Currently 11 active film and video grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in Canada. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
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The Vancouver Island Short Film Festival in Nanaimo takes general short film submissions for its 22nd edition (the youth stream is closed). Deadline 20 November 2026.
The Indigenous Screen Office's Production Program for All funds Indigenous-led screen production: shorts, features, series and pilots, including animation. Individuals, collectives and community groups can apply for up to CAD 75,000; Indigenous-owned production companies can apply for larger amounts (from CAD 150,000 for non-broadcast series or animated shorts up to CAD 500,000-750,000 depending on budget). ELIGIBILITY: First Nations, Inuit or Metis applicants who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents living in Canada; at least 2 of 3 key creative roles must be held by Indigenous people. The criteria mention XR, apps and games, but eligible project types list screen formats, so confirm interactive projects with ISO first. The call opened 21 October 2026. DEADLINE: 25 November 2026, 5 pm PST.
Alambic is a nine-month paid lab in which an emerging French-speaking animator makes a short animated film produced by the NFB French Animation Unit, with mentorship and production support. Any animation technique is accepted. ELIGIBILITY: Canadian citizen or permanent resident, French-speaking, emerging (up to three professional films), sole animator on the project, and available full-time from 1 February to 29 October 2027. The NFB holds the rights to the film. Apply by 29 November 2026, 5:00 p.m. EST.
Factory Media Centre, Hamilton's artist-run media arts centre, offers its &NOW production residency to a media artist, team or collective at any career stage. The resident develops a media-arts project from mid-January to April 2027 with an artist fee, an equipment-rental scholarship, staff support and a paid public program, ending in a May exhibition or open studio. Applicants must be FMC members; hybrid or remote working is possible, but equipment rentals and 24/7 studio access are for local artists. Apply by 30 November 2026, 11:59 pm EST.
The Indigenous Screen Office's Interactive and Immersive Program, delivered with the Canada Media Fund, funds development and production of Indigenous-led interactive and immersive screen content, including games, apps and XR. AMOUNTS: up to CAD 50,000 for development and up to CAD 100,000 for production; individuals and collectives are capped at CAD 100,000. CMF-eligible projects (for-profit, Canadian-controlled companies with a head office in Canada) approved by the ISO can receive up to a further CAD 50,000 for development and CAD 100,000 for production. Producer fees capped at 10% of budget and contingency at 5%. ELIGIBILITY: status and non-status First Nations, Inuit and Metis applicants who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Individuals and sole proprietors must reside in Canada, work in screen-based content and keep financial and creative control, with two of three key creatives Indigenous. Companies must be at least 51% Indigenous-owned and registered in Canada; collectives must be Indigenous-led with a signed collective agreement. Any career level; emerging creators need at least one prior credit in their key role. One application per applicant per fiscal year. TIMELINE: opened 3 November 2026; closes 2 December 2026, 5:00 pm PST; notifications 3 to 4 months after closing. Extension requests at least 10 business days before the deadline.
imagineNATIVE, the world's largest Indigenous film and media arts festival, invites submissions for its 27th edition, in person at the TIFF Lightbox in Toronto from 1 to 6 June 2027 and online from 7 to 13 June. It accepts Film + Video, Digital + Interactive and Audio works; Digital + Interactive explicitly covers XR (AR, VR, MR), video games, projections and immersive or dome works, and interactive narratives, and experimental film may be presented in that strand. ELIGIBILITY: the director must be Indigenous and the writer and/or producer Indigenous (joint creative positions considered); no overt Indigenous content required; any budget, language (English subtitles or captions if programmed) and premiere status; works from 2025 to 2027; rough cuts accepted with a stated completion date. The Academy-qualifying Live Action Short Award requires narrative shorts under 40 minutes completed on or after 1 October 2026. CASH: award winners receive sponsored cash prizes paid directly to the Indigenous director or lead creative. FEES: free early bird ended mid-October; regular period CAD 5 until 3 January 2027. Submit via FilmFreeway.
Hot Docs, North America's largest documentary festival, accepts submissions for its 2027 edition in Toronto, 23 April to 2 May 2027. Categories: shorts (1 to 40 minutes), mid-length and feature (41+ minutes) and episodic series, in Canadian and International streams; awards include Best Canadian and Best International Short Film, Spectrum jury prizes and audience awards (cash amounts not stated). ELIGIBILITY: completed after 1 January 2026; features, mid-lengths and series must be at least Ontario premieres and not available online to Ontario audiences; shorts must be at least Toronto premieres; English, English-subtitled or English-versioned (non-English films may submit with a transcript); not previously submitted. Canadian category requires production in Canada and/or a Canadian citizen or PR director. FEES (CAD, plus 13% HST in Canada, non-refundable): regular deadline 10 December 2026, short 50, longer 120; late deadline 4 January 2027, short 70, longer 165. Screener links must stay live until April 2027; programming decisions by mid-March 2027.
Inside Out, Toronto's 2SLGBTQ+ film festival, takes submissions of features and shorts in narrative, documentary, experimental and animation forms that are of interest to 2SLGBTQ+ communities and completed no more than 18 months before the festival. Significant AI use must be disclosed and fully AI-generated films are disqualified. Regular deadline 13 December 2026, late deadline 10 January 2027, via FilmFreeway.
A long-running international short film festival in the Yukon taking shorts of 30 minutes or less, completed after 1 January 2026, in all genres (music videos, industrial films and PSAs are not eligible). Early-bird deadline 1 December 2026, final deadline 12 January 2027 (postmarked), Yukon youth deadline 1 February 2027.
The first call under the Entente sectorielle de developpement pour les arts et les lettres de la Cote-Nord 2026-2029, a partnership between CALQ, the Quebec municipal affairs ministry, the MRCs of Caniapiscau, Haute-Cote-Nord, Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent, Manicouagan, Minganie and Sept-Rivieres, and Culture Cote-Nord. It funds projects by professional artists, writers and arts organizations that involve partnership with the community or regional stakeholders. Program objectives include encouraging the emergence and inclusion of digital technologies in artistic practice. STREAMS: for individuals, Volet 1 (creation, production and outreach) and Volet 3A (mobility); for organizations, Volets 2 and 3B. Eligible disciplines include arts numeriques, cinema et video, arts multidisciplinaires and pluridisciplinaire. ELIGIBILITY: main address in one of the partner territories. DEADLINE: 26 January 2027, 23:59. A virtual information session is planned; contact servicesmembres@culturecotenord.com. Application in French via CALQ.
The ISO Travel Program helps First Nations, Inuit and Métis screen-content creators travel to festivals, markets, conferences and training, in Canada, the US or abroad. Creators working in XR (VR and AR) are named as eligible alongside film and television. Applicants must be Indigenous individuals resident in Canada and Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until funds run out, and no later than 1 March 2027.