Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund (OCAF)

Business Size: small, medium, large

Industries: arts, heritage, culture

Region: Ontario, Northern Ontario, cities or municipal regions with populations under 100,000

Demographics: First Nation, Band Council, Metis, Inuit community

Other Criteria: incorporated Ontario-based, not-for-profit and/or charitable professional arts, heritage or cultural organization, Ontario municipality / municipal agency, in existence for at least one year, in compliance with legal financial reporting requirements (Canada Corporations Act or Corporations Act of Ontario), project must be distinct from ongoing programming or activity (new event or significant expansion to existing programming), project must represent the single largest new programming initiative in the applicant’s business plan for that year, project must run for a fixed or limited period of time, project must have a marketing plan targeting new tourists to the community (non-local audiences), project must anticipate at least 10% of total revenues from private sector, project must anticipate at least 40% of total revenues from earned revenue (exception for free/low admission events: earned + private sector revenue at least 50% of total revenue), project must demonstrate clear capability of repayment to OCAF and aim to generate a surplus for the applicant, project attendance of at least 1,000 in rural areas or 10,000 in large urban centres (special consideration for 750-1,000 rural/northern and 7,500-10,000 large urban with strong tourism potential), applicants may receive OCAF support no more than once every two years (if previously approved for funding), only one project application allowed at a time