FAQ

The BC Arts Council (BCAC) was created in 1995 as an agency of the Province of British Columbia under the Arts Council Act. Using an independent, peer review adjudication process, the BCAC provides grant funding for arts and culture in British Columbia and ensures art and cultural programming is accessible to individuals and communities across the Province.

To learn more about the BCAC, visit the About page. It’s also helpful to review our current strategic direction and priorities and take a look at the wide range of grant programs we provide.

The BC Arts Council uses a peer-review adjudication process to meet its obligation to the Government of B.C. to provide an open, accountable and neutrally administered process for managing public funds for British Columbia’s arts and culture. These peer-review assessment panels consist of three to five working artists and arts administrators from across B.C. In many cases, these are the peers of applicants requesting funding and they decide what merits support. Each grant program has a panel and the members of each panel change for every grant competition.  Panels evaluate how each request meets the assessment criteria for a specific grant program. Grant program guidelines with their assessment criteria are published for each grant on the BC Arts Council Recipients page. Every year the BC Arts Council publishes the names of all peer-review panellists as well as the names and locations of all grant recipients in its Annual Report. The BC Arts Council is always looking for new panel members and welcomes new registrations of interest from arts and culture professionals across B.C. Please follow the directions on our website if you’re interested in becoming a peer assessor. 

We’ve revised several aspects of our Operating Assistance program as part of our commitments made in Extending Foundations: Action Plan 2022-2024.

We created an Operating Assistance 2022-2024 FAQs document that breaks down the updates.

Still have more questions? Get in touch with one of our Program Advisors who can answer any additional questions.

If you are an existing arts organization or artist in B.C., then there is most likely a funding program that you are eligible to apply to for funding through a competitive assessment process.

Arts organizations wanting BC Arts Council support need to be not-for-profit entities that have been doing their work already for some time.  Similarly, individual artists who want funding to create new bodies of creative work in theatre, dance, writing, music, visual arts, publishing, media art and curating, need to already be recognized as working artists before they can request funding in the professional arts streams. We also fund training in the arts – see below.

There are application forms and deadlines to submit requests to each of the 40 or so grant programs at the BC Arts Council. Feel free to search through them using the filter tools to see what you are eligible for, or look at our grant program calendar for timeline information, and then get in touch with one of the program advisors to find out if what you want to do can be considered for funding.

With nearly 40 programs, it can be a little overwhelming to figure out which you might be eligible for. We have tried to make this easier by adding filter and search tools to the Grant Program page. You can view a complete list of the grant programs when you first access the page, where you can sort by deadline or program name. You can also use the filter tools in the search bar at the top of the page to filter programs by Applicant Type (individual, collective, or organization), Field of Practice, or Program type (one-time/project funding or longer term/operational funding). You can use keywords to search programs as well.

As always, our staff is ready to help walk you through the programs and application process, and to discuss eligibility. You can find the program staff list on the directory, or you can send an email to BCArtsCouncil@gov.bc.ca or phone 250-356-1718 if you’re not sure who to contact.

YES!  There are three training-related grant programs for B.C. residents who are at various stages of arts training in the arts.

The Scholarship Awards program supports the development of B.C.’s rich diversity of future artists and arts and cultural practitioners. Awards are available to B.C. residents to attend full-time post-secondary arts training or to pursue high school half-day dance programs.

The Early Career Development program supports both arts and culture organizations and emerging individual art practitioners through four components: Internship, Cohort, Residency and Mentorship.

The Professional Development program assists professional artists, cultural practitioners, production and technical personnel, and arts administrators to attend a single career or professional development opportunity; or with specific, short-term learning activities that will advance their practice or career.

Yes! We offer a number of programs through our delivery partners, listed on our Funding page.

In addition, there are many municipalities, foundations, not-for-profit organizations and private companies, as well as the federal government, that provide a wide range of grant programs. The BC Alliance for Arts and Culture has a great list and calendar of many of these opportunities.

In general, extensions will not be granted.

Requests for an extension will only be considered if they are the result of a sudden or unforeseen circumstance, such as:

• Emergencies or significant urgent events outside of the lead applicant/submitter’s control preventing submission (i.e., sudden power outage, emergency evacuation, natural disaster);
• Serious illness or injury of the lead applicant/submitter preventing submission; or
• Death in the immediate family of the lead applicant/submitter.

Any requests for extension must be submitted as soon as the issue is known, and must:

Be made in writing by email to the Program Advisor responsible for the program, or to BCArtsCouncil@gov.bc.ca with the following information:

• The name of the program and the deadline date;
• The draft application number;
• Reason for the extension request, without disclosing private personal or medical information; and
• New submission date requested.*

*Extensions will not be granted beyond one week from the original deadline date. Request timeframes should be reasonable and reflective of the circumstances requiring the extension.

All extension requests will be subject to approval by the Senior Director – BC Arts Council Programs.

In the event of a BC Arts Council system error or unexpected shut down of the Grant Management System at time of submission, please send an email to the Program Advisor responsible for the program, or to BCArtsCouncil@gov.bc.ca that includes:

• A screen shot of the error message, if available, or a written description or copy of the error message text;
• A description of activities leading up to the error or system shut down; and
• The web browser and version in use.

Accommodation Requests:

Accommodation requests for individuals who are Deaf or have a disability will be considered separately and may allow for an accommodation of one week beyond a program intake closing date, subject to the operational needs of the program.

To request an accommodation, submit your request in writing to the Program Advisor for the funding program you are applying to, with a brief explanation of the nature of the accommodation required.

Accommodation requests require approval of the Senior Director – BC Arts Council Programs and will remain confidential. Detailed personal or medical information is not required.

We’ve created a Designated Priority Groups – FAQs for Organizations and Collectives document that provides answers specifically for organizations with an Arts and Culture profile in our grant management system.

We have also created a similar document for Designated Priority Groups – FAQs for Individuals.

Still have more questions? Get in touch with one of our Program Advisors who can answer any additional questions.

All of our grant applications are received online through our Grant Management System. Our Grant Programs page lists all of our programs and shows which are currently open for application, sometimes also called “intake”.

There is also a Grant Program Calendar that might help you track at which points during the year our different programs are open for application, or intake.

The program guidelines are available for every program throughout the year, and they contain helpful information about eligibility, the application requirements and how the program is adjudicated.

When you are ready to apply for a program, follow the directions that appear when you press the “Apply Now” button on the program page: that will lead you through registering and applying within our online system.

After the intake closes, a comprehensive review process begins that culminates in a peer assessment panel meeting to consider all of the applications within a program. All applicants will be notified of the results by 16 weeks after the intake closes.

Yes, most programs require a final or interim report. The program guidelines and your grant notification letter will specify the requirements.

You can access the report from your online account in the system. To locate the report from your Home page: scroll down to the Requires Attention section and click Pending Reports. Once submitted, the report will move to Submitted Activities.