Bourses aux artistes – Programme Arts et Lettres de Montréal
Offered by Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ)
Who can apply
Emerging artists, including musicians (musique and chanson are both listed disciplines), who have never received a CALQ grant and have no more than five years of professional artistic practice at the time of applying, counted across their whole path including years in another discipline, with discipline-specific conditions on top. You must live in the Montreal administrative region: Montreal itself plus Baie-D Urfe, Beaconsfield, Cote-Saint-Luc, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Dorval, Hampstead, Kirkland, L Ile-Dorval, Mont-Royal, Montreal-Est, Montreal-Ouest, Pointe-Claire, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and Senneville. Laval and the north and south shores are excluded even though they are part of greater Montreal. The project must begin after the submission deadline. The call, forms and guidelines are in French only.
About this opportunity
This is CALQ's way in for artists who have never had a CALQ grant before. It funds an artistic project — in music or chanson among eleven other disciplines — by an emerging artist based on the island of Montreal.
Eligibility is narrow and worth checking carefully. You must have no more than five years of professional artistic practice at the moment you apply, counted across your whole path, including years spent in another discipline; specific conditions vary by discipline. You must never have received a CALQ grant. And you must live in the Montreal administrative region, which means Montreal itself plus Baie-D'Urfé, Beaconsfield, Côte-Saint-Luc, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Dorval, Hampstead, Kirkland, L'Île-Dorval, Mont-Royal, Montréal-Est, Montréal-Ouest, Pointe-Claire, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and Senneville. Laval and the north and south shores are excluded, even though they sit inside the greater Montreal area.
The maximum is $15,000 per selected project. The support is for research, creation, exploration and production. One structural detail catches people out: your project has to begin after the submission deadline, so build your timeline accordingly.
The 2026 round closed at 23:59 on 2 September 2026 and CALQ has not yet published a 2027 date; applications go through the CALQ online portal. The rhythm has been steady, announced in early June and closing in the first week of September. The programme is run in French and the call, the forms and the guidelines are published in French only. CALQ does not publish assessment criteria on the call page itself — check the discipline-specific guidelines, which appear once you select your discipline. For recent rounds, seventeen emerging artists shared $222,800 across all disciplines.
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Frequently asked questions
- When is the deadline for Bourses aux artistes – Programme Arts et Lettres de Montréal?
- The next deadline has not been announced yet. We check this listing regularly and will update it as soon as a date is published.
- Who offers Bourses aux artistes – Programme Arts et Lettres de Montréal?
- Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) runs it, from Canada.
- What funding or support does Bourses aux artistes – Programme Arts et Lettres de Montréal offer?
- Up to CA$15,000 per selected project. This is a first CALQ grant: applicants must never have received one.
- Who can apply for Bourses aux artistes – Programme Arts et Lettres de Montréal?
- Emerging artists, including musicians (musique and chanson are both listed disciplines), who have never received a CALQ grant and have no more than five years of professional artistic practice at the time of applying, counted across their whole path including years in another discipline, with discipline-specific conditions on top. You must live in the Montreal administrative region: Montreal itself plus Baie-D Urfe, Beaconsfield, Cote-Saint-Luc, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Dorval, Hampstead, Kirkland, L Ile-Dorval, Mont-Royal, Montreal-Est, Montreal-Ouest, Pointe-Claire, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and Senneville. Laval and the north and south shores are excluded even though they are part of greater Montreal. The project must begin after the submission deadline. The call, forms and guidelines are in French only.
- How do I apply for Bourses aux artistes – Programme Arts et Lettres de Montréal?
- You apply on the funder's own site. The link is on this page: with a free GrantGigs account for deadlines in the next 30 days, or with Pro for later ones. If applications are new to you, our guide on how to apply for music grants walks through the whole process. Read the guide →
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Bourses aux artistes – Programme Arts et Lettres de Montréal