Factsheet - Community Cultural Action Fund subcomponent

Objectives of the Community Cultural Action Fund subcomponent

• To support and strengthen the cultural, artistic and heritage expressions of official language minority communities (OLMCs).
• To ensure outreach of the wealth and diverse cultural, artistic and heritage expressions of OLMCs.

Who can apply

• Canadian not-for-profit institutions or organizations
• Provincial and Territorial government organizations (P/Ts)
• P/Ts must cover 50% of the cost of the projects.

Three key concepts for understanding the Community Cultural Action Fund subcomponent

• Active participation from members of OLMCs
  • Citizen participation and knowledge transfer are central elements of the Community Cultural Action Fund (CCAF) subcomponent. The program seeks to enable individuals who are not artists to acquire artistic knowledge and tools to uncover/exploit their creative potential.
  • Typical CCAF project: some members of the community take up one or more artistic disciplines and then use these skills in an individual or group creative process. See Examples of projects table at the end of this sheet.
  • All forms of artistic expression may be considered, including media arts: video/film, radio production, etc.
  • The Community Cultural Action Fund subcomponent does not support passive consumption of cultural products (i.e. attending a performance by a professional artist).
• Outreach
  • The works created as part of a project are presented to OLMCs through various channels: exhibition, performance, launch, digital platforms, website, community media, etc.
  • Depending on the scale of the project, outreach may be local, regional or even national.
  • Outreach activities to the majority represent added value.
• Role of emerging and professional artists
  • Professional artists may participate in the projects (i.e. as a trainer or mentor), but a CCAF project may not have as an objective to meet the training/promotional needs of professional artists.
  • CCAF projects may provide training activities for emerging artists (individuals who do not derive their primary income from their artistic practice).

Eligible and ineligible expenses

• Eligible:
  • All project implementation expenses contributing to the long-term development of OLMCs in the area of arts, culture and heritage.
• Ineligible:
  • capital projects;
  • core operation of organizations;
  • regular coordination, networking and strategic planning;
  • needs analyses and research;
  • professional training;
  • activities with an international scope.

Evaluation criteria

• Link with the Community Cultural Action Fund subcomponent objectives;
• Contribution to the development of OLMCs through action in the areas of culture, arts and heritage;
• Variety of funding sources;
• Presence of a variety of quality partners;
• The project is innovative or develops best practices.

Examples of projects:

Discipline	Participants	Learning	Action	Outreach
Literature	Parents, and children ages 6 to 10	Workshops on designing and making a book.	Parents and children produce a book from a story and illustrations that they have created.	Public book launch in the community with testimonials from the participants.
Theatre	General public of all ages and newcomers	Introduction to the various facets of creating a play on a theme that resonates with the community.	Script writing, costume and set design, staging, rehearsals and performance of the play.	Play is presented to the community; mini-tour in the region.
Street art	Youth ages 14 to 18	Workshops on drawing/painting techniques to create a mural.	The young people create a collective work (mural).	Public unveiling of the work, which appears on a wall in the community centre.
Heritage and media arts	Seniors	Introduction to the production of audio and/or video vignettes.	The seniors produce vignettes on their cultural heritage: trades, food, stories, traditional song, etc.	Public launch and dissemination of the vignettes via YouTube, social media and website.