To receive a BC Arts Council grant, you must:

• Be a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada.
• Ordinarily reside in B.C. and have physical address in B.C.
• Have lived in B.C. for the 12 continuous months immediately prior to the application closing date.

Applicants who within the last 12 months have resided outside the province must be able to demonstrate their absence was temporary (for example, for educational opportunities, residencies, etc.) and not receive public grant funding from the province or country where they are temporarily living.

Students and Residency

To determine residency, students should first determine if they are a Dependent or Independent student.

Students are generally considered to be dependent if:

• You have been out of high school for less than 48 months (four years) as of the start of post-secondary classes
• You have never been married, separated, divorced, widowed or a single parent
• You have never been part of a common-law relationship
• You do not have dependent children
• You have not worked in the full-time labour force for 12 continuous months since leaving high school

If you meet all of the points above, you are a dependent student.

If you do not meet all of the points above, then you may be considered an independent student. Independent students are generally considered to be financially independent of their parent(s), stepparent(s), sponsor(s) or legal guardian(s).

To determine residency for dependent students, your parent(s), stepparent(s), sponsor, or legal guardian(s) must have lived in British Columbia (B.C.) for at least the 12 continuous months prior to the application closing date. If they do not live in B.C., you are not eligible for BC Arts Council grants.

To determine residency for independent students, you will be considered a B.C. resident if B.C. is the province where you have lived for the last 12 continuous months (not including months of full-time post-secondary study) and you file taxes as a B.C. resident.

Proof of Residency

Applicants must be prepared to provide documentation to support your B.C. residency status, such as:

• A Canada Revenue Agency income tax return for the most recent calendar year filed as a resident of B.C.
• StudentAid BC student loans (if applicable)
• Or a current B.C. Personal Health Number in combination with another valid government-issued card, such as a B.C. services card or B.C. driver’s license.

Questions? Contact a Program Advisor.