The AFA is modernizing its grant programs to provide more targeted and appropriate funding support to arts organizations and individual artists following a comprehensive review of the AFA’s programs that began in 2022.
Beginning in 2025, new and updated grant programs will be introduced to the community over the next few years. The AFA is taking an incremental approach to ensure all grant applicants, recipients, and clients are aware and understand any applicable changes throughout the transition.
We anticipate completing the rollout of all new and updated grants in 2028. This page provides a general overview of this project. If you have specific questions about your grant, please reach out to your grant consultant (contact info found at the bottom of your grant guidelines).
What is happening?
In 2022, the AFA began a long-term project to modernize its grant programs. This project has been informed by external specialists, good practices in other jurisdictions, and extensive stakeholder engagement over a three-year period.
The AFA contracted KPMG through a competitive procurement process to support this project and provide expertise and recommendations. The review has been completed and the AFA is now implementing program improvements.
The AFA is currently restructuring its operating programs to improve our delivery of grants and provide greater impact for the arts sector and Alberta as a whole. This restructuring includes both updates to current programs and introducing new programs. Changes are also intended to provide more options to support organizations’ future planning.
The AFA has also reviewed and will be updating is project grant streams for organizations and individuals. These programs, however, will not be fundamentally changing.
- Some changes have already been implemented: the increased maximum eligible amount for individuals from $15,000 to $18,000 in 2024 was informed in part and recommended by the AFA’s grant program review.
What has changed so far
The AFA is introducing new and updated grant programs between now and 2028. These transitions are ongoing, and AFA is taking an incremental approach to ensure all grant applicants, recipients, and clients are aware and understand any applicable changes throughout the transition. As new program changes are announced, more information will be provided to our clients.
On October 1, 2025, the AFA was pleased to launch a new funding program: the Volunteer Based Arts Organizations operating grant.
This operating grant has been introduced to provide annual funding to arts-based organizations that foster community connections and primarily run on volunteers to carry out their missions and mandates. This new program will provide targeted support for:
- primarily volunteer-run organizations
- organizations that have public programming and participation in the film and video, literary, visual arts, and/or performing arts as their primary purpose and principal mandate
As with all AFA operating grants, eligible organizations must be not-for-profit and operate in Alberta. They must demonstrate good governance principles, effective administration practices, and a commitment to fiscal responsibility while maintaining an artistic mandate.
- the deadline to apply is December 1 annually
Impacts on existing clients
Changes to operating programs may affect eligibility criteria for some operating clients receiving funding in current programs. These changes will ensure the AFA provides comparable annual funding to organizations of similar size and capacity.
Organizations that are expected to be impacted by changes to existing AFA grants have been notified directly. Should any future changes affect additional organizations, they will be informed in advance through direct communication. These notifications will happen before updates to existing programs are announced to the wider community. The AFA will also host workshops and provide other learning resources to ensure a smooth transition on any changes to application and/or reporting procedures.
The AFA will continue to provide supports and information to our grant clients throughout this project, and update this page as new information and updates to programs become available.
Future changes
The next of AFA’s program changes is anticipated to launch in the 2026 calendar year. Organizations identified for transition to this new program will be notified directly of their status. Additional details will be shared closer to the program’s launch. For the most current updates on AFA’s changing grant programs, please continue to visit this webpage.
