calendar year. This includes the primary applicant receiving grant payment on behalf of an artist collective. Please note that you must have a valid Canadian Social Insurance Number or Individual Tax Number to receive this grant.

If you have any questions about tax requirements for artist grants, it is a good idea to discuss these with a tax professional or consult Canada Revenue Agency guidelines. There is additional tax information in our Investment Program FAQ.

Final Reporting

Successful grantees will be required to complete a brief final report to share an update on their completed activities, any learnings and how the grant benefited their practice, along with an updated budget with actuals.

Final reports are due within 60 days of the stated ‘project end date’ in your application. If you need to request an extension, please reach out to discuss this with program staff before your current reporting deadline.

Final reports are assigned in the online grant platform and can be found under ‘My Action Required’ when you login.

Successful applicants may also be invited to participate in optional surveys, research and peer-to-peer learning.

Applicants who are not successful in their application may reapply for the same project to other Calgary Arts Development grant programs, if the project still meets eligibility requirements.

We welcome any feedback you may have on the application process at any time. Since this program utilized a lottery process, feedback will only be offered to applicants that had ineligible activities or expenses.

To find other opportunities at Calgary Arts Development visit All Opportunities at a Glance. If you would like to know more about other opportunities in the arts ecosystem, including other arts funders, you are welcome to reach out to any of our program specialists.

Policies

Applicant Support & Accessibility Policy
Deadline Extension Policy
Disclosure of Grant Information Policy
Open Grant Policy

Other

Group Agreements
Frequently Asked Questions