The Guidelines were approved on April 1, 2024 for the 2024-25 Fiscal Year. Any amendments made after the fact will be posted here:
Creative Saskatchewan was established in 2013 with a mandate to advance the commercial success of Saskatchewan’s creative industries and entrepreneurs. Through focused investments to creative entrepreneurs, Creative Saskatchewan contributes to the Province’s Growth Plan working to build a stronger Saskatchewan.
Creative Saskatchewan’s Board of Directors have set forth the following Mission for the agency:
Creative Saskatchewan is a leader supporting collaboration, entrepreneurial capacity, innovation and convergence that maximizes leveraged resources, commercial success and market access for Saskatchewan’s creative industries and producers.
The Investment Fund is the principal tool the agency uses to fulfill its mandate and deliver its mission.
The Investment Fund has four strategic priorities:
The intent of Creative Saskatchewan is to empower clients to realize their economic potential, within and outside the province. To that end, the following investment programs have been established.
This grant assists eligible Saskatchewan book publishers in the production and marketing of titles intended for commercial release. There are two streams within the grant: Author-Funded Stream and Book Publishers’ Stream.
This grant supports projects that focus on developing business knowledge and improved efficiencies, as well as expanded workforce capacity and business skills, which result in growth, market expansion and improved profitability.
This grant supports craft persons and visual artists in the production of creative products intended for the commercial marketplace.
This investment program provides eligible Saskatchewan applicants with funding to support the production of innovative and original digital games and eLearning properties.
This grant provides financial support to eligible applicants for feature film and television productions that have secured a relevant market trigger or distribution agreement of fair market value. There are two streams within this grant: the Saskatchewan Stream and the Service Production Stream.
This grant assists qualified Saskatchewan production companies with undertaking the development of eligible projects and bringing productions to fruition. There are four different streams within the grant: Pre-Development, First Draft, Final Draft and Slate Development.
The Filmmaker’s Grant program supports emerging Saskatchewan filmmakers with mentorship and production funds to produce content under 10 minutes intended to build the filmmakers’ professional portfolio.
This grant assists eligible Saskatchewan individuals and companies in the production of a series of performances intended for paying audiences.
This grant provides support to individuals and businesses for market access and market development opportunities intended to improve visibility and generate sales.
This grant provides support to projects that focus on market research and market intelligence activities, identifying commercial opportunities and/or emerging technologies.
This grant provides support to individuals and businesses to attend markets and industry events.
This grant supports the production of commercially viable sound recordings for commercial release. There are two different streams within the grant: Single or Extended Play (EP) Sound Recording and Full-Length (LP) Sound Recording.
This grant supports commercially viable touring opportunities for eligible Saskatchewan musicians and theatre companies touring in Canada and abroad. There are two different streams within the grant: Music and Live Performing Arts.
The terms of eligibility for all grants. These may be superseded by specific statements under each specific grant criteria.
Creative Saskatchewan is mandated through Legislation (“The Creative Saskatchewan Act”) and Regulations (“The Creative Saskatchewan Regulations”) available here. If there is a conflict between these guidelines and the Legislation and/or Regulations, the Legislation and Regulations will prevail.
The general guidelines apply to all programs, unless otherwise stated under the specific grant.
a. Film and Television
b. Craft and Visual Arts
c. Music
d. Live Performing Arts
e. Interactive Digital
f. Book Publishing
2. The following industry associations are supported by Creative Saskatchewan. They can also provide assistance with your application:
a. Saskatchewan Craft Council
b. SaskBooks
c. SaskGalleries
d. SaskInteractive
e. SaskMusic
f. SATP (Saskatchewan Association of Theatre Professionals)
g. SMPIA (Saskatchewan Media Production Industry Association)
3. The applicant must demonstrate commercial intent within their project in one of the creative industries supported by Creative Saskatchewan, as well as their ambition to grow their business beyond their current status.
4. The applicant must be in good standing (defined in the Glossary) with Creative Saskatchewan in all respects.
5. An applicant may be a corporation or an individual.
a. Corporations, as defined in The Creative Saskatchewan Regulations:
A Corporation
b. Individuals, as defined in The Creative Saskatchewan Regulations:
An individual
Note: Creative Saskatchewan may require Applicants to provide an annual Notice of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency to confirm taxation in the Province of Saskatchewan as an individual or business.
II. Project and Expense Eligibility
Note: Creative Saskatchewan encourages applications demonstrating cross-sectorial collaborations between multiple industry sectors.
III. Ineligible Projects and Expenses
IV. Financial Participation
V. Assessment
VI. Application Submissions and Deadlines
VII. Required Acknowledgements
VIII. Confidentiality
Your obligations to report to Creative Saskatchewan during the timeline of the project and as a Final Report.
General considerations.
Specific definitions of words, terms and phrases found in this document and in the grant applications.
Application Receipt Date
The receipt date is determined by the Program Advisor after their review to determine that the grant application is both eligible and complete. This date then determines the beginning date for eligible expenses. Below is a description of the application process. The Application Receipt Date is equivalent to the system status of “Under Review”.
An online application can have different statuses:
Chain of Title
A mapping of the intellectual property ownership from the owner of the initial concept and product to the owner at a specific date – in this instance, the date of grant award.
Commercial
To be considered a commercial entity or project, the primary interest of the individual or corporation is financial return rather than artistic.
Corporation
Corporations, as defined in the Creative Saskatchewan Regulations:
Default
Applicants/funding recipients – which can include an affiliated or associated legal entity, or the individual who has primary managerial control of the project – that are “In Default” regarding contractual obligations to Creative Saskatchewan (the “Agency”) will be deemed as “Not In Good Standing” with the Agency and will not be considered for future funding or other programs/services offered by the Agency until the issues which resulted in the “In Default” status have been resolved.
Any applicant who is found to be In Default will not have access to further funding, and is deemed ineligible to apply for further funding, until Creative Saskatchewan has declared the default remedied. No funds will be advanced to applicants having outstanding reports or repayments, or who have failed to provide such reports, statements or repayments, as specified by Creative Saskatchewan.
An assessment of gravity of default will be undertaken by Creative Saskatchewan. Creative Saskatchewan will take into account the history, frequency and severity of the applicant’s events of default at which time sanctions may be made against the applicant by Creative Saskatchewan.
Examples of events of default and sanctions include, but are not limited to, the following:
Event of Default | Sanction |
---|---|
Insolvency or bankruptcy | Ineligible for funding until discharged from bankruptcy. |
Fraud and/or misrepresentation | Ineligible for future funding in perpetuity. Applicants might be required to repay funds previously advanced by Creative Saskatchewan and forfeit any outstanding payments. Furthermore, legal action may be undertaken by the Government of Saskatchewan through the Ministry of Justice against the applicant. |
Failure to notify Creative Saskatchewan of material change to project or corporate information | Suspension until resolved. Applicants will be required to provide Creative Saskatchewan with documentation necessary to determine the eligibility of the applicant and of the project activities. Applicants might be required to repay funds previously advanced by Creative Saskatchewan and forfeit any outstanding payments. |
Failure to fulfill a request for information or documentation within 30 days | Suspension until resolved within 90 days of request for information. Applicants with unfulfilled requests for information or documentation past 90 days will be considered to have failed to remit reporting and are subject to the corresponding sanction. |
Failure to remit reporting | Applicants with reporting overdue past 90 days might receive a five-year suspension. Suspension is only lifted after the duration of the suspension has passed and applicants submit a request to be reinstated as “In Good Standing” to Creative Saskatchewan. Applicants might be required to repay funds previously advanced by Creative Saskatchewan and forfeit any outstanding payments. |
Failure to remit payments to Creative Saskatchewan | If not paid within 90 days of payment due date, suspension until resolved. |
Failure to acknowledge Creative Saskatchewan's support | Should a client continuously fail to acknowledge Creative Saskatchewan's funding, a funding delay will be applied where 100% of funding is payable upon receipt and approval of their final report which contains proof of acknowledgement. If the client is unable to acknowledge the funding, or provide a post-production acknowledgement, the funding commitment from Creative Saskatchewan will be withdrawn. |
Deferrals
The postponement of payment or the receipt of payment until a future point in time. Typically, a point in time when the company is in a more financially stable position.
Fast Tracked
An application for specific grants may be “fast tracked”. This process bypasses the assessment panel system in that funding is triggered by either (a) receiving funding from a qualified source, or (b) invitations from identified entities (see the details in specific grants that offer fast tracking for these organizations). Creative Saskatchewan considers these to have met our standards of due diligence because of the third party’s standard and rigorous methods for vetting qualified clients. However, Creative Saskatchewan will review all “fast tracked” applications to ensure that they meet the criteria for the specific grant program.
Fiscal Year
Creative Saskatchewan’s fiscal year begins April 1 and ends March 31. For example, the 2024-25 fiscal year begins April 1, 2024, and ends March 31, 2025.
Hold-back
Retention of a portion of the total grant award until such time as the Final Report has been submitted and approved by Creative Saskatchewan, and the file considered closed.
In Good Standing
Not in default. Further, Creative Saskatchewan will always extend professional behavior and courtesy to applicants, clients and partners. We expect professionalism in all dealings with Creative Saskatchewan. For example, abusive language will not be tolerated and may cause the applicant, client or partner to be removed from “in good standing”.
Individual or Corporation
Applicants can be an Individual or a Corporation. Non-individual applicants would be a Business, Band, Organization, Non-Profit, Collective, or Corporation.
In-House
In-House is activity that is executed within applicant’s own business, organization, or group. Examples of In-House activities would be applicant or salaried staff labour outside of day-to-day operations, or a musician/band/actor’s performance fees.
Intellectual Property (IP)
The result of one’s intellect and ideation. Can be referred to as:
Interactive Media
Interactive media is a method of communication in which the digital creation’s outputs depend upon the user’s inputs, and the user’s inputs in turn affect the digital creation’s outputs. There must be a meaningful participatory experience for the user.
Northern Saskatchewan Residents
Those residing in Prince Albert and north of Prince Albert.
Key Team Member
A Saskatchewan resident who has significant influence over the creative, production, marketing plan, and/or business plan and is compensated in the project budget at $500 or more.
Related Party Transactions
All applicants who intend to utilize any products or services supplied by a related party must complete a Related Party Transactions form, obtained on the Grant Management System here, and provide that form to Creative Saskatchewan concurrently with the respective application. Related parties exist when one party has the ability to exercise, directly or indirectly, control, joint control or significant influence over the other. Two or more parties are related when they are subject to common control, joint control or common significant influence.
Expenses incurred pursuant to a related party transaction must be for fair value in accordance with industry standards and evidenced by a proof of payment of each specific transaction.
A Related Party Transaction is a transfer of economic resources or obligations between parties that are related prior to the application, or the provision of services by one party to a related party, regardless of whether any consideration is exchanged. When the relationship arises as a result of the application, the transaction is not one between related parties.
A Related Party is a person or entity that is related to the applicant as follows:
(a) A person or a close member of that person’s family is related to an applicant if that person:
(i) Has control or joint control of the applicant;
(ii) Has significant influence over the applicant; or
(iii) Is a member of the key management personnel of the applicant or of a parent of the applicant.
(b) An entity is related to an applicant if any of the following conditions applies:
(i) The entity and the applicant are members of the same group (which means that each parent, subsidiary and fellow subsidiary is related to the others);
(ii) One entity is an associate or joint venture of the other entity (or an associate or joint venture of a member of a group of which the other entity is a member);
(iii) Both entities are joint ventures of the same third party;
(iv) One entity is a joint venture of a third entity and the other entity is an associate of the third entity;
(v) The entity is controlled or jointly controlled by a person identified in (a);
(vi) A person identified in (a)(i) has significant influence over the entity or is a member of the key management personnel of the entity (or of a parent of the entity)
Close members of the family of a person are those family members who may be expected to influence, or be influenced by, that person in their dealings with the applicant and include:
(i) That person’s parents, children and spouse or domestic partner;
(ii) Children of that person’s spouse or domestic partner; and
(iii) Dependents of that person or that person’s spouse or domestic partner.
Key management personnel are those persons having authority and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of the applicant, directly or indirectly, including any director (whether executive or otherwise) of the applicant.
Control of an enterprise is the continuing power to determine its strategic operating, investing and financing policies without the cooperation of others.
Joint control of an economic activity is the contractually agreed sharing of the continuing power to determine its strategic, operating, investing and financing policies.
Significant influence over an enterprise is the ability to affect the strategic operating, investing and financing policies of the enterprise.
Rural Residents
Those residing a minimum of 50 KM outside Regina and Saskatoon.
Stakeholder
A stakeholder is a person with an interest in the business who owns shares and benefits from success or profit.
Stakeholder Structure
A Stakeholder structure demonstrates ownership by listing the members who make up the business, band, organization, non-profit, collective, or corporation, and share in the profits. To evidence the shareholder structure, an ISC Profile Report can be provided, or a document outlining the percentage of shares owned by each stakeholder/member and members’ proof of residence. (Notice of Assessment(s) may be requested).
Third-Party
A third-party is a supplier or service provider that hired by the applicant and not affiliated with the applicant.
Third-Party Financing
The third party must have a standard and rigorous due diligence process to determine the commercial potential and viability of the project.
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