St. Catharines Cultural Investment Program (SCCIP)

St. Catharines Cultural Investment Program

The St. Catharines Cultural Investment Program (SCCIP) is designed to serve distinct segments of the creative sector and strengthen the overall cultural ecosystem in St. Catharines.

"A vibrant arts and culture scene is important to a livable city. St. Catharines' creative sector is a foundation for community transformation and sustainability: artists and not-for-profit arts organizations are at the heart of this sector." - Vision Statement, St. Catharines Cultural Investment Policy

City Council has approved a budget of $400,000 for SCCIP in 2020. Regular increases to the SCCIP budget have been made since the Cultural Funding Task Force report to City Council on Dec. 14, 2015. Council doubled SCCIP funding in 2016 and continues its commitment to grow investment in the sector.

In order to be responsive to the needs of the arts and culture community during the Covid-19 pandemic, the City developed the Arts and Culture Community Revitalization Program. This program has invested in new music, arts and cultural activities that support downtown revitalization and enhance public life during the community's recovery.

Program Descriptions

SCCIP has six program streams, each program has distinct priorities, eligibility and evaluation criteria. Ineligibility can be found in the SCCIP policy document and individual program guidelines. Please contact City staff to review your plans and to determine which program is right for you.

For future updates on SCCIP sign up for the Cultural Investment Newsletter.

General Eligibility

SCCIP funds are available to not-for-profit arts organizations engaged in ongoing creation, production, presentation and dissemination activities related to the performing, visual, literary and media arts. All applicants must:

be active in St. Catharines;
provide programming or services that are open to the public and publicized city-wide;
have a diversified revenue base, which can include memberships, significant earned revenue, funding from other levels of government, and support from the private sector through fund-raising activities, donations and sponsorships.

Program Details and Applications

The St. Catharines Cultural Investment Program (SCCIP) currently has six grant programs:

Sustaining Funding (click here): Core, Midsized and Festival Programs

Development Funding (click here): Arts Development, Culture Builds Community and Culture Days Activity Programs.

Information about the Arts and Culture Community Revitalization Program can also be found under Development Funding.

Grants for individual artists are under review: certain projects by artists are eligible for the Culture Builds Community and Culture Days Activity programs

Application Deadlines

Please note the following timelines for SCCIP Programs
in 2021:

January to April 2021 - application materials released
March 25, 2021 - applications accepted for the Culture Days Activity Program.
April 15, 2021 - applications accepted for the Sustaining - Core and Sustaining - Midsized Programs.
May 20, 2021 - applications accepted for the Arts Development and Culture Builds Community Programs.
Sept. 23, 2021 - applications accepted for the Sustaining - Festival, Arts Development and Culture Builds Community Programs.

To stay informed, please subscribe here to receive the Cultural Funding Newsletter, which will provide updates on funding programs including deadlines and links to application materials as information becomes available.