Icebreaker

Submission of applications starting from January 13, 2025
Please note that the application form is currently unavailable. It will be available on the ORORA portal from January 13, 2025.

Who is this program for?

• Unincorporated artists’ collectives
• Non-profit professional arts organizations

What are the program’s objectives?

This pilot program aims to:

• improve the conditions of practice and the professional development of collectives and organizations applying for assistance under the CAM en tournée for the first time
• support, equip and stimulate artists by providing them with the appropriate environment and means so they can disseminate their works
• facilitate meetings, networking, and skills sharing through tailored coaching and mentorship as part of a residency in the Maisons de la culture de Montréal network
• strengthen the capacity of collectives and organizations to reach new audiences and connect with citizens through art close to home
• improve the artists’ ability to promote their artistic work among dissemination networks through relevant promotional materials

What are the specifics of this program?

In a shared desire to support the dissemination of a new artistic work, the Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM) and the Maisons de la culture de la ville de Montréal (MCM) are joining forces to offer four days of technical support and guidance culminating in a public presentation. This Icebreaker event, which will be held in September 2025, is the perfect opportunity to connect with audiences and introduce the project to other presenters.

Note that for visual arts, the sequence can be modular and includes four days of guidance with an opening or presentation of the project.

Icebreaker will take place in any one of Montréal’s 19 boroughs. Program projects can take place in performance venues, exhibition rooms, outdoor scenes designed specifically for artistic presentation or in other spaces, such as municipal parks or public squares.

What type of assistance is provided?

Successful projects will receive a grant of up to $15,000 to cover costs directly related to the following: 

• artists’ fees for the days of residence and performance
• technical equipment rental costs (if required)
• daily fees for the technicians of the collective or organization
• marketing and promotion fees (up to $2,000) through photos and a video
• administration costs for coordinating the residence
• travel expenses, daily allowances (meals)
• transport costs for the work, sets or equipment
• insurance costs (important to have insurance)

What do the partners contribute?

The Conseil des arts de Montréal

It acts as an intermediary between Montréal collectives or organizations and the host structures of the Maisons de la culture. It offers a coaching service to successful applicants.

The participating Maisons de la culture de Montréal

They cover:

• access to material resources for four days based on the type of venue (performance hall, gallery, rehearsal studio, public square, etc.)
• coaching plus logistical and technical support for four days
• mentorship from the presenter on artistic and dissemination issues (max. three hours)
• promotion and communication for the Icebreaker event
• presentation of artists and their work to the public in a professional context during the Icebreaker event

How long does the support last?

The funding provided is one-time and non-recurring and will be determined after the Territorial Initiatives team has verified the budget.  

The proposed projects must be completed between September 8 and 28, 2025. 

What are the general eligibility criteria?

Arts organizations

Status and conditions:

• be a non-profit organization or artists’ cooperative that pays no dividends 
• be headquartered on the Island of Montréal
• have a Board of Directors composed mainly of Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada 
• have a main mandate to create, produce or disseminate artistic works  

Professional requirements:

• possess a level of recognized and demonstrable competence
• be managed by qualified individuals
• have presented activities of a recognized artistic quality
• be staffed by professional artists and/or cultural workers

Artists’ collectives

Status and conditions:

• have a designated member responsible for the application
• be a group of artists, regardless of the number (minimum of two)
• two thirds of its members must be artists with Canadian citizenship or permanent residence; the proportion of members of the collective residing outside Canada may not exceed one third
• the majority of the collective’s members (50% +1) must reside in Montréal, including the person responsible for the application
• be composed of professional artists

What works are eligible?

To be eligible, the proposed work must, at the time of submission, never have been publicly presented in a professional context. Projects under development or in the final stages of creation are not eligible.

How many applications will be accepted?

The number of applications accepted is re-evaluated each year on the basis of participating broadcasters, the number of applications and the Conseil’s strategic priorities.

What types of works, applicants, activity sectors and applications are ineligible?

Works

• Works not completed by the time of submission
• Works that have already been created and presented at least once at the time of submission
• Works that are essentially promotional

Applicants

• Individual artists
• Collectives and organizations that have previously applied for support from the CAM en tournée program
• Collectives and organizations that do not meet the general and specific eligibility requirements
• Artists’ collectives incorporated as for-profit or not-for-profit companies, general partnerships or limited partnerships
• Public and parapublic organizations acting on behalf of governments and municipal corporations
• Organizations dedicated to teaching, education and professional training
• Groups, associations, service organizations or artists’ agents
• Individual businesses

Activity sectors

• Organizations or cooperatives working exclusively in variety arts or comedy
• Organizations or cooperatives working exclusively in cultural mediation

Applications

• Incomplete applications
• Applications received after the deadline
• Same proposal submitted in two different disciplines

Ineligible applications will not be considered by the evaluation committee.

Can specific populations receive additional financial support to submit their application or complete their project (accessibility costs)?

Yes. Accessibility costs refer to costs that certain individuals, particularly those who are D/deaf and/or living with a disability, must pay to take advantage, in the same way as others do, of the services and programs offered by an institution for research, to create, produce or disseminate their art. Reimbursement of part of these costs by the Conseil des arts de Montréal may offset the financial disadvantage.

The Support Fund for Accessibility Costs is a financial assistance measure that complements the Conseil’s other programs. The deadline to apply for support for accessibility costs is the same as that for the program being applied to.

Artists, collectives or organizations that have obtained financial assistance from the Conseil to carry out a project can also file an application for accessibility cost support up to three months after the decisions related to the successful project have been sent out, provided the project is not completed before the deadline to send out decisions for accessibility cost support applications.

Support is divided into three components:

• component 1 – Financial support to submit a grant application or to apply for one of the Conseil’s initiatives
• component 2 – Financial support for accessibility costs for a project funded by the Conseil
• component 3 – Financial support for presenter organizations for accessibility costs to welcome audiences for a project funded by the Conseil

For more details, please see this additional information on the Support Fund.

Can I submit more than one application in the same year?

Only one work may be submitted annually to the Icebreaker program.

Who should submit the application?

Artists’ collectives

The collective’s representative is the person in charge of the application.

Please note that at the end of the year, the person responsible for applications will receive the tax slips (T4A and Relevé 1) for the grant amount.

Non-profit arts organizations

The organization’s or cooperative’s designated representative (administration, management) is the person responsible for the application.

What information and documents must I include in my application?

For all applications

• Completed application form
• A budget using the Excel form provided
• A technical data sheet for the work
• Internet links (three maximum) that present excerpts or complete works
• If there have been any amendments, amended letters patent and by-laws of the organization
• Organizations that are applying to the Conseil des arts de Montréal for any program for the first time will need to provide: the organization’s letters patent, by-laws and most recent financial statements. 

How are applications evaluated?

Applications are evaluated by members of the sectoral evaluation committees and representatives of the Maisons de la culture de Montréal. All works are evaluated on merit, taking into account the dissemination potential and the comparative value of all of the applications.

What are the evaluation criteria?

Artistic quality 45%

• Quality of previous works by the members of the collective or organization
• Originality: how the work stands out from all artistic proposals
• Audacity: work showing imagination, creativity and difference in the subject matter, its artistic composition and practice
• Merit of the project in terms of the artistic approach and the applicant’s discipline

Impact 35%

• Impact of the Icebreaker component on the development of the collective or organization
• Relevance of the project for target communities
• Ability of the collective or organization to forge ties with the community(ies) targeted by the proposed work
• Ability of the work to reach residents of the Island of Montréal

Feasibility 20%

• Availability of spaces based on expressed needs
• Realistic budget forecasts and efforts made to compensate artists
• Ability to coordinate and complete the project

What is the response time?

It will take 8 to 12 weeks from the deadline for the CAM to process the application and reach a decision.

The decision-making process involves four steps:

• the territorial initiatives team receives and checks the eligibility of the application
• the sectoral evaluation committee submits their artistic evaluations and recommendations based on evaluation criteria
• the Maisons de la culture network presenters review the works recommended for the Icebreaker program and select those that will be part of the 2025 edition
• the CAM Board of Directors meets to make a final decision and award the funding. A commitment contract relating to the Icebreaker program must be entered into between the presenters and the participants in this program

How will I be informed of the decision?

The collective’s representative will receive an email invitation to view the results on the ORORA platform. No decisions will be communicated by phone.

Can I appeal the decision?

The Conseil’s decisions are final and not subject to appeal. However, Conseil staff are available to answer any questions regarding decisions. 

Applicants agree not to communicate with members of the evaluation committee or the Conseil’s Board of Directors about the management or evaluation of their application, or about decisions related to their application. 

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Commitments

Accepting payment of the grant constitutes, for the artist, collective or organization, an undertaking to complete the activities covered by the grant and to comply with the accompanying conditions.

The artist, artists’ collective or arts organization agrees to:

• present the work as planned
• notify the CAM as soon as possible if unable to carry out as planned the project for which the grant was awarded; depending on the situation, a full or partial refund may be requested
• submit the activity and financial reports or reports when required
• if applicable, include in the report photographs, videos or any other relevant, royalty-free visuals that the CAM may use for promotional or archival purposes
• state the commitment to comply with the CAM’s visibility standards

In addition, organizations, collectives, artists and their representatives agree at all times not to communicate with members of the evaluation committees or members of the Council’s Board of Directors in any matter relating to the management, evaluation or decisions related to their application.  

The Conseil des arts de Montréal staff are available to answer questions about the application evaluation process and decisions.