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Ontario Arts Council (OAC)
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Contact

Reception

Information Services
416-961-1660
Toll-free in Ontario: 1-800-387-0058

Bushra Junaid

Officer
416-969-7407
Toll-free in Ontario: ​​​​​1-800-387-0058

Priority Groups

The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is committed to ensuring equitable access for all Ontarians, with particular emphasis on the following priority groups:
  • Artists of Colour: The term “artist of colour” is based on the Government of Canada’s definition of “visible minorities,” which is defined as “persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.”
  • Deaf Artists and Artists with Disabilities: This priority group includes people who have physical, mental or learning conditions with long-term, temporary, or varying effects that may be apparent or not.
  • Francophone Artists: The term “Francophone” is based on the Government of Ontario’s Inclusive Definition of Francophone (IDF), which includes “persons whose mother tongue is French, plus those whose mother tongue is neither French nor English but have a particular knowledge of French as an official language and use French at home."
  • Indigenous Artists: The term “Indigenous” refers to First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.
  • New Generation Artists: The term “new generation” refers to a person who is 18 to 30 years of age.
  • Artists Living In Regions Outside Toronto: “Regions outside Toronto” means Ontario regions outside the City of Toronto. (Toronto postal codes begin with M.)
Some of these priority groups have a unique history, identity and status in Canada, some have faced historical and/or systemic barriers, others reflect OAC’s province-wide mandate and all are essential to the future of the arts sector.

The OAC acknowledges that there are other population groups in Ontario that face barriers. However, we believe that the priority groups identified above are the appropriate ones for OAC to focus on at this time.