Celebration and Commemoration Grant Program

The Commemorate Canada program provides funding to initiatives that commemorate and celebrate historical figures, places, events and accomplishments of national significance. The program favours commemorations and celebrations marking 25th, 50th, 75th, 100th anniversaries and subsequent anniversaries in increments of 25 years. For the commemoration of an individual, at least 10 years must have passed following their death.

Grant Deadline

2024-10-01

Funding Amount

$10,000

Type of Grant

Grant

Sectors

Arts & Culture, Educational Services, Film, Music, Tourism, All Sectors, Media

Demographics

Incorporation

For Profit

Perks

Region Restriction

This grant is restricted to whole of Canada

Keywords

Age Restriction

This grant is age restricted from 18 to 100

Eligibility and Requirements

Who can apply

To be eligible for funding, your organization must be a:

Canadian not-for-profit organization: corporation, trust, cooperative, or unincorporated association;
Canadian for-profit organization where proposed projects are non-commercial in nature;
Canadian educational institution; or
Canadian provincial/territorial, municipal government, Indigenous government (or equivalent authority) or another municipal, provincial or territorial institution.

The following are not eligible:

private individuals, and political parties; and
the federal government (with the exception of the Canada Place Corporation for Canada Day celebrations, as per the amendment to the Canada Marine Act).

Organizations may apply either individually or as partners in a joint project. In the case of partnerships, one organization must assume the lead role and responsibility for the project.

When third party delivery organizations are involved, the primary recipient of funding received through a contribution agreement must ensure that the ultimate recipients who receive financial assistance are eligible recipients under these eligibility criteria.

Eligible projects

To be eligible for funding from Commemorate Canada, your project must:

take place in Canada;
be national or multi-regional in scope;
contribute to increasing awareness by Canadians of Canadian history;
contribute to increasing the sense of pride and belonging to Canada;
increase opportunities for Canadians to participate in commemorative activities of national significance;
engage at least one of the following target groups: youth; Indigenous; official-language minority communities; and ethnocultural communities;
engage the media; and
have obtained financial or in-kind support from other sources.

Additional requirements for projects involving monuments or commemorative plaques:

the subject must be of national symbolic importance for Canada;
a site must be appropriated; and
the project must include the development of interpretive programs and/or educational materials.

The project must not be designed for fundraising purposes or generate commercial advantage or profit.

Where the subject of the commemoration is a place, achievement or event, the proposal for commemoration should highlight the subject's 25th, 50th, 75th, 100th anniversary and subsequent such anniversaries. Where the subject is a person, the proposal should follow the same approach while taking into account that the subject must be deceased, must have been active in Canada and a minimum of ten years must have passed following the death of the individual.

Eligible expenses

Only project-related expenses, which can be of cash and in-kind value, are eligible. These may include:

educational and learning materials, documentaries and research, website development, travelling and on-line exhibits, forums and conferences, plaques and monuments;
promotional expenses, marketing and communications (including translation and signage);
project expenses, including project coordination and implementation, professional services, event management and production costs, entertainment, supplies, rental equipment (sound, lighting);
ongoing administrative costs (not exceeding 15% of the total contribution), including ongoing salaries and benefits, administrative fees, bank charges, utilities; and
reasonable travel/hospitality expenses inside Canada, which must not exceed the rates permitted for travel on government business.

Ineligible costs include, but are not limited to:

costs related to major infrastructure such as building/restoration of roads, bridges, buildings and purchase of land;
lobbying activities, advocacy;
ongoing activities (ex. production and distribution of regular issues of magazines, periodicals or newsletters);
fairs and festivals; and
fundraising activities.

In-kind contributions are considered real contributions to the cost of the proposed project but are not reimbursable. Donated goods and services may be considered in-kind contributions if they:

are essential to your project's success;
are eligible and would otherwise have to be purchased or paid for by you;
can be measured at fair market value (i.e. in relation to similar goods and services); and
are balanced by an equal revenue in your budget (i.e. total in-kind expenses equal total in-kind revenues).

We cannot fund expenses incurred before we receive your application. If you incur expenses for your project before receiving written confirmation of your funding approval, you will be doing so at your own risk.

Eligibility

We are responsible for determining the eligibility of each applicant, its project and project-related expenses.

Meeting the eligibility criteria does not guarantee funding.

Grant Application website

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/funding/commemorate-canada/application-guidelines.html

Contact

Email submissions

We encourage you to submit your application package electronically to the following email address:

pch.commemorationcanada-commemoratecanada.pch@canada.ca

Contact us

For further information, please contact us:

Department of Canadian Heritage

Commemorate Canada

15 Eddy Street

Gatineau, Quebec

K1A 0M5

Email