WHAT DOES THIS PROGRAM SUPPORT?

Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship program provides support for newcomer and refugee artists to develop their artistic practice and to further their integration and inclusion to Toronto. We define a newcomer as: an immigrant or refugee who has lived in Canada for less than 7 years; a refugee is a person who was forced to leave their home country and is now located in Canada.

The program provides funding for individual newcomer and refugee professional* artists to be mentored (guided) in their chosen arts discipline. 

The mentorship application is submitted by the newcomer artist with the mentor as the co-applicant. Both the applicant and the mentor must identify as professional* artists. 

*A professional artist is:

• someone who has developed their artistic skills through training and/or practice;
• is recognized as a professional by other artists working in the same artistic tradition; 
• actively practices their art; 
• seeks payment for their work, and would spend more time on their artistic activity if financially feasible; 
• and has a history of public presentation, publication and/or production

The total grant amount is $15,000. 

• $7,500 is paid directly to the newcomer or refugee artist 
• $7,500 is paid directly to the mentor. 

If you are a newcomer or refugee artist and you need help finding a mentor or accessing translation services, please contact: 
Liza Mattimore, Strategic Programs Manager: liza[at]torontoartscouncil[dot]org

WHO CAN APPLY AS A NEWCOMER AND/OR REFUGEE ARTIST?

To be eligible for this funding, an applicant must be:¹

• Professional artists working in any artistic tradition (see definition above)
• Applicants must be residents of the City of Toronto 
• Applicants must have arrived in Canada after January 1, 2018
• Applicants must be Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents or have an application pending for Permanent Resident status or be a Protected Person (approved refugee claimant) and, if requested, be able to provide documentation to verify this.
• Applicants must have a SIN (Social Insurance Number)
• Past recipients of this grant program cannot apply.
• Undergraduate students cannot apply. 
• Professional artists pursuing graduate studies may not apply for work related to their program of study. A letter from the graduate program director specifying that the project is not related to the graduate student’s program of studies must be submitted with the application. 

WHO CAN APPLY AS A MENTOR?

• Professional artists working in any artistic tradition (see definition above)
• Professional arts workers including arts managers, curators and producers working in any artistic tradition
• Applicants must be residents of the City of Toronto, living in Toronto for at least 1 year prior to the deadline and live and work in Toronto for at least 8 months of the year.
• Applicants must be Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents or have an application pending for Permanent Resident status or be a Protected Person (approved refugee claimant) and, if requested, be able to provide documentation to verify this.
• Applicants must have a SIN (Social Insurance Number)
• Undergraduate students cannot apply. 
• Professional artists pursuing graduate studies may not apply for work related to their program of study. A letter from the graduate program director specifying that the project is not related to the graduate student’s program of studies must be submitted with the application. 
• Mentors may only be listed as a co-applicant on one Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship grant per year

TRANSLATED GUIDELINES

Additional Information

How do I apply?

Applicants register and submit the application through TAC Grants Online. Applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 pm on the deadline dates. TAC does not accept applications by any other means of delivery. You will receive a confirmation email when your application is submitted. Check your spam/junk mail folder if it doesn’t arrive in your in-box. 

TAC Accessibility Grant

Projects involving Deaf artists and artists with disabilities may apply for an additional TAC grant by completing the Accessibility Expenses section of the application and including the requisite information in their budget. A TAC Accessibility grant will provide up to a maximum of $5,000 towards accessibility costs for artists incurred during the project. Accessibility costs include but are not limited to: ASL interpretation, audio description, closed captioning, communications assistants, attendant care (including helpers for Elders), support workers and equipment rentals or other supports required to meet artists’ accessibility needs).

Application Accessibility Support

Applicants who are Deaf or have a disability and need support to complete their grant applications can apply for funds to cover the costs of assistance from Application Support Service Providers. Up to $500 is available per eligible applicant in each calendar year. Please contact your Grant Program Manager at least six weeks before the grant program deadline to determine eligibility, request application support funding, and to review the process for payment to be made to your Service Provider. Requests for application support require approval from the Program Manager. Additional information here.

Can I apply to other TAC grants? 

Toronto Arts Council has two Grant Categories:

1. Discipline (e.g.: discipline-specific project grants and operating grants in Theatre, Dance, Music, etc.)

2. Strategic (e.g.: Animating Toronto Parks, Artists in the Library, Animating Historic Sites, Artreach, Open Door, etc.)

Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship is a Strategic program.  

Applicants may receive a maximum of one Strategic grant per calendar year. Applicants may not apply for more than one Strategic grant at a time. However, we offer other types of granting opportunities through our Discipline Category, and you may be eligible to apply to one of these programs. Please note: if you apply for a Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship grant you cannot also apply to another TAC program for the same project.

For more detail on our granting categories, go to our About Our Grants page.

about our grants

Mentor Matching

Mentor matching and translation support is provided in partnership with Toronto Arts Foundation’s Neighbourhood Arts Network. Mentor matching request deadline: Friday, March 21, 2025. For translation, access and matching support please contact Liza Mattimore to learn more.

1. TAC recognizes that due to systemic barriers within the broader arts community (e.g. limited mainstream presentation opportunities for artists from equity-seeking communities) that some flexibility may be required in interpreting eligibility criteria to take into account equivalent professional experience and contexts. Potential applicants from equity-seeking communities are encouraged to discuss their eligibility with the Program Manager in advance of submitting an application.