1. Funding
  2. Grants
  3. Creating, Knowing and Sharing

Creating, Knowing and Sharing:
The Arts and Cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples

This program supports Indigenous individuals and groups, Indigenous-led arts organizations and arts/cultural sector development organizations that foster a vital and resilient Indigenous arts ecosystem.

Creating, Knowing and Sharing acknowledges the cultural sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and respects the concept of First Nations, Inuit and Métis self-determination.

341 successful applications in 2023-24.

Get to know some of the Creating, Knowing and Sharing grant recipients and their work

A traditional ceramic pot with a dark, rustic finish sitting amidst a small outdoor fire. The pot features interwoven patterns near the top and has a white, slightly flared rim. Flames and embers surround the pot.

Weaving Stories in Clay

Visual Arts

Explore Nancy Oakley’s journey as a Mi’kmaq and Wampanoag potter, weaving tradition, culture and motherhood into her captivating clay art.

Sewn quilt of colourful squares of cotton and silk made to look like a QR code.

Dallas Flett-Wapash

Multidisciplinary Arts

A Creating, Knowing and Sharing grant is helping artist Dallas Flett-Wapash share knowledge on using augmented reality.

Colourful, nine-panel illustrated storyboard.

Celestine Twigg

Visual Arts

A Creating, Knowing and Sharing Grant is helping Celestine Twigg promote Blackfoot language through animation.

A photo of a winter landscape onto which is drawn a gun-wielding woman in a tent surrounded by a pack of wolves.

GTC Department of Cultural Heritage

Media Arts

With a Creating, Knowing and Sharing grant, the Gwich’in Tribal Council is creating a hub for Indigenous arts in the Northwest Territories.

Nunavut landscape.

Kenojuak Cultural Centre

Visual Arts

A Creating, Knowing and Sharing grant helped the Kenojuak Cultural Centre host an exhibit of Inuit tools.

A woman in a fur-trimmed coat stands outdoors.

Deantha Edmunds

Music

A Creating, Knowing and Sharing grant is helping Inuk classical singer Deantha Edmunds develop the opera Ingutak.

Funding opportunities

All funding opportunities can be viewed, applied for and managed in the client portal. There are five funding opportunities offered through the Creating, Knowing and Sharing program.

Travel

Next deadline: Any time before your departure date

Project funding for First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals, groups and organizations to attend significant events that advance professional development or artistic research, enable access to new markets and build audiences. 

Small-Scale Activities

Next deadline: Any time before the start date of your project or activity

Project funding for materials, and artistic or professional development

Short-Term Projects

Next deadline: November 26, 2025

Project funding for First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals, groups and organizations for activities of up to 1 year in length 

Long-Term Projects

Next deadline: TBC

Project funding for First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals, groups and organizations for activities of more than 1 year and up to 3 years in length 

Indigenous Organizations

Next deadline: Fall 2027

Multi-year funding for not-for-profit and for-profit Indigenous organizations that explore innovative strategies for Indigenous creative and cultural expression

Explore funding opportunities

Get help with your application

Guidance and Resources are available to help you learn how to use the portal, apply for grants, create your arts CV and more. For help with filling out grant applications, Application Assistance is available to individuals or lead applicants for groups, who self-identify as:

  • Deaf, hard of hearing, having a disability or living with mental illness; or
  • First Nations, Inuit or Métis facing language, geographic and/or cultural barriers.