Arts Grants

About the 2025 Arts Grants Program

Thriving communities support the Arts.

WRCF established the Arts Fund in 2020 and continues to provide funding through arts-focused grants based on the needs in our community, and indicators of the impact of this fund.

In 2025, approximately $220,000 will be distributed to nonprofit arts and culture organizations in Waterloo Region.

Arts Grants reinforces WRCF’s approach to encouraging self-led activities, with a committee of volunteers from the local arts community approving the funding guidelines, reviewing applications, and determining funding recipients and allocations.

WRCF’s Arts Grants will promote social infrastructure through grants that support arts and culture experiences that take place in Hubs, Havens, and Hangouts in Waterloo Region, turning them into dynamic opportunities for meaningful social interaction.

Small to medium-sized nonprofit arts and culture organizations are open to apply for funding that brings people together in meaningful ways to participate in and/or experience artistic programming in community.

See the Arts Grants Funding Guidelines for information about how the activity you are applying for must align with social infrastructure.

 

Social Infrastructure

There is growing evidence that social infrastructure is associated with more social cohesion, higher belonging, and higher wellbeing. As Waterloo Region grows to one million residents, we need to ensure we have the social infrastructure in place now – and for future members of our communities.

WRCF has researched social infrastructure over the past few years and found a framework we support that was created by Gehl Studio. As WRCF works to positively impact social infrastructure in Waterloo Region, we view places as the physical spaces—both formal and informal—where social interactions are made tangible. But what these places are is less important than what they do – which tends to fall into three categories linked to organizations, spaces, and experiences. The categories are:

  • Hubs: Spaces that encourage interactions among diverse groups that may not otherwise interact, creating opportunities for people to connect from different backgrounds, and fostering broader community ties.

  • Havens: Spaces that provide safe environments for people with shared identities or backgrounds to come together, fostering close ties and a sense of belonging. They shouldn’t be so exclusive that they prevent connections across differences.

  • Hangouts: Informal spaces that support casual, everyday interactions, offering people the chance to connect organically and live life in public.

Thank you to Gehl Studio for permission to incorporate elements of their framework of social infrastructure, and reproduce this image from their report, Social Infrastructure: Connecting People & Places for Thriving Communities, p. 38,  https://issuu.com/gehlarchitects/docs/gehl_social_infrastructure_final_report.

How can you apply?

Arts Grants accepted applications between February 24, 2025 and March 31, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. (EST).

 

Guidelines to help you apply

  • Organizations receiving funding must be located in Waterloo Region and serving Waterloo Region

  • Applications will be accepted for two levels of grants:

    • Spark - $10,000 (Note: successful applicants will receive the full $10,000 requested)

    • Scale - $30,000 (Note: successful applicants will receive between $20,000 and $30,000)

  • Funding must be used for eligible expenses occurring between May 15, 2025 and August 31, 2026

  • Only one application per organization will be considered across three WRCF grant streams: Arts Grants, Community Grants, and Racial Equity Grants

  • Applications will be considered from:

    • Emerging, small, or medium-sized arts and culture organizations

    • Arts collectives, defined as a group of local people that have come together in a structured way, for an artistic purpose

  • Applicant organizations must be registered charitable organizations, qualified donees recognized by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), or nonprofit organizations working with a Fiscal Partner that is a registered charitable organization or qualified donee

  • To determine if your organization is eligible, and to understand how the funding can be used, access the Funding Guidelines (pdf)

  • Download a Budget Template (xls)

  • Download the application questions prior to applying, here: Application (pdf)

  • Download the evaluation questions that you will complete if you receive funding, here: Evaluation (pdf)

  • If you are working with a Fiscal Partner, download the WRCF Fiscal Partnership Agreement form (pdf)

(Note: You have the option of submitting a verbal application. If you prefer to submit a verbal application, and/or need translation services, please contact grants@wrcf.ca no later than March 10, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. (EST) to set up a time to do this.)

To learn more about Arts Grants, contact us at grants@wrcf.ca or 519-725-1806 x 103.

 
 
 

Information Session: Arts Grants

We hosted an information session on March 6, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. (EST). You will find a recording of the webinar below.

WRCF logo mark

WRCF is dedicated to upholding professional, ethical, and regulatory standards as we work to deliver on our vision and mission, while staying true to our values. We expect partners and organizations we fund to share our commitment to these standards. By applying for funding through WRCF, you are indicating that your organization complies with the regulatory requirements to work with your population(s), and within the legal and ethical framework appropriate for your organization.

For other funding opportunities from Waterloo Region funders, please visit www.wrapply.ca

 

Here is a list of organizations that received support through the Arts Fund in 2025

 
  • Button Factory Arts

  • CAFKA - Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener + Area

  • Cambridge Symphony Orchestra

  • Don't Jump to Recipe (Inter Arts Matrix)

  • Green Light Arts

  • KW Kaleidoscope Collective (Social Development Centre Waterloo Region)

  • KW Sentro

  • Neon Majlis (CAFKA - Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener + Area)

  • Neruda Arts (Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre)

  • One Big Gay Disco (Thrive HIV Prevention & Support)

  • Open Ears Festival

  • Pat the Dog Theatre Creation

  • Pinch (The Registry Theatre)

  • Preston Arts Collective (Cambridge Public Library)

  • Quilt of Belonging

  • Royal Canadian College of Organists Waterloo-Wellington Centre

  • The New Quarterly

  • Unwrap Theatre

Note: Charitable organizations in brackets represent the fiscal partner working in partnership with the non-qualified donee.