Endowment Incentives - Canada Cultural Investment Fund

Canada Cultural Investment Fund – Endowment Incentives component encourages private donors to contribute to endowment funds for not-for-profit professional arts organizations, so they can access new sources of funding in the future. Raising capital and creating endowments gives these organizations greater capacity for realizing artistic expression by supporting their long-term stability. Canadians are encouraged to support the arts by providing donations to an arts organization's endowment fund. The government provides matching funds – of up to one dollar for every dollar raised from private donors – to create endowment funds or to increase existing ones.

Grant Deadline

2025-12-01

Funding Amount

Deadline not available

Type of Grant

Grant

Sectors

Arts & Culture

Demographics

Incorporation

Non Profit

Perks

Region Restriction

This grant is restricted to whole of Canada

Keywords

funding, nonprofit, canada, incentives, arts, culture, encourage private, promotes investment

Age Restriction

This grant is age restricted from 18 to 100

Eligibility and Requirements

Who can apply

Your application must be submitted jointly by a not-for-profit professional arts organization and an associated foundation. Each of these two parties must meet the respective eligibility criteria. The foundation becomes the recipient of the matching funds; the not-for-profit professional arts organization is the final beneficiary of the income generated from the foundation's investment.

Associate Foundation

To be eligible for funding, the foundation must be a publicly registered charitable foundation at the time of application, as described in subsection 149.1(1) of the Income Tax Act, and have a mandate to accumulate, administer, and invest capital assets for the purpose of providing part or all the annual income to the beneficiary arts organization.

Beneficiary Arts Organization

To be eligible, the not-for-profit professional arts organization must:

• be incorporated under the appropriate federal, provincial, or territorial legislation; and
• be registered, or operate as a charitable organization as per the Income Tax Act; and
• have as its principal mission (core purpose as outlined in its mission statement):
• the creation or production of professional artistic works; or
• the presentation of professional artistic works; or
• the training of professional artists; and
• receive support from one of the following sources within the last five fiscal years:
• Canada Arts Presentation Fund (CAPF) or the Canada Arts Training Fund (CATF), or the Fathers of Confederation Buildings Trust (FCBT) from the Department of Canadian Heritage; or
• core funding from Canada Council for the Arts (CCA); or
• we may consider project grants/composite grants from CCA or operating funding from a municipal/provincial/territorial arts council. In that instance, the organization must be able to demonstrate that it operates at a professional level as follows:
• i. Not-for-profit professional arts organization that creates, produces, or presents professional artistic works must:
• have a paid artistic director or equivalent; and
• pay artistic fees at established national standards for the artistic discipline(s) and practice in which it operates.
• ii. Not-for-profit professional arts organization that provides training of professional artists must:
• offer a professional program, operating under an artistic director or equivalent, dedicated to preparing students for professional careers in their artistic discipline; and
• have an admission, selection, and evaluation process (portfolio review, auditions, etc.) for students; and
• be staffed by qualified artistic and administrative professionals.
• 
  
• Also, we may consider the achievements and employment status of graduates as an indicator of the professionalism of the training provided by an organization.

In addition, the not-for-profit professional arts organization:

• must have been in operation for a minimum of three years prior to the application; and
• must have reached a certain degree of financial health and demonstrated commitment to its long-term sustainability. Financial health and sustainability of arts organizations must be demonstrated through revenue diversification and sound organizational structure and governance which must be at arm’s length. The financial health of the arts organization is calculated using a combination of financial ratios based on the total operating revenue.; and
• cannot have a negative net assets ratio in excess of 15% of the total operating revenues for the fiscal year. The net assets used in the calculation must exclude any externally restricted components. Both figures (net assets and total operating revenues) to be used in this calculation are based on the most recently completed financial statements, presented according to the generally accepted accounting principles of Canada.

Heritage organizations, competitions, arts service organizations, cultural industries and their associations, Federal agencies, Crown corporations, provinces, territories, and municipalities and their agencies are not eligible under this component.

Funds eligible for matching

Eligible applicants receive funding from us to match the funds raised from private donations, up to a maximum of one dollar for each dollar raised (see also Limits of government assistance section below).

To be considered for matching funds, donations must come from private sources. These can include non-governmental sources such as gifts from individuals, corporations, or non-government foundations.

Funds can also include an amount an arts organization has decided to donate in perpetuity, out of its own assets, to the endowment fund held by its associated foundation.

Only private donations raised and deposited in the 24 months preceding the deadline are eligible to be matched (December 1, 2021 to November 30, 2023).

Funds ineligible for matching:

• Public funds from any levels of government;
• Pledges;
• Bequests in probate;
• Annual revenues generated by an existing endowment fund;
• Private sector donations for which matching funds have already been requested (unmatched portion) from the Endowment Incentives component; and
• Private sector donations for which matching funds have already been awarded through this component or any other government matching fund.

Eligibility

We are responsible for determining the eligibility of the foundation, the arts organization, and matching funds.

Our component is highly competitive. Requests for funding typically exceed available Program resources.

Grant Application website

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/funding/cultural-investment-fund/endowment-incentives.html

Contact

Contact us

Department of Canadian Heritage

Canada Cultural Investment Fund

Endowment Incentives Component

25 Eddy Street 13th floor room 297 (25-13-V)

Gatineau Quebec J8X 4B5

Email

patrimoinecanadienfcic-canadianheritageccif@pch.gc.ca

Telephone

819-997-3955

1-866-811-0055 (toll-free)

TTY

1-888-997-3123 (toll-free)

Program officers are available to answer your questions Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST).