Professional Development Grants

Overview of the Professional Development Grants program:

Access Copyright Foundation provides support to creators and organizations engaged in the development and dissemination of publishable Canadian works in the literary and visual arts. We are an arm’s-length foundation of Access Copyright which is a collective voice of creators and publishers in Canada. Access Copyright Foundation Professional Development grants provide access to specialized training and continuing education for writers and visual artists; arts professionals working as self-employed freelancers or working as employees of Canadian publishers and publishing, writing, and visual arts organizations.

Benefits of the Professional Development Grants program:

• Applicants may request any amount up to the maximum of $3,000.

Eligibility criteria of the Professional Development Grants program:

• To be eligible for Event Grants, organizations must:
• Pay artist fees or royalties to artists they engage
• Have been in continuous operation for at least one year prior to the date of
• Application
• Have published or presented programs, events, festivals or readings series to the public featuring Canadian literary or visual artists and content throughout that time.
• A. Creators
• Professional writers and visual artists who have completed formal or informal training in their discipline, maintain an artistic practice that includes publishing, and publish or present their work in a manner recognized by their professional peers.
• Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents and meet at least one of the following
• Criteria:
• One professionally published book (excluding self-published books and chapbooks)
• One exhibition catalogue
• Eight publications in periodicals or journals.
• Arts Professionals
• Self-employed professionals working freelance in the writing, publishing and visual arts sector, including but not limited to:
• Editors, book coaches, translators, illustrators, designers
• Publicists, independent literary agents, marketing and promotion specialists
• Program, editorial, administrative, marketing and production staff of eligible
• Organizations and publishers
• Publishing consultants.
• Arts professionals must be self-employed, have formal or informal training and a resume demonstrating their contribution to the creation, production, presentation or promotion of publishable Canadian content. Arts professionals currently serving as contract or term employees of eligible publishers or arts organizations may not apply independently.
• Artist Groups
• Informal collectives or small groups of professional writers or visual artists that:
• Have a mandate to provide mutual support, critique, discourse, professional or skills development
• Have a minimum of five active members
• Have met or have convened online at least monthly for one year prior to the date of application.
• Organizations and Publishers
• Publishers or publishing, writing and visual arts organizations located in Canada that:
• Are legally registered in Canada as non-profit organizations, or are independent professional book or periodical publishers at least 75% Canadian-owned and controlled
• Have a program mandate that supports the interests of Canadian writers or visual artists
• Provide advocacy, research, promotion, public education, professional
• Development and other support services to Canadian publishers, writers or visual artists or
• Are literary or visual arts institutions in Canada operated by municipalities or
• Government bodies but maintaining artistic control and separate financial records.
• Eligible organizations and publishers must apply on behalf of program, editorial, administrative, marketing and production staff, including term or contract employees.