Often libraries have partnerships with museums and galleries or may own one themselves.  Here are some collected by the OMA.

Clarification on Municipal Museum Funding Eligibility

In today’s ONmuseums, the phrase “Municipal museums are also excluded from federal relief programs” referred specifically to federal support programs like the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), where municipalities are ineligible.

Read more about CEWS HERE.
Read more about CEBA HERE.

For the Department of Canadian Heritage’s COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Heritage Organizations – Museums Assistance Program:”The following organizations with heritage collections are eligible for funding:

  • Not-for-profit organizations such as museums, archives, or historic sites (including those that operate seasonally and those without full-time staff);
  • Indigenous organizations or official language minority community organizations; and,
  • Municipal and university museums with a distinct budget.

To be eligible, applicants must also:

  • Provide public access through regular hours of operation (including on a part-time or seasonal basis), and,
  • Have had annual expenses in 2019 between $10,000 and $3,000,000.”

Read more HERE.

Need to Know
OMA Presents on Culture and Heritage to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs
On June 26, Paul Robertson, OMA President and Marie Lalonde, OMA Executive Director, presented to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. They highlighted that Ontario’s museums can play a key role in recovery, contributing to both economic and social bottom lines.

As the Ontario government responds to COVID-19, the OMA has been communicating the important work of the government to the museum sector. We all recognize the burdens presented during these challenging times and appreciate all of the government’s efforts to support the culture sector. The OMA looks forward to continuing discussions with the Government of Ontario to help with the essential stabilization of Ontario museums so they can continue to serve their communities across the province.

“This pandemic exacerbated the critical, ongoing underfunding of museums as a vital community resource. The early distribution of operating funds to 166 eligible museums out of the 700 in Ontario is appreciated; but affects fewer than 24% of Ontario museums.

Even now, three months into the pandemic, no provincial emergency funding is available to Ontario’s museums. Non-profit Museums currently are not eligible for the fed dev Regional Recovery Relief Fund, nor for the Ontario Arts Council funding. And the welcome significant investments in tourism do not affect museums operating budgets.

Municipal museums are also excluded from federal relief programs and will also face increased competition for funding within hard-hit municipalities.”

They emphasized the affect COVID-19 has had on the museum sector and brought forward the following recommendations:

  • Ontario Museums Relief Funding to address the immediate and significant impact of loss of revenue
  • Property tax exemption for all museums applied consistently across the province
  • Update to the Community Museum Operating Grant (CMOG) program and funding
  • Revision of funding programs to eliminate or reduce the matching funding requirements
  • Creation of incentives and tax credits inclusive of museums to encourage private-sector donations
  • Digital Response Funding to allow Ontario museums to produce engaging and accessible online content based on their existing high-quality museum work
“Museums and archives are the keepers of our community memories — COVID-19 is a unique moment in our history. Museums have been proactive in pursuing, collecting and presenting community memories tangible and intangible for this generation and those to come. This only happens with adequate and ongoing financial resources.” – Paul Robertson

In the end, the OMA echoed the statement of Minister MacLeod the previous day. When the world is ready to come back to Ontario, museums need to be ready to welcome them.

Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) Proclamation Set for Fall 2020

In anticipation of the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) being proclaimed this fall, ONN has shared seven key legislative amendments with the Ontario government to consider as part of its proclamation. These are the critical amendments needed to the now ten-year-old legislation that would make the implementation of ONCA much clearer and consistent for the 58,000 nonprofits serving their communities in Ontario.

Read more HERE.

Read the ONN letters to Government and Consumer Services Minister Lisa Thompson HERE and HERE.

Emergency Funding Update

On July 7, the government released the “Final Components of Phase 2 of the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations.” This final component helps address some of the gaps that have been identified by the industry across Canada since the fund was first implemented.

The news release notes that when the first component of Phase 2 was released on June 18, “it included $53 million in support to organizations with heritage collections through the emergency component of the Museums Assistance Program.” It adds that “details on the application process for small community museums will be available very soon.”

There is no confirmation on the possibility that the Museums Assistance Program would be extended to small community museums with smaller budgets that are seasonal, dependent on volunteers, that may not reopen this summer. The government may consider adjusting the sliding scale to be able to provide grants below $5,000 that are proportional to those budgets.

To read more, click HERE.

Register with the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG)

On June 25th the CSSG launched the CSSG and it’s the website I Want to Help, through which post-secondary students and recent graduates can find volunteer work. The CSSG will provide these volunteers with a one-time payment of between $1,000 and $5,000 based on the number of hours they serve.

Charities and not-for-profit organizations can register with the I Want to Help platform and connect with student volunteers. Volunteers recruited through the platform may be eligible for the CSSG.

There are three steps for organizations seeking to recruit volunteers through the CSSG program:

1) Register your organization
2) Create postings for volunteer roles
3) Train and mobilize volunteers

To read more, click HERE or HERE.
To register your organization, click HERE.

Enabling Accessibility Fund – Now Open!
Deadline: July 13, 2020
The Enabling Accessibility Fund (EAF) (Employment and Social Development Canada) provides funding for projects that make communities and workplaces more accessible for persons with disabilities. EAF creates more opportunities for persons with disabilities to:
  • take part in community activities, programs and services
  • access employment
Eligible organizations can apply for up to $100,000 for:
  • small construction, renovation or retrofit of existing spaces to improve accessibility
  • accessible information and communication technologies
Read more and apply HERE.