Access Copyright Foundation Invests $60,000 Into Professional Development
Thursday, August 7, 2025
Unveiling the 27 recipients for the Foundation’s 2025 round of Professional Development Grant funding
TORONTO: August 7, 2025 – Access Copyright Foundation, an arm’s length foundation of Access Copyright, is excited to announce the Canadian creators, publishers and organizations who have been awarded Professional Development Grants for 2025.
In total, $60,000 in grant funding has been awarded to help support mentoring, networking and educational opportunities for Canada’s creative community that will build skills and expertise, and will also result in the creation and publication of new Canadian works.
“With gratitude to Access Copyright Foundation for the grant funding, I was able to spend a gorgeous, inspiring, exhausting week at writer Lesley Nneka Arimah’s generative workshop for the Kenyon Review’s Writing Workshop, a "hare's haven" of creativity on a campus of neogothic and modern art,” said author Miriam Ho.
The Foundation’s Professional Development Grant program promotes excellence in Canadian content by supporting artistic and professional skills development for individuals and organizations engaged in the creation, production and publication of text and images.
"Access Copyright Foundation's generous support made it possible for me to learn from celebrated artists in my field and connect with new audiences in Ireland this summer,” said author Taylor Graham. “I am deeply grateful to the Foundation for supporting my work through their incredible Professional Development Grant program."
The Foundation awarded its first set of Professional Development Grants in 2011. In total, over 325 Professional Development Grants have been awarded to Canada’s creative community totaling over $600,000 in grant funding for professional development, a critical reinvestment by the Foundation into our country’s cultural sector.
“Access Copyright Foundation continues on in its mission to champion Canadian literary- and visual-arts professionals,” said Foundation Chair Paul Seesequasis. “Central to this work is supporting the ongoing thirst for knowledge and to strengthen one’s abilities which I am proud the Foundation continues to facilitate through its Professional Development Grant program.”
Access Copyright Foundation grants are awarded through a peer review process administered by SK Arts on behalf of the Foundation. Jurors for the 2025 Professional Development program were author and scholar Jenna Butler, author Lauren Carter and author and academic librarian Allan Cho.
About Access Copyright Foundation
Access Copyright Foundation provides support to creators and organizations engaged in the development and dissemination of publishable Canadian works in the literary and visual arts. We are an arm’s length foundation of Access Copyright, the collective voice of creators and publishers in Canada.
To learn more about Access Copyright Foundation, please visit the Foundation’s website.
For a look at how Access Copyright Foundation’s grants support Canada’s creative community, please visit the Foundation’s Spotlight page.
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For media inquiries:
Robert Gilbert, Manager, Communications and Marketing, Access Copyright
rgilbert@accesscopyright.ca