Community Development Grant
Flexible grants to support individual career development, professional growth, and evolving needs across the screen sector.
Overview
Film, television and video game creatives have a variety of needs, both planned and emerging throughout the year. Whether it’s a last minute invitation to a film festival, an upcoming workshop, or the need for professional services to support their new business. The Community Development Grant provides a flexible and responsive program to advance these needs. The aim of the program is to help remove barriers to growth of local individuals and their businesses.
This program has four program streams:
- Event Attendance: travel to attend festivals and markets to promote a project
- Out-of-region Professional Development: travel to attend short-term training and development opportunities outside the Edmonton region
- Local Professional Development: registration for local or virtual training and development opportunities
- Incorporation: select start-up costs for new screen media companies
Program Objectives
The Community Development Grant aims to increase:
- production activity in the Edmonton region
- skill level and experience of local creators
- local film, television, and video game producers, developers and businesses
- investment in local creative projects
- opportunities for local creatives to connect and build relationships
- visibility and recognition locally, nationally, and internationally
Eligibility
This program is open to individuals directly involved in the creation of film, television and video game projects based in the Edmonton region. Applicants must be in good standing with Edmonton Screen.
Funding is available for the following activities and expenses.
Activities
- Attending a festival, event, or market to promote film, television or video game projects outside the Edmonton Region.
- Attending training opportunities which increase the skill level, exposure, and experience of individuals (e.g. attending a conference, course or workshop).
- Incorporation of a new film and television or video game production company.
- Funding may not go directly into the production of a film, television, or video game project.
Expenses
- Event Attendance / Out-of-region Professional Development:
- 75% of registration fees, transportation, accommodations
- Daily per diem of 60 CAD/USD/EUR/GBP (depending on location)
- Local Professional Development:
- 75% of registration fees and required course material costs
- Incorporation:
- 50% of incorporation fees, business license fee, or legal fees
- Only expenditures made after application approval will be eligible for reimbursement.
Application Information
- Applicants must submit a separate application form for each activity.
- If applying for Event Attendance or Professional Development for more than one person, each person must submit their own application.
- No more than two members of the same company / project may attend any one event at a time.
- Applicants may only have two active applications open at the same time.
- Applications must be submitted prior to the start date of the activity and only expenditures made after application approval will be eligible for reimbursement.
- Approved funding is not transferrable to other individuals or between different activities.
Funding Limits
Event Attendance / Out-of-region Professional Development
- Up to a maximum of $1,500 per application
Local Professional Development
- Up to a maximum of $1,000 per application
Incorporation
- Up to a maximum of $500 per application
An individual may receive a maximum of $5,000 total from this program in one year.
Application Requirements
Information required for the application form:
- Applicant contact information
- Business Activity Type
- Business Description (1000 character max)
- Diversity and Inclusion (1000 characters max)
- Activity
- Category
- Name
- Start / End Date
- Description (1500 character max)
- Outcomes (2500 character max)
- Individual Impact (1500 character max)
- Community Impact (1500 character max)
- Related Projects (Title, Description, if applicable)
- Financial Information (total cost, requested activities, funding sources)
Assessment
The following general criteria will be used to assess funding requests:
- Application quality
- Alignment to one or more program objectives
- Impact on applicant
- Impact on local community
- Available funding
- Other criteria may also be considered
Process
- Applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
- All applications will first be reviewed for eligibility and completeness.
- If additional information is required, staff will reach out to the applicant.
- Once an application is completed and deemed eligible, it will then be assessed based on the criteria above.
- Funding decisions will be made based on the available funding.
- Applicants will be notified within 10 business days of a completed application of the status.
Based on a variety of factors, Edmonton Screen may provide partial funding.
Recognition and Reporting
Detailed recognition and reporting requirements can be found in the participant toolkit.
Reporting is due withing 30 days of the completion of the activity and will be indicated in the funding agreement provided. Any request for an extension to the activity date or reporting deadline must be made prior to the respective date for each.
Applicants with overdue final reporting for this or any other program will not be eligible for future Edmonton Screen funding until the reporting is submitted.
Program Updates
Updates for 2026 include:
- New funding limits per stream
- Active application limits (2 active applications per person at one time)
- New limit on number of partipants attending the same event from the same company/project
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to apply for the Community Development Grant?
This grant is open to individuals based in Edmonton and Northern Albert and be in good standing with Edmonton Screen.
This grant is not open to organizations.
What types of activies are supported by this grant?
Activities include travel to/from events such as festivals, conferences, workshops, or screenings, for the purposes of promoting a film, television, or digital media project or for short-term professional development.
The grant may also be used to cover a portion of registration fees and some required materials for local or virtual training opportunities (such as workshops, webinars, or courses).
Finally, individuals can access funding to help establish their businesses and cover fees for incorporation, initial business licensing and related legal fees.
I have been accepted into a program that requires temporary or permanent relocation, can I use funding to cover costs to particpate?
No, funding from the Community Development Grant is not available to cover relocation costs, sustenance or living expenses to particpate in such activities.
Can I apply more than once or for multiple projects?
Individuals may submit multiple applications, but may only have two approved active applications at any given time.