ABOUT TRELLIS MICRO-GRANTS

Arts and culture provide opportunities for communities to have their voices heard, to pass on their stories, to share their concerns with the world, and in the process, build a sense of belonging that is unique to its language, geography, and/or defined community, and consequently its symbols.

The Trellis Micro-grant project, supported by The Department of Canadian Heritage’s, Official Languages Support Programs, seeks to highlight English-language Arts and Artists to make them visible to a broader community, and build bridges between Québec’s English-speaking minority and Francophone majority. The Trellis Micro-grant project launched in the winter of 2024 and the calls for submissions for the first year of funding closed in February 2025.

Projects supported will be those that seek to strengthen the English-language community sense of belonging in Quebec, though arts and culture.  Projects must seek to increase intra- and inter-community appreciation and provide more opportunities for cooperation. The goal of the funding is the promotion of the English-speaking artistic communities’ contributions to Québec’s development and/or to create more opportunities to bring the English- and French-speaking communities closer together.

ELIGIBILITY &

SELECTION PROCESS

Projects will be vetted for eligibility by ELAN staff, and recommendations for funding will be made by a jury consisting of professional representatives from the various artistic disciplines that make up the English-language arts community. 

  • Artists and artists collectives are eligible for a maximum grant of $15 000 per project

  • Organizations are eligible for a maximum grant of $25 000 per project

APPLICATION INFORMATION

Applications have closed for the August 2024 – March 2026 funding envelope. Applications will be made available on this website when the next call for submissions is announced. Please check back in summer of 2025 for updates. 

  • Non-profit arts organizations, artists, and artists’ collectives who have a history of outreach, inclusion, and support of the English-language community.

  • Project activities that take place during the time period specified on the call for submissions. Projects must carry out one-time activities, implementation of which does not require ongoing funding. Expenses related to international activities are not eligible. Travel expenses must conform to federal government regulations.

  • Projects applications must demonstrate how the project supports English-language arts community visibility to the broader Quebec community and/or how project activities will build bridges between the English and French language communities.

  • In the case of an organization, applications must include a motion from the Board mandating application and the signing officer for application and reporting purposes. 

JURY 

The jury consists of professional representatives from various anglophone artistic disciplines, hailing from every corner of Quebec.  The jury members reflect the disciplines of the applications submitted. All applications are evaluated anonymously to ensure there is no conflict of interest.  

Our process has three steps: a preliminary screening for eligibility by ELAN staff, followed by a discipline-specific review and scoring, and then recommendations are sent to the final Community Jury.  

This final jury includes one representative of each discipline, as well as dedicated Arts Administration, Community Engaged, and Regional representatives. They will then make the final decisions on which applications are selected for funding. All Organization applications go directly to the Community Jury.

ELAN

The English Language Arts Network (ELAN) is facilitating the distribution of the Trellis Micro-grants. Projects will be vetted for eligibility by the Trellis Project Manager and Project Coordinator; however, funding decisions will be made by the jury.

  • Project Manager

    Deborah Forde (she/her) is a director, dramaturge, playwright, and arts administrator. Deborah has an extensive background in community development and professional community engaged arts. Currently, Deborah is director of operations for ELAN and freelances with the goal of continuing to support emerging artists and facilitate community connection to, and through, theatre.


  • Project Coordinator 

    Fred Azeredo (he/him) is a Brazilian theatre practitioner based in Montreal. A graduate of McGill University, he has written and directed extensively for stage and radio, working with companies like Teesri Duniya Theatre, TNC Theatre, and CKUT Radio. His latest play, Pindorama, was produced at the 2024 Montreal Fringe Festival by MBC Productions, a collective he co-founded with Alice Wu and Dana Prather.

About

The Trellis Micro-grant project, supported by The Department of Canadian Heritage’s Official Languages Support Programs, seeks to highlight English-language Arts and Artists to make them visible to a broader community, and build bridges between Québec’s English-speaking minority and Francophone majority. 

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