Culture Days

The City of Oshawa is situated on lands and waters within the Williams Treaties Territory, home to seven First Nation communities of the Michi Saagiig and Chippewa Anishinaabeg, who have cared for and maintained these lands from time immemorial and continue to do so to present day. Learn more.

Each year the City of Oshawa is proud to offer arts, culture and heritage programming in alignment with Oshawa's Cultural Strategic Plan, Culture Counts: Oshawa’s Arts, Culture & Heritage Plan. 

This call provides increased support for workshop facilitators within the arts, culture and heritage community by providing an opportunity to develop and deliver community-engaged cultural programming, while providing opportunities for the public to engage with  innovative, arts-based workshops during Culture Days 2026.

Facilitators will be asked to submit the following: 

• Facilitator’s contact information
• A written biography that includes your connection to arts, culture and heritage in Oshawa (maximum 300 words)
• A description of your workshop, including a description of activities and intended outcomes
• The age range that your workshop is suitable for
• A list of any materials, supplies, and equipment needed
• A list of facility requirements for the workshop (i.e.: running water required, tables required, dance floor required)
• A list of your relevant experience hosting an activity or program that is open to the public
• CV (optional)

If you experience difficulties with the submission form please email your submission to culturecounts@oshawa.ca.

A selection committee will review the submissions. The selection committee will consist of representatives from the City’s Cultural Leadership Council and City staff.

Proposed workshops should meet the following:

• The workshop can be delivered in a single session that takes two to four hours
• The workshop is suitable for at least one of the following age groups: school-aged children, youth or adults and seniors
• The workshop will support cultural development for arts workers and/or the general public
• The applicant has experience delivering workshops similar to their proposed workshop
• The applicant is able to obtain insurance in accordance with the criteria outlined below
• The workshop is a new program that has not been offered by the City of Oshawa during the past two years

The applicants selected will be chosen based on specific Selection Criteria:

Community Relevance and Impact

• Suitability for a public workshop
• Reflects the City’s heritage and/or history, culture and diversity, and/or natural elements and landscapes

Overall Quality

• Originality of proposal
• Intrigues viewers and stimulates imagination
• Facilitator reputation, demonstrated and related experience
• Demonstrates commitment to creativity and innovation

Feasibility

• Suitability of the content for a public workshop
• Materials and facility needs can be accommodated
• Facilitator has relevant past experience

Submission

• Does the facilitator have a connection to Oshawa?
• Compliance with guidelines outlined in the Call for Proposals
• Ability to meet budgetary estimates and deadlines
• Submission is complete

Note: The Selection Criteria were informed by the Selection Considerations for Public Art outlined in the Public Art Policy and Guiding Principles as outlined in the Public Art Master Plan, however, all workshop genres are welcome.

The selected facilitators will be paid a facilitator fee of $545 in accordance with CARFAC. The City will cover materials costs for the workshops up to $125 per session.

The City of Oshawa invites applications from Durham based facilitators, organizations, and collectives, or Indigenous organizations. Applications from local facilitators will receive additional points in the evaluation; local is defined as someone who was born in, lives/lived in, works/worked in, attended post-secondary in Oshawa, or has a significant connection to Oshawa, or an Indigenous person with a connection to the traditional and treaty territory of the Williams Treaties.

The applicant must be 18 years of age or older.

The workshop proposals must be a new program that has not been offered by the City of Oshawa during the past two years.

Employees of the City of Oshawa are not eligible.

Submission deadline: April 27, 2026 
Facilitators notified: May 25 to 29, 2026 
Facilitator Bio and Workshop Description Due to City Staff: June 1 to 5, 2026
Supply list due to City staff: June 22, 2026 
Event Day: September 18 to October 4, 2026 (Facilitators can indicate their availability during Culture Days on the application form. The workshop day and arrival and departure times will be confirmed in the artist agreement.) 

*The timeline may be subject to changes.

Complete the online application form available at oshawa.ca/CultureDays

The facilitators selected will be required to enter into a contract with the City of Oshawa for their workshops, which may include providing proof of Commercial General Liability insurance coverage in an amount not less than two million dollars ($2,000,000) per accident or occurrence with the City of Oshawa named on the policy as Additional Insured. If the City and a selected applicant cannot agree on the terms of the contract, the selection committee may, at the City of Oshawa’s sole and absolute discretion, choose another applicant to develop and deliver a workshop.

No applicant shall have any rights against the City arising from participation in this Call for Facilitators or submitting an application for the City of Oshawa’s consideration. By submitting an application for the City of Oshawa’s consideration, applicants hereby release and hold harmless the City of Oshawa from any and all actions, charges, claims, costs, damages, demands, liabilities, losses, suits, proceedings, costs and expenses pertaining to the facilitator's participation in the Call for Facilitators.

By submitting an application for the City of Oshawa’s consideration, applicants agree that all decisions of the City of Oshawa and its employees in relation to the Culture Days 2026 Workshops are final and binding. Applicants also agree that the selection of workshops by the selection committee is final and not subject to any right of appeal or review.

By submitting an application for the City of Oshawa’s consideration, applicants represent and warrant that they have read and understood and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.

The City of Oshawa is committed to fostering an equitable and inclusive community that celebrates the diverse lived experiences of our residents. We encourage submissions from facilitators from equity-deserving groups that have been historically underrepresented in the arts, including BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour), 2SLGBTQIA+ identifying individuals, people who are Deaf and persons with disabilities, and strive to eliminate barriers to the meaningful inclusion of members of these communities.

If you have questions about applying, or require accommodations to participate in this process, please contact culturecounts@oshawa.ca.

We are happy to provide support and advice related to the application to make this call as accessible as possible to applicants.

All projects must meet certain requirements. The following content guidelines must be adhered to:

1. The content is not in conflict with any laws, City by-laws or policies;
2. The content does not conflict with the City’s values, vision or strategic goals;
3. The content does not conflict with goals as outlined in key strategic plans, including the Diversity and Inclusion Plan and the Culture Counts: Oshawa Arts, Culture & Heritage Plan;
4. The content does not contain material which could be considered inappropriate, discriminatory, hateful, violent, abusive, insensitive, culturally appropriative or otherwise offensive; and
5. The content should be suitable for audiences of all ages, and should not include content involving references to drugs, injury, obscene gestures, and/or crude content.