News Release

Toronto, October 1, 2026 – Gina’s Prize is now accepting nominations for 2027 Gina Wilkinson Prize. ELIGIBILITYTheatre artists from underrepresented genders which includes cis women, trans women, and non-binary people who have acquired foundational training (from a training program or through experience) and have worked for at least 5 years are eligible for Gina’s Prize.

Toronto, September 14, 2026 – Costume designer Rachel Forbes is the 2026 winner of the Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design.  Celebrating its 20th anniversary, this annual $30,000 award recognizes exceptional achievement by a mid-career professional costume designer in Ontario. Beginning this year, the Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award is introducing an annual

Toronto, August 5, 2026 – The Ontario Arts Foundation is now accepting nominations for the Jini Stolk Creative Fellowship. The Fellowship encourages the development of the field of arts management by providing $20,000 over two years ($10,000 each year) to an arts manager of a small to mid-sized Toronto arts organization. Nomination ProcessIndividuals must be

Toronto, June 30, 2026 – Composers Corey Butler and Ted Runcie are the recipients of the Kathleen McMorrow Music Award. This $10,000 award recognizes the composition and presentation of contemporary classical music by Ontario composers and is given annually to two applicants of the Ontario Arts Council Music Creation Projects program. Corey Butler is being

Toronto, June 22, 2026 – The 2026 winners of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards were announced today during a school assembly at Brock Public School in Toronto, Ont. The winners were selected by two juries of young readers from the school – a jury of grade 4 students selected the recipient of

Toronto, June 11, 2026 – The Ontario Arts Foundation is pleased to announce that Arnab Sen is the 2026 recipient of the $2,500 Tim Sims Encouragement Award. The Tim Sims Encouragement Award honours a promising Canadian comedic performer who is in the early stages of their career. Arnab was selected for the award by the

Toronto, May 26, 2026 – Today, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) and the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) released the shortlists for the 2026 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards. The Schwartz Awards are the only Canadian literary award where student jurors work together to choose the winning books. Student juries from Brock Public School

Toronto, May 12, 2026 – The Ontario Arts Foundation is pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the Tom Phillips Prize. Established by the late Thomas Vincent Phillips, these annual awards celebrate emerging Ontario visual artists, media artists and craft artists in recognition and support of their evolving artistic practices. Awards of $10,000 are presented

Toronto, April 15, 2026 – The Ontario Arts Foundation announced today that $ 5.0 million in endowment income was paid to 255 arts organizations across the Province of Ontario. This represents income earned on endowments created by arts organizations and funded jointly by the private sector and the government through two matching programs: the Arts