Financial Assistance
At MASC, we believe that every student and community member deserves access to transformative, high-quality arts experiences. Through our pARTicipate! subsidy fund, we provide financial assistance to schools and community venues that serve equity-deserving populations, helping them bring incredible professional artist-led programs to life.
If you require financial assistance and your venue aligns with one of our funding sources (see below), please contact reservations@masconline.ca. While these funds subsidize the cost of a MASC program, your venue will be responsible for paying the remaining balance. Funding is limited, subsidy availability subject to funding remaining.
MASC is grateful to partner with many sponsors who provide funding to reduce the cost of programming for specific communities, including:
OTTAWA
Arts Incentive (funding for OCSB schools administered by the Ottawa Catholic School Board)
Ottawa Community Foundation (programming for equity-seeking communities serving children and youth)
Crabtree Foundation (programming for equity-seeking communities serving children and youth)
City of Ottawa (programming in rural City of Ottawa communities)
Cajole Inn Fund – OCF (visual art materials)
Harry P Ward (programming for equity-seeking communities)
EASTERN ONTARIO & WESTERN QUEBEC
ArtistsInspire ($1,500 per year and per Quebec English school administered by ELAN)
immersART ($1,500 per year and per French immersion school, grade 6-12, administered by the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF) and the Department of Canadian Heritage)
Reconciliation Legacy Fund – OCF (programming with Indigenous artists in schools and communities, programming in Indigenous venues and in the Host Nation of Kitigan Zibi and Pikwakanagan)
TELUS Friendly Future (programming for equity-seeking communities)
Guidelines
Financial Assistance Guidelines
- Financial assistance has specific regional specifications.
- Financial assistance is made available on a first come first served basis.
- Venues are limited to one grant per year, with the possibility of more if funding allows and time has elapsed to allow for all schools/venues to access the funding.
- Some funding is limited to artistic discipline, age group, equity-deserving groups, etc. (more details below)
- Request for funding is made at the time of the booking request. No formal application is required.
Schools
Requests from schools
Using the https://www.neighbourhoodstudy.ca/ and https://neighbourhoodequity.ca sources, MASC funding is allocated to venues that are located in and/or serve residents who reside in:
- categories 3 and 4 of the Socioeconomic Index of the Neighbourhoodstudy.ca
and/or
- Red and Yellow category of the neighbourhoodequity.ca low-income index
MASC reserves the right to subsidize any public school outside of these categories if the funder allows.
School Partnerships with specialized school programs/and Boards
MASC partners with school boards and individual schools on many specialized subsidized programs.
Partnerships with other arts organizations in schools
MASC partners with other arts organizations who provide programming in schools. To support these unique programs, MASC may fund programs in schools that don’t fall within the categories above.
Rural Schools
Financial assistance provided in partnership with the City of Ottawa’s Rural Initiative program. All schools located in, and serving the rural areas of the City, are able to access this funding.
Community Venues
Through MASC community subsidies, we aim to support Indigenous and equity-seeking communities that have historically faced barriers to accessing support. These communities include:
- Anishinabe Algonquin Nation
- First Nations
- Inuit
- Métis
- IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, People of Colour)
- People with Visible and Invisible Disabilities
- Non-Ambulatory Persons
- D/deaf people
- Refugee/Immigrants/Newcomers
- 2SLGBTQIA
- People Living in Poverty
- Rural Residents
- Francophones
- Seniors/Older Adults
- Women+
- Youth
Rural Community Venues
Financial assistance are provided in partnership with the City of Ottawa’s Rural Initiative program. All community venues located in, and serving the rural areas of the City, are able to access this funding.