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 has developed an Arts and Culture Community Revitalization Program which will provide support for 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): Programs are Core, Midsized and Festival

Development Funding (click here): For 2020, the Arts Development Fund and the Culture Builds Community Fund have been replaced with a new program: Arts and Culture Community Revitalization Program.

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 deadline dates for SCCIP Programs in 2020:

March 27, 2020 - applications were accepted for the Culture Days Activity Program.
June 22, 2020 - applications were accepted for the Sustaining - Core, Midsized and Festival Programs.
July 31, 2020 - applications were accepted for the new Arts and Culture Community Revitalization Program. This program will replace the Culture Builds Community and Arts Development Programs in 2020.

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.