Operating Grants: Four-Year Cycle to Start in January 2024

The Conseil des arts de Montréal wishes to announce that the call for applications for multi-year operating grants under its General Funding Program, for a single four-year cycle, will be opened on January 11, 2024. In addition, two-year grants have been abolished, meaning that all selected arts organizations will now be able to rely on predictable funding for four-year terms.

In keeping with its commitment to facilitate arts organizations’ planning and preparation efforts and help them stabilize funding levels and develop their artistic activities, the CAM is aligning its procedures with the 2024–2028 calendar of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and its Mission Support program. With a few minor adjustments, arts organizations will be able to use the same grant application forms, saving them considerable time and effort.

About the Four-Year Operating Grant Program

This program supports the creation, production and dissemination of art and the realization of artistic activities on the Island of Montreal. By providing financial support to various arts organizations, associations, groups or service organizations on a recurring basis, based on their artistic merit and their impact on their community, the Conseil helps them fulfil their mandates.

After renewing existing multi-year operating grants for an additional three years due to the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the pandemic, the CAM now has a duty to evaluate all beneficiaries and open up the competition to other eligible organizations.

The CAM’s call for applications is rooted in the values of equal opportunity, fairness and the ethical management of public fundsand is based on the quality of the current and planned activities of Montréal arts organizations. In accordance with existing evaluation processes, applications will be reviewed by committees of peers made up of artists and cultural workers active in the same discipline, tradition or artistic practice as the organizations being evaluated.

Eligible organizations

To provide greater financial stability and predictability to all arts organizations receiving operating grants, the CAM has decided to end its two-year funding cycle. All arts organizations receiving operating grants under the CAM’s General Funding Program will now receive support according to a single four-year cycle.

Note that the 46 organizations that began receiving two-year grants in 2023 following a special call for applications for 2023 and 2024 will be invited to submit an application in 2025 for a three-year cycle of funding ending in 2028 (i.e., at the same time as the organizations that will be receiving four-year grants under the current call). These 46 organizations will therefore not be eligible to apply on January 11, 2024.

Organizations unable to plan their activities over a four-year horizon still have the option of applying to the Project Funding program for assistance in pursuing their projects on a year-by-year basis. The same opening and application dates will apply.

Specific eligibility requirements and other terms and conditions will be announced when the call opens in January 2024. 

Budget framework

While the CAM takes the needs of Montréal’s artistic community to heart and is fully aware of the inflationary context of recent years, grants will be allocated in keeping with the budgetary capacities of the organization, 94% of whose budget comes from the urban agglomeration of Montréal.

Faced with the economic realities of municipal public finances, the CAM must be prudent in taking on multi-year financial commitments. It will maintain its current operating budget of nearly $11 million per year for grants to organizations, representing 55% of the total amount invested by the organization in its various support programs.

According to Montréal’s 2024 budget unveiled on November 15, 2023, the amount allocated to the CAM for 2024 will be indexed by 2%. From 2021 to 2024, these financial contributions were indexed annually by an average of 1.85%.

Information sessions

Information sessions will be organized by CAM personnel to help you understand the program. 

Zoom video conference:

Duration: 1 h. 30 min.

• Tuesday, January 16, 1:30 p.m.
• Thursday January 18, 10 a.m.
• Monday, January 22, 11 a.m.
• Wednesday, January 24, 3 p.m.

In person at the Maison du Conseil:

Places are limited. Priority registration will be given to organizations submitting a first application for an operating grant.

• Thursday, January 25, 9:30 a.m. to noon

Contact us

As always, the Conseil is committed to working closely with the Montréal arts communities it serves. Our team is available and ready to assist arts organizations and answer their questions so that they can submit applications that truly reflect their artistic vision and achievements.

If you have any questions about this call or would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact the cultural advisor for your artistic discipline.