TAO — Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship

• The applicant must be a professional artist who is a newcomer or refugee residing in the City of Toronto.
• The applicant must have arrived in Canada after January 1, 2018.
• Both applicant and mentor must be recognized professional artists working in any artistic tradition.
• The applicant must be a Canadian Citizen, Permanent Resident, have an application pending for Permanent Resident status, or be a Protected Person (approved refugee claimant), and able to provide documentation if requested.
• The applicant must possess a Social Insurance Number (SIN).

Who is eligible?

• Individual professional artists from any artistic tradition
• Individual professional arts workers (mentors) such as arts managers, curators, or producers

Who is not eligible

• Companies or organizations are not eligible; this program is specifically for individual professional newcomer or refugee artists and their individual mentors.

Eligible expenses

• Financial support paid directly to the newcomer or refugee artist for their professional development.
• Financial support paid directly to the mentor for providing mentorship services.

Eligible geographic areas

• City of Toronto

• Artistic merit and quality of the application.
• Potential for the mentorship to support the applicant’s integration into the Toronto arts community.
• Meaningfulness of the mentorship experience for the applicant.
• Mentor's experience and qualifications relevant to the mentorship.
• Realism and feasibility of the mentorship workplan.

• Applicants and mentors must each have a unique email address registered in the TAC Grants Online portal; they cannot use an email linked to an organization or collective.
• Accessibility support of up to $500 is available per eligible applicant per year to assist Deaf persons or persons with disabilities in preparing their applications.
• The mentorship activities must begin after July 1 and be completed by June 30, 2026.
• Support material such as videos, images, or writing samples should follow specified requirements; video/audio must not exceed 3 minutes, and writing samples are capped at 15 pages, double-spaced.