Responding to Feedback About OAC Grant Recipients

The OAC aims to be accessible, equitable, transparent and accountable in its service to the arts community and its management of public funds. We value our interactions with the public and strive to meet everyone’s needs within the context and parameters of our programs, services and role. 

All OAC grant recipients must abide by the obligations and expectations outlined in the Terms and Conditions – OAC Operating Grant Applications and Terms and Conditions – Receipt of OAC Operating Grant Funds or the Terms and Conditions – Project Grant Applications and Terms and Conditions – Receipt of OAC Project Grant Funds, as agreed to at the time of application.  

When someone shares feedback with us about an organization or individual that has received an OAC grant, we take measures to ensure the grant recipient is meeting the obligations associated with their use of OAC funds, while proceeding with care to protect parties involved.  

Feedback about organizations in receipt of OAC operating funding 

• The OAC asks that you begin by contacting the operating grant recipient directly, with an aim to mutually resolve the feedback. The OAC will only proceed with the following steps if a direct approach has not worked or is not possible – for example, if the organization has not responded to your request, the outcome of the feedback is not satisfactory, there are ongoing safety concerns or you need to remain anonymous. 
• If this first step has not been successful and you need to send OAC feedback about an operating grant recipient, please complete our online form. Note the steps that you’ve taken so far, what a satisfactory outcome would look like, and whether we should identify you by name in any further communications with the grant recipient. Upon receiving your message, we will confirm our role and process in relation to this objective, including our limitations.
• The OAC is guided by its Freedom of Artistic Expression Policy: “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to freedom of expression. The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) affirms the right of artists to create and present their work – subject to reasonable limits that can be justified in a free and democratic society – and the right of the public to experience that work. The OAC upholds these rights in its work as a public arts funder, provided that neither a work of art nor its creation contravenes applicable law.” The OAC will not pass along feedback that it reasonably determines as harassment or discriminatory.
• The OAC will inform the operating grant recipient that a member of the community has submitted feedback or raised a concern.
• The grant recipient will then be required to provide a reasonable timeline to respond confirming or demonstrating that it is abiding by the terms and conditions of the grant.  
• If the grant recipient’s responses raise concerns at OAC about the organization’s stability, OAC may require that the organization meet additional or more frequent requirements for its applications, assessment and reporting, so that OAC can monitor its health and continued eligibility for funding.

Feedback about individuals, collectives, ad hoc groups or organizations in receipt of OAC project funding 

• The OAC asks that you begin by contacting the individual, collective, ad hoc group or organization directly, with an aim to mutually resolve the feedback. The OAC will only proceed with the following steps if a direct approach has not worked or is not possible – for example, if the project grant recipient has not responded to your request, the outcome of the feedback is not satisfactory, there are ongoing safety concerns or you need to remain anonymous.
• If this first step has not been successful and you need to send OAC feedback about a project grant recipient, please complete our online form. Note the steps that you’ve taken so far, what a satisfactory outcome would look like, and whether we should identify you by name in any further communications with the grant recipient. Note that your feedback must directly relate to an OAC-funded activity. Upon receiving your message, we will confirm our role and process in relation to this objective, including our limitations.
• The OAC is guided by its Freedom of Artistic Expression Policy: “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to freedom of expression. The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) affirms the right of artists to create and present their work – subject to reasonable limits that can be justified in a free and democratic society – and the right of the public to experience that work. The OAC upholds these rights in its work as a public arts funder, provided that neither a work of art nor its creation contravenes applicable law.” The OAC will not pass along feedback that it reasonably determines as harassment or discriminatory.
• The OAC will inform the project grant recipient that a member of the community has submitted feedback or raised a concern.
• The project grant recipient will then be required to provide a reasonable timeline to respond confirming or demonstrating that they are abiding by the terms and conditions of their grant.
• If the grant recipient is unable to make that confirmation or provide a satisfactory response, they may be required to fully or partially repay their grant, and they may be ineligible for future OAC funding.

Peer assessment 

• If OAC becomes aware of feedback regarding an individual, group or organization that has applied to OAC for a grant, that information is not shared by OAC staff or included in the discussion at the peer assessment panel unless: 
  • the feedback is raised by the applicant within the application being assessed, or 
  • the feedback, whether substantiated or not, has been raised publicly and is relevant to the application being assessed. 

 

Limitations 

• The OAC will not discuss the confidential details of its relationship with a grant recipient with a third party. 
• The OAC will only address and respond to concerns about a grant recipient that are raised in the context of a current grant or active application (when applicable – see “Peer assessment”). 
• The OAC’s ability to act on concerns raised is limited to ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the grant in question. 
• Provided a grant recipient continues to abide by the terms and conditions of the grant, OAC relies on peer assessment to make its grant recommendations and does not directly intervene in the artistic or administrative decisions of its grant recipients. 
• Depending on the nature of concerns raised, OAC is not always able to determine that requirements of the terms and conditions have not been met. The OAC is often not the most authoritative entity to investigate allegations of unlawful conduct or to intervene in legal disputes. Should an external tribunal, court or other formalized process have findings of wrongdoing, OAC will take steps to follow up from those findings.   
• The OAC will acknowledge receipt of information about such situations, but its ability to act is conditionally restricted to confirming compliance with the terms and conditions of the grant through an attestation or the provision of relevant information or policies. OAC may take further action if an authoritative external investigation concludes that the grant recipient has acted in a way that violates OAC’s terms and conditions for the grant.   
• Members of the public are encouraged to communicate directly with the grant recipient when they have concerns and/or to engage with a lawyer, their union or relevant professional association for guidance or support.
• The OAC will not pass along complaints that can be reasonably judged to be harassment or discriminatory.