Introduction to the Ontario Arts Operating Fund

This webpage presents a summary of a webinar held on November 20, 2025, for all operating grant recipients.

Starting in January 2026, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) will offer one single operating program: the Ontario Arts Operating Fund.

OAC is introducing the Ontario Arts Operating Fund to:

• streamline the number of operating programs from 16 to 1
• incorporate performance measures that better reflect OAC’s mandate, vision and values (see About Us)
  • These performance measures are still in development and will be shared in January 2026 when the Ontario Arts Operating Fund application becomes available.

Program structure

The Ontario Arts Operating Fund will have a three-year cycle.

Going forward, OAC will no longer have an annual operating stream, where organizations’ applications are peer assessed every year. Organizations currently in the annual operating stream of their operating program will enter the Ontario Arts Operating Fund as multi-year applicants. See “Assessment” below for more information on the multi-year cycle.

The Ontario Arts Operating Fund will feature eight program categories:

1. Dance Organizations 
2. Literature Organizations 
3. Media Arts Organizations 
4. Multi and Inter-Arts Organizations 
5. Music Organizations 
6. Theatre Organizations 
7. Visual Arts Organizations
8. Francophone Organizations

Impact of categories

The categories remain largely discipline focused, ensuring consistency with many existing application and assessment processes.

• For example, an organization that previously applied to the Media Arts Organizations: Operating program will now apply to the Media Arts Organizations category within the Ontario Arts Operating Fund.

Organizations previously served through the Arts Service Organizations: Operating and Arts Organizations in Communities and Schools: Operating programs will now be invited to apply to the category that best reflects the discipline in their organizational mandate. For example:

• If you’re a non-francophone arts service organization that serves the dance sector – you will be invited to apply to Dance Organizations.
• If you’re a community-engaged arts organization that specializes in music – you will be invited to apply to Music Organizations.
• If you’re a non-francophone arts service organization or community-engaged arts organization whose mandate spans across multiple disciplines – for example, a local arts council, or an organization that serves the needs of a cultural rather than a disciplinary community – you may be invited to apply to Multi and Inter Arts Organizations.

All organizations that operate in French will apply to the Francophone Organizations category. The organizations in this category will still be evaluated and peer-assessed through the lens of their discipline.

• Consolidating all Francophone organizations into a single category helps to streamline French-language service provision throughout the application and assessment processes, ensuring that we are adequately meeting requirements under the French Language Services Act.

Assessment

At OAC, “multi-year funding” doesn’t mean applying for funding once every three years. Organizations must still request funding every year to receive it. But the assessment method changes depending on whether the organization is entering year 1, 2 or 3 of their funding cycle.

After each application deadline:

• applications from organizations entering year 1 will be assessed by a panel of discipline-specific peers, based on the program category
• applications from organizations entering years 2 and 3 will be reviewed internally by OAC program officers

The program’s application and evaluation criteria, which will be based on OAC’s new comprehensive performance measures, are still in development and will be shared in January 2026.

Multi-year cycles

Depending on their category, organizations will enter year 1, 2 or 3 of their Ontario Arts Operating Fund multi-year cycle in 2026-27.

Most current multi-year applicants will enter the year they would have entered under the old program structure. However, some will enter year 1 in 2026-27 regardless of what year they were in for 2025-26:

• All Francophone organizations will enter year 1 in 2026-27.
• Some literary festivals, visual artist-run centres and visual arts festivals that would have entered year 3 will enter year 1, based on their new program category.
• Some ASOs and community-engaged arts organizations will be invited to apply to a category entering year 1.

Categories by year in 2026-27

• Dance Organizations
• Literature Organizations
• Visual Arts Organizations
• Francophone Organizations

• Multi and Inter-Arts Organizations
• Music Organizations

• Media Arts Organizations
• Theatre Organizations

Program deadlines

There will be three deadlines for the Ontario Arts Operating Fund (two in March and one in September).

Most organizations’ category will determine their deadline, as shown below.

Some program categories will have two deadlines per year to manage applicant volume. These deadlines will largely align with the time of year organizations have historically submitted their operating applications.

As is standard practice, the application form will be available in Nova approximately two months before the deadline.

2026-27 category deadlines

• Dance Organizations
• Literature Organizations
• Visual Arts Organizations
• Francophone Organizations

• Multi and Inter-Arts Organizations
• Media Arts Organizations
• Music Organizations (for organizations that have historically applied to the Spring deadline)
• Theatre Organizations (for organizations that have historically applied to the Spring deadline)

• Music Organizations (for organizations that have historically applied to the Fall deadline)
• Theatre Organizations (for organizations that have historically applied to the Fall deadline)

Next Steps

The application for the March 2026 deadlines will open in late January 2026.

More information about the assessment criteria and the new performance measures will be made available at that time.

OAC is also working on a series of informational videos that will cover information about the application, assessment criteria and the new performance measures. 

We will be sharing new information with you the last week of January 2026. 

Questions?