The National Creation Fund was created by the National Arts Centre (NAC) and officially opened on November 1, 2017. The Fund invests two million dollars a year in the creation of 9 to 11 compelling and ambitious new Canadian works in theatre, dance, music and inter-disciplinary arts.


Our team

  • sarah-conn
    Artistic Producer Sarah Conn
  • Managing Director Chris Dearlove
  • coordinator Emily Calongcagong
  • Acting Artistic Associate Lucy Coren
  • Program Manager, Professional Development Jean-Paul Courtemanche
  • Communications Strategist Anicée Lejeune

If you have questions about the National Creation Fund that have not been answered in our Frequently Asked Questions section, you can contact us at  Emily.Calongcagong@nac-cna.ca.


Curatorial Team

Our curatorial team consists of the Fund’s Artistic Producer, members of the NAC Artistic Leadership team, and members of the Canadian performing arts milieu. For each proposal, a curatorial team that includes the Fund’s Artistic Producer, a member of the NAC Artistic Leadership team, and two members from the Canadian performing arts milieu will evaluate how well the project responds to the Fund’s investment criteria.   

Internal – NAC Curatorial Team

  • nina-web
    Artistic Director, English Theatre Nina Lee Aquino
  • Manager of Artistic Planning, NAC Orchestra Daphne Burt
  • Executive Producer, Popular Music and Variety Heather Gibson
  • Artistic Director, Indigenous Theatre Kevin Loring
  • Executive Producer, NAC Dance Caroline Ohrt
  • Artistic Director, French Theatre Mani Soleymanlou

External - Curatorial Team from the Canadian Performing Arts Milieu

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    Performing Arts Curator, Facilitator and Consultant Erin Clark
  • performing artist, producer, director Sylvia Cloutier
  • Artist, Producer and Disability Consultant Shay Erlich
  • Composer Darren Fung
  • syrus-marcus-ware-500px
    Assistant Professor, SOTA McMaster, artist activist scholar Syrus Marcus Ware
  • Executive Director, Canadian Dance Assembly Karla Etienne
  • theatre maker, curator, artistic leader ted witzel

National Advisory Committee

The National Advisory Committee is a distinguished group of artists and arts professionals who together represent a diversity of disciplines, languages, cultures and regions.  The Advisory Committee will advise the National Creation Fund team, but will not make decisions about National Creation Fund investments.

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    Artistic Director, Mundial Montreal Derek Andrews
  • daniel-bartholomew-poyser-square
    Principal Youth Conductor and Creative Partner Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser
  • Territorial initiatives and customer service Director, Conseil des arts de Montréal Paule Beaudry
  • Artist, Composer and Producer Erin Costelo
  • Executive and Artistic Director, ArtSpring Howard Jang
  • yvette-nolan
    Playwright, director, dramaturg, actor, and educator Yvette Nolan
  • Artistic Director, Sick + Twisted Debbie Patterson
  • mikepayette-2
    Artistic director, Tarragon Theatre Mike Payette
  • VP of Programming, Arts Commons Sarah Garton Stanley (SGS)
  • angelique-wilkie
    Associate Professor, Department of Contemporary Dance, Concordia University Angélique Wilkie

Our Donors

In September 2016, the National Arts Centre Foundation announced its first-ever national fundraising campaign to support the creation of new Canadian work. To date, the Foundation has raised more than $25 million from private donors – money that will fuel the National Creation Fund.

THE NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE AND THE NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE FOUNDATION thank the individuals and organizations listed below – as well as many other generous Canadians – for their contributions to the Creation Campaign, which supports the National Creation Fund.

Gail Asper, O.C., O.M., LL.D., and Michael Paterson
Lewis Auerbach & Barbara Legowski
The Azrieli Foundation
Barry M. Bloom
Pierre Boulet and Rosemary Thompson
Kimberley Bozak and Philip Deck
Bonnie and John Buhler
Adrian Burns, LL.D., and Gregory Kane, Q.C.
Alice and Grant Burton
The Canavan Family Foundation
The Right Honourable Joe Clark, P.C., C.C., A.O.E., and Maureen McTeer
Michel, Anju, Roman and Angelica Collette
Debbie Collins
Earlaine Collins
Barbara Crook and Dan Greenberg, Danbe Foundation
Thomas d’Aquino and Susan Peterson d’Aquino
Christopher Deacon and Gwen Goodier
Ian and Kiki Delaney
Amoryn Engel
Mohammed A. Faris
Susan Glass and Arni Thorsteinson
Dale Godsoe, C.M.
Shirley Greenberg, C.M., OOnt
Reesa Greenberg
Peter A. Herrndorf and Eva Czigler
Dr. Dianne Kipnes, C.M. & Mr. Irving Kipnes, C.M.
Ambassador Bruce Heyman and Vicki Heyman
D'Arcy L. Levesque
Cathy Levy and Martin Bolduc
The Honourable John Manley, P.C., O.C. and Mrs. Judith Manley 

Dr. Kanta Marwah
M. Ann McCaig, C.M., A.O.E., LL.D.
Grant J. McDonald, FCPA, FCA and Carol Devenny
Heather Moore
Jane E. Moore
Janice and Earle O’Born
Gail O'Brien, LL.D. & David O'Brien, O.C.
Onex Corporation
The Amir & Yasmin Virani Family Foundation 
Helle Ottosen and Wade Smith
Power Corporation of Canada
Karen Prentice, Q.C.
The Alan & Roula Rossy Family Foundation 
John and Jennifer Ruddy
J. Serge Sasseville
Barbara and Don Seal
Daniel Senyk and Rosemary Menke
The Late Mitchell Sharp, P.C., C.C. and Jeanne d'Arc Sharp
Alexander and Zoe Shelley
Dasha Shenkman OBE, Hon RCM
Carolyn and Scott Shepherd
Phil and Eli Taylor
Robert N C Tennant
Kenneth and Margaret Torrance
Donald Walcot
Jayne Watson
Zed Family
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