News release

Building Stronger Cultural Communities

Tourism, Culture and Heritage (Dec. 2003 - Jan. 2011)

TOURISM, CULTURE AND HERITAGE--Building Stronger Cultural Communities


The funding process for cultural organizations looking for operational support just got easier. The Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage announced today, Nov. 12, the new Operating Assistance to Cultural Organizations program.

"We worked with the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council to develop a more efficient funding process for the arts and culture sector," said Rodney MacDonald, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. "The program will help to build stronger and more stable cultural organizations."

The Operating Assistance to Cultural Organizations program replaces three existing programs. It is open to non-profit arts and cultural groups which have been in operation for at least one year and will provide support towards annual administrative and core program costs. Support will be available to four categories of groups: service organizations; arts producers; festivals and presenters; and cultural facilities.

"We obtained community input to propose a more efficient program to fund operational support for arts and culture," said Paul Gallant, chair of the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council. "This will help to eliminate any confusion because now there is only one provincial program which provides operating support to eligible organizations."

The three programs being replaced are: Anchor Organizations; Facilities; and Sustaining Grants to Organizations and Small Groups. This year, the provincial government provided $2.8 million in operating support to 70 cultural organizations through the programs.

The key difference between the new program and the programs it replaces is that all applications will now be assessed by an external panel composed of people from the culture sector.

The first deadline for the Operating Assistance to Cultural Organizations program is Feb. 15, 2005.

More information on the program can be found on the Tourism, Culture and Heritage website at www.gov.ns.ca/dtc/culture/culture_funding.asp , or by calling 902-424-5793.

The culture sector in Nova Scotia has an estimated yearly value of $1.2 billion and creates more than 28,000 direct and indirect jobs.