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Entrepreneurship

Recommended resources for research related to entrepreneurship, startups and commercialization: from science and technology literature to market research and patents.

Creative Arts Funding & Grants

Funding

Municipal/Provincial

  • Ontario Trillium Foundation - The Ontario Trillium Foundation offers a range of grants to support non-profit organizations. The mission of the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is to build healthy and vibrant communities throughout Ontario by investing in community-based initiatives and strengthening the impact of Ontario’s non-profit sector.  
  • Ontario Creates - Ontario Creates is an agency of the provincial government whose mandate is to be a catalyst for economic development, investment and collaboration in Ontario’s creative industries including the music, book, magazine, film, television and interactive digital media sectors, both domestically and internationally.
  • Ontario Arts Council: OAC is an agency that operates at arm's length from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. The OAC's grants and services to professional, Ontario-based artists and arts organizations support arts education, Indigenous arts, community arts, crafts, dance, Francophone arts, literature, media arts, multidisciplinary arts, music, theatre, touring, and visual arts. The OAC is directed by 12 volunteer board (council) members who come from communities throughout the province. They are appointed by the Government of Ontario for a three-year term. The OAC's board is responsible for setting OAC's policies and oversees the organization's operation - (from website).
  • Ontario Music Fund: The Ontario Music Fund (OMF), administered by the Ontario Music Office (OMO), is aimed at strengthening and stimulating growth in Ontario’s music companies and supporting this growing sector. The Fund is designed to drive activity and investment and to support Ontario’s music companies and organizations in expanding their economic and cultural footprints within Canada and around the world.
  • Toronto Arts Council: Toronto Arts Council (TAC) is the City of Toronto's funding body for artists and arts organizations. Since 1974, TAC has played a major role in the city’s cultural industries by supporting a very broad range of artistic activity. From the emerging artist to the most established, from celebrated institutions to arts that challenge convention, TAC is typically the first funder to offer support. Today, TAC grants lead to exhibitions, performances, readings and workshops seen annually by almost 10 million people. Through our ongoing funding, TAC cultivates a rich engagement between artists and audiences. We are proud to reflect Toronto’s vibrancy through the diversity of artists, arts communities and audiences that we serve - (from website)
  • Community Based Ontario Grants: This is a comprehensive list of grants that the Ontario Government offers for community programs.

Federal/Other

  • CUE Grants - Throughout history, some of the most innovative artwork has been created by artists who experience marginalization, face systemic barriers, and who have been excluded by conventional arts and cultural institutions. We recognize that arts funding agencies and institutions have struggled to keep up with growing social, cultural, and economic inequality, and with changing demographics. In response, CUE has designed a high-access funding program offering not only financial support for art projects, but also consultation in preparing project proposals, support throughout the production process, and opportunities for public exhibition. 
  • Canada Council for the Arts: The Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.
  • Factor Grant: FACTOR (the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings) is a public/private partnership that supports the production of sound recordings by Canadian musicians and helps Canadian music companies make recordings available to a wider public. FACTOR is committed to reflecting the diversity of the Canadian population in its programs and operations. We are committed to ensuring universal access to all funds and services, including all musical expressions and talent. We will also in our work encourage these values of diversity and inclusiveness within the broader Canadian music sector.
  • Canada Music Fund: The Canada Music Fund (CMF) helps the Canadian music industry meet new challenges. A wide range of musicians and entrepreneurs who create, produce and market original and diverse Canadian music are eligible to apply.
  • ArtReach: Grants allocated for supporting community based arts projects and the young people that make them. ArtReach is an organization designed to support community-based arts initiatives that engage youth from under served populations who have experienced exclusion in Toronto. A guiding principle of ArtReach is that funding needs to be accessible to youth directly, and should empower youth by placing ownership of projects in their own hands. ArtReach encourages youth to take the lead in defining what art means to them, and what resources they need to achieve their goals.

Grant Writing