The Federal government announced  the details of the final components of Phase 2 on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.  It primarily includes funding for arts and culture organizations that do not currently receive funding from Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund, Musicaction or FACTOR, and/or did not receive funding in Phase 1.

As in Phase 1, the second component of Phase 2 emergency support will be provided through grants and contributions. The distribution of funding is as follows:

  • $45 million for special measures in support of journalism under the Canada Periodical Fund to assist free magazines and weekly newspapers, including those that serve official-language minority or ethnocultural communities.
  • $25 million distributed through partners to help independent broadcasters that invest in news and community broadcasts.
  • $20 million to help presenters in the live music industry (artist managers, booking agents, concert promoters, for-profit festivals and venues, etc.) through the Canada Music Fund.
  • $2.5 million to support producers of content in a language other than English or French through the Canada Media Fund.
  • $52.1 million to various arts and culture organizations that do not usually receive funding from Canadian Heritage programs and/or did not receive funding in Phase 1. This amount will be provided as follows:
    • $8.2 million for the arts sector;
    • $27.8 million for the audiovisual and digital media sector;
    • $5 million for the music industry;
    • $10 million for the publishing sector; and
    • $1 million for arts and culture organizations that serve official-language communities.

Simplified funding application processes have been put in place to support organizations in need as quickly and efficiently as possible. As of July 7, it will be possible to submit applications for assistance under the Canada Periodical Fund. Application details for the other Phase 2 funding opportunities will be available shortly on the dedicated COVID-19 emergency funding section of the Canadian Heritage website.

Phase 2 – Key Principles

The key principles guiding the design of Phase 2 are that:

  • The culture and heritage sectors should be treated similarly to other sectors of the economy (i.e., funds should be complementary to broader measures already announced by the Government, the approach to allocations should be consistent with the approaches taken for those measures, and multiple funding sources should not be used to cover the same costs);
  • The funds should flow as quickly as possible;
  • The process should be streamlined wherever possible and not burdensome for applicants; and
  • Funding should be disbursed to address gaps that remain after Phase 1, which include: a) program coverage of the cultural “value chain” (such as some previously ineligible sub-sectors and disciplines); b) diversity and the unique needs of equity-seeking groups (such as Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2 communities, racialized communities and official-language minority communities); and c) regional distribution of funding.