Funding Programs

On July 7th 2020 Heritage Canada announced the final components of Phase 2 of the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations. 

The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) has been mandated to manage the distribution of emergency funding relief for the campus and community radio sector.

Working alongside the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada (ARCC), l’Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec (ARCQ), and the National Campus & Community Radio Association (NCRA), the CRFC will be distributing emergency funding relief to allow campus and community radio stations to maintain their core local programming operations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

The COVID-19 Relief Fund has been set up for campus and community stations that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, which has resulted in financial hardship for them,  and are therefore in the need for government funding.

To qualify, you must complete the online application by September 25th on the following link: https://MyCRFC-MonFCRC.smapply.io/prog/. If you don’t have an account, you will have to create one. Please refer to our tutorial to do so.

Guidelines

FAQ

Deadline for application: September 25th, 2020.

Radiometres is the cornerstone of the funding currently distributed by the CRFC and has been running since 2012. A new round of programming is launched each year in January.

Applications for Radiometres 2020-2021 are now closed!

To read the program guidelines, click here: 2020 Guidelines

The CRFC also offers a series of webinars for applicants to help them with their funding application:

My CRFC Project – Success Factors 1 (goals and measurable results)

My CRFC Project – Success Factors 2 (timeline)

My CRFC Project – Success Factors 3 (budget)

Advice for Applicants (2018)

Radiometres is characterized by an outcome-based approach. It is designed to offer the funding that the stations need by being flexible enough to find a wide range of activities, but also maintains a focus on measuring success and progress for each project funded.

The program targets three outcomes :

These outcomes were chosen to reflect the aims of CRFC funding as well as the desired impact of funding awarded on the campus and community radio sector and the broader canadian broadcasting system.

By targeting these outcomes over the long-term, the CRFC hopes to foster the development and sustanability of campus and community radios, and volunteer participation. We are on the right track! To date, Radiometres has had a significant impact on the sector by allowing 124 stations to :

Program results:

The Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) supports the creation of local journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada. Funding is available to eligible Canadian media organizations to hire journalists produce local journalism for underserved communities. The content produced will be made available to media organizations through a Creative Commons license so that Canadians can be better informed.

The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) is one of the not-for-profit organizations administering the Initiative. This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

Phase 2 :

Deadline to apply: June 23, 2020

To read the program guidelines, click here: LJI Phase 2 Guidelines

Phase 1:

January 21, 2020 – Recipients of LJI funding are announced

Expected outcomes of the program:

A special emergency fund of $356 000 has been allocated by the CRFC to support the creation and distribution of spoken word content by stations created outside of their broadcast studios during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. With reduced access to broadcast studios in a period of crisis where communities need to be kept informed as much as possible, we feel this funding can help stations fulfill their duties as an essential service to their communities.

The CRFC is offering a micro-grant up to $2,000 to support stations who have had additional technical needs to be able to continue creating and distributing original programming during the COVID-19 crisis.

Eligible applicants are Canadian stations who hold a valid CRTC-issued campus or community radio broadcasting license (as set out in Public Notice CRTC 2010-499).

Download the guidelines.

Download the application form.

Deadline – June 5, 2020.

Since the year 2014-2015, the CRFC allocates a funding envelope to the three largest campus and community radio associations in Canada : the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada (ARC du Canada), the Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec (ARCQ), and the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA). Collectively, these three associations represent the majority of the 180 campus and community stations that possess a valid campus or community broadcasting licence issued by the CRTC.

The CRFC provides support to the three associations so that they may provide specific services to their members. The funds are to be used to reinforce the capabilities of the sectors by helping stations coordinate their activities, train volunteers et employees, and create new musical and spoken word content. This funding allocation has allowed a majority of stations to receive professional coaching and supervision.