Support for D/deaf Artists or Artists with Disabilities (Individuals, Collectives and Organizations)

Please note that you have until 5:00 p.m. to submit your application on the deadline date.

Who is eligible to apply?

• Individual professional D/deaf artists and/or artists with disabilities and have a perceptible or non-perceptible disability, with long-term, temporary or variable effects that may include the following:
  • individuals who are deaf or hearing-impaired
  • individuals with reduced mobility or living with a physical disability
  • individuals who are blind or visually impaired, partially sighted or living with a visual impairment
  • individuals with intellectual disabilities
  • individuals who are neurodiverse or autistic
  • Individuals with speech and language disorders
  • Individuals with mental health disorders

• Collectives that have at least one member who is D/deaf and/or living with a disability as defined above

• Organizations that have either:
  • at least one leader or senior representative or artist who is D/deaf and/or living with a disability
  • or one of the following among its main objectives:
    • creating, producing and disseminating the art of D/deaf professional artists and artists with disabilities
    • supporting the creation, production and dissemination of the art of D/deaf professional artists and artists with disabilities
    • ensuring the professional development and recognition of D/deaf artists and artists with disabilities

What are the program objectives?

• Recognize and promote the art and artistic practice of D/deaf professional artists and artists with disabilities
• Foster the professional development of artists and cultural workers who are D/deaf and/or living with disabilities
• Support the development of collectives and organizations whose mandate is to create, produce, promote and disseminate the art and professional artistic practice of D/deaf artists and artists with disabilities
• Promote and increase the presence of D/deaf artists and artists with disabilities in the Montréal arts scene

IMPORTANT: the project must not be completed before June 17, 2025. The Conseil does not fund activities that have already taken place.

What type of assistance is provided?

A grant of up to $15,000 for an art project, excluding accessibility costs (see Support Fund for Accessibility Costs).

The grant can cover up to 100% of project-related expenses.

Please note that at the end of the year, individual artists and collective representatives will receive tax slips required by tax law to the amount of the subsidy obtained. They will be required to provide the Conseil with the information needed to issue tax slips when requested.

What is the duration of the support?

This is a one-time, non-recurring grant.

Can a recipient receive more than one grant?

Recipients can receive one grant per year under the program.

Artists, collectives and organizations may submit only one application per program opening.

For collectives and organizations, the number of program grants is capped at three.

What are the general eligibility criteria?

Individual artists

• Be a D/deaf artist and/or artist with a disability
• Reside on the Island of Montréal
• Be a professional artist (see the definition in the glossary)
• Be a cultural worker
• Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada

Collectives

• Be a group of artists (minimum of two artists) (see the definition in the glossary)
• Be a collective in which one or more members are D/deaf and/or living with a disability
• Two-thirds of members must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents: the proportion of members residing outside Canada may not exceed one-third
• Comprise a majority of artists (50%+1) who reside on the Island of Montréal;
• Be by an individual in charge of applications

Clarification: an artist may be part of more than one collective provided they are composed of different people by a proportion of 50% + 1.

The representative of the collective must:

• be the representative in charge of the collective application
• be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
• reside on the Island of Montréal

Please note: the person in charge will receive the tax slips required by income tax law for the amount of the subsidy in his or her name.

Organizations must:

• be a non-profit organization or an artists’ cooperative that pays no dividends
• be an organization in which at least one leader or senior representative or artist is D/deaf and/or living with a disability
• have as their primary mission the realization of professional activities in research, creation, production and dissemination in the arts, or have as their primary mandate the grouping and representation of artists and/or cultural workers in a discipline or multidisciplinary sector.
• be headquartered on the Island of Montréal
• have a board of directors whose members are mainly Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada

What types of projects are eligible?

Submitted projects must meet program objectives. They may take the form or be a combination of:

• research and creation
• production
• production and dissemination of artistic events* (for organizations only)
• artistic collaboration, coaching and mentoring
• development of its arts practice
• artistic collaboration and guidance
• production of arts events

* If the project involves hosting D/deaf people and/or people with disabilities, please refer to the Support Fund for Accessibility Costs.

When must the project be carried out?

The project must be completed within the timeframe specified in the application schedule.

Note that your project may have started, but must not be completed before you receive the Conseil’s letter of response.

Calculate ten to twelve weeks after the application date.

What applicants are ineligible?

• Artists, collectives and organizations that do not meet the general eligibility requirements

Individual artist

• individual who wishes to act as a promoter or organize festivals and artistic events

Collectives

• Artists’ collectives that are incorporated as a for-profit or not-for-profit company, as a general partnership or as an association
• Collectives interested in presenting or organizing festivals and artistic events
• Collectives interested in representing artists or offering services to them

Cultural magazines

• Cultural magazines with less than one year of publication activity to their credit, or that produce fewer than three issues a year, or that distribute free of charge (in the case of a periodical published exclusively on the Web, the periodical must publish a number of texts equivalent to 3 issues per year and its distribution may be free of charge)

Organizations

• Organizations dedicated to teaching, education, and professional training

What types of projects are ineligible?

• Projects completed before receiving the Conseil’s decision (allow approximately six to eight weeks following the application deadline)
• Sound recording projects (albums, CDs, demos, etc.) of a promotional nature
• Projects that are essentially promotional, including video clips
• Projects whose main focus is cultural mediation
• Projects dedicated primarily to teaching or bringing in influential artists
• National or international prospection projects
• Capital projects or projects to acquire specialized equipment

What activity sectors are ineligible?

• Artists, collectives and organizations working exclusively in variety arts or comedy

What applications are ineligible?

• Incomplete applications
• Applications received after the deadline

Ineligible applications will not be considered by the evaluation committee.

What information and documents must I include in my application?

You need to complete and submit an application on ORORA , CAM’s online grant application system. You can do this about three months before the deadline.  

You will need to complete or update your ORORA profile, including your artistic approach, and attach the following information to the application form:  

• basic information about the project  
• a description of the artistic project and, if necessary, the access fees required to carry it out (this can be done by video or audio format)  
• project budget
• invoices or quotes for access fees, if applicable
• supporting documents
• CV, biographical notes (mandatory)  
• a list of hyperlinks presenting examples of artistic work, portfolio or activities related to the application. Please limit yourself to four (4) links (mandatory)  
• a personal appendix, if desired, grouping together in a single PDF file any additional documents you feel are relevant to your application (e.g. letters of recommendation or support, letters of confirmation, press kit, excerpts from texts, etc.)

ATTENTION: all information essential to the proper understanding of your application must be included in the official documents and not as an appendix. 

What is the response time?

It will take six to eight weeks from the deadline for the Conseil to process the application and the Board of Directors to reach its decision.

How are applications evaluated?

Applications are reviewed by a jury of peers composed primarily of artists and/or cultural workers who are D/deaf or living with a disability, joined by permanent members of the sectorial evaluation committees.

What are the evaluation criteria?

Evaluators are encouraged to analyze each application using common criteria. Some criteria are not considered due to the nature of the projects (mandate, project phase, etc.). For example, the dissemination strategy only applies to a dissemination project and festival/event project.

Artistic merit 60%

• Relevance of artistic process and practices
• Uniqueness and authenticity of the approach
• Artistic leadership exercised by artists who are D/deaf or have disabilities
• Quality of previous work

Project impact 25%

• Leverage of this financial contribution to counter systemic obstacles encountered by the applicant in his or her artistic career
• Impact and spin-offs for the applicant’s artistic and professional development
• Contribution and impact of the project on the development of the community and its practices (artists, audiences, partners)
• Recognition of artists and cultural workers who are D/deaf and/or living with disabilities

Dissemination and service projects

• Strategies implemented to attract audiences
• Relationship with communities

Project feasibility 15%

• Ability to complete the project
• Consistency between proposed activities and available human, technical and financial resources
• Presentation of realistic budget estimates and key steps involved

What is the decision-making process?

Five-step process

1. The professional responsible for the program, under the authority of management, receives the applications and determines their eligibility
2. The peer evaluation committee evaluates the applications and makes its recommendation
3. Management proposes the allocation of grant amounts
4. Committee chairs approve peer evaluators’ recommendations and proposed grant allocations; and recommendations to the board of directors finalized
5. The Board of Directors meets to make a final decision and award the grant

Can I receive additional funding for 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 or to create, produce or disseminate their art. Reimbursement of part of these costs by the Conseil des arts de Montréal may serve as a way to offset the financial disadvantage (examples: assistance with writing a grant application, interpreting, adapted transport, specialized support , etc.).

Applicants who must pay accessibility costs to cover the cost of writing a grant application or for the successful completion of their project may include these costs directly in their application for financial assistance by completing the appropriate sections.

The assistance granted will be added to the amount requested for the art project.

Accessibility costs will automatically be granted, in whole or in part, for all successful applications.

The amount paid will be analyzed by the Conseil team based on the funds available and the justifications behind the expenses.

How will the grant be paid?

The grant amount will be sent in one payment (100%) after the decision letter has been sent.

The amount of the accessibility costs may be paid separately.

Payment times may vary depending on the internal processing time of Ville de Montréal departments, which are beyond the control of the Conseil des arts de Montréal.   

The terms and conditions of payment are set out in the ORORA response letters and can be consulted here.

In order to receive the subsidy, the person responsible for the request must complete his or her registration in the Ville de Montréal supplier file.

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:

• carry out the project as planned
• notify the Conseil as soon as possible if unable to carry out the project in the fiscal year for which the grant was awarded. In this situation, the recipient may be asked to reimburse the grant in full or in part.
• if requested, submit activity reports and financial statements at the required times
• if applicable, include in the report photographs, videos or any other relevant, royalty-free visuals that the Conseil may use for promotional or archival purposes

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.