Deadline: 24-Sep-2025
The Creative Saskatchewan is inviting applications for its Tour Support Grant to support collaboration, entrepreneurial capacity, innovation and convergence across Saskatchewan’s creative industries, enabling leveraged resources, commercial success and market access.
Priorities: Provide incentive-based grant funding that enables the development and production of commercially viable creative products, ensuring market and export-readiness; Invest in market access and export development initiatives such as exhibitions, touring, showcases, market presence, marketing, and promotional activities; Encourage and support growth and innovation in the creative industries through research and development, and market intelligence initiatives; Enhance business capacity for creative industry businesses, individuals and organizations through workforce development, business and export readiness and entrepreneurial skills development.
Creative Saskatchewan’s Investment Fund is designed to drive economic growth within the province’s creative sector by prioritizing the development of commercially viable creative products and ensuring such products are market-ready and export-capable. It underpins the agency’s strategic mandate by allocating incentive-based grant funding directly toward projects that demonstrate strong commercial intent and alignment with regional and international market demands.
Through targeted investment in market and export development, the fund supports activities such as exhibitions, touring, showcases, and other promotional initiatives aimed at increasing visibility for Saskatchewan’s creative output. These efforts are complemented by research and development, and market intelligence initiatives that stimulate innovation and deeper insights into market trends, enabling creative producers to make informed strategic decisions.
Equally important is the fund’s commitment to enhancing business capacity across the sector. By investing in workforce development, export readiness, entrepreneurial skills, and business operations, Creative Saskatchewan seeks to equip individuals, businesses, and organizations with the tools needed to scale their operations sustainably.
This comprehensive support framework is operationalized through a range of grant programs tailored to various creative fields. Among these are grants for book publishing—offered via the Author-Funded and Book Publishers’ streams—that facilitate production and marketing activities. There are also grants for craft and visual arts production, digital game development, sound recording, live performing arts, and music touring, each aimed at fostering commercial output within their respective sectors.
For screen-based media and film, Creative Saskatchewan administers development and production grants, along with feature film and television production funding. These include streams for emerging filmmakers and support for projects that meet market triggers or distribution agreements, enabling Saskatchewan content to reach broader audiences. Separate grant streams also support marketing and promotion efforts, travel to showcases and markets, and initiatives to improve business efficiency and professional development. The maximum amount of financial support that Creative Saskatchewan may provide to any applicant is $750,000 per fiscal year, except in the case of the Feature Film and Television Production Grant, where funding of up to $5,000,000 may be approved.
Projects must be aligned with the Vision and Mission statements of Creative Saskatchewan, and applications must include a description of how the project aligns with the mandate to realize diverse commercial opportunities in national, international and emerging markets that collectively grow thriving, sustainable creative industries. The primary purpose of the project must be commercial intent and must fall within the creative industries outlined in section. Projects must demonstrate market potential, viability, demand, and economic benefit to Saskatchewan. They must adhere to all relevant federal and provincial laws, and expenses must be incurred primarily in Saskatchewan unless proven infeasible. All expenses must be directly attributable to the project, occur within the project timeline (after the application receipt date and before the declared project end), and comply with AI disclosure requirements if AI is used in content creation or application preparation. Eligible expenses include Saskatchewan labour in accordance with industry standards, administration expenses up to 15% of the budget or $5,000 (whichever is less), contracted services directly tied to the project, and travel, per diems, and accommodations for Saskatchewan residents if relevant to the program. Travel must follow Creative Saskatchewan’s Travel Policy.
Funding will not be provided for activities already receiving support from SK Arts or SaskCulture, or for work undertaken prior to the date Creative Saskatchewan received the application. Projects that present third-party creative content, involve capital expenditures (except eligible technology infrastructure), in-kind services, donations, deferrals, childcare, personal items, alcohol, traffic violation fees, GST or HST, instructional videos, merchandise manufacturing, motivational speaking tools or tours, ongoing core operations beyond allowable administration fees, or projects contrary to public interest are ineligible. Material deemed illegal under the Criminal Code, student projects, travel for non-Saskatchewan residents, expenses during non-travel/non-work days, and unapproved material changes will also not be funded.
To ensure consistency and fair application of these programs, all applicants must meet general eligibility criteria aligned with the Creative Saskatchewan Act, including being active practitioners in one of the identified creative industries (such as film, music, craft, publishing, live performing arts, and digital game development), demonstrating commercial intent, and satisfying standing and residency requirements. The deadline for applications is 24 September 2025.
For more information, visit Creative Saskatchewan.