Arts Across Canada and Abroad — International Co-productions

This stream funds the making of a new work with a partner abroad, not the touring of one that already exists. Two shapes qualify. An artistic co-production is where a Canadian group and one or more foreign organisations pool creative, financial and human resources and share credit as co-creators. A financial co-production is where a Canadian presenter or festival puts money into a new or unfinished work by a foreign artist that will then be performed for audiences in Canada. Either way, the project has to end in a public presentation or publication.

Check the eligibility gate before anything else. Applicants must be artistic groups, arts organisations, First Nations, Inuit or Métis groups, collectives or not-for-profits, or presenting organisations — individual artists cannot apply — and you must already have held at least one Canada Council grant in the previous five years. A first-time applicant is not eligible.

The ceiling is $50,000 per application, and you may apply twice in a calendar year. For an artistic co-production the money can cover artist and technical fees, production or publication costs, space, equipment and materials, travel, accommodation and per diems, promotion and project management, safety costs, child or dependent care needed to carry out the work, and accessibility costs such as interpretation, captioning or an access coordinator. Financial co-productions cover the fee paid to the foreign partner.

Applications are filed through the Canada Council portal, which needs a validated profile set up in advance, and close at 11:59pm Eastern. Results usually arrive within five months, so build that wait into your production schedule.