Discussion Groups Feed

In case you missed our email yesterday, we are asking all of our members to provide feedback on OFN events, resources, communications, and even, this very portal!

This will help us improve programming and member benefits in the years ahead.

PLUS by completing the survey before Dec. 10 you will be entered to win a $500 Alpha-Lit gift card. Add their lit-up marquee letters or numbers to your next event to make it extra special!

Complete the survey here!

Thank you in advance!

Good afternoon, OFN members! Today, we've uploaded a budget template from Propel Nonprofits in our Resource Hub, allowing you to financially plan for and forecast different scenarios. Included at the beginning is a guide to help you through the document. Find the XLS file in our Resource Hub under Industry Resources > Grants & Funding!

Reminder!

The annual Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program Call for Applications was launched in November and will be open until December 11, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. 

The CSJ Call for Applications will end before the holiday season. Don’t risk missing the deadline, apply today for Canada Summer Jobs funding! 

Are You Ready?

Not-for-profit employers can receive a wage subsidy of up to 100% of the current provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage. Public and private sector employers are eligible to receive a wage subsidy of up to 50% of the current provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage.

You can apply for funding to offer quality summer jobs for youth today. This year, jobs can take place from April 20, 2026, to August 29, 2026. 

Hello Colleagues,

We are looking for a volunteer consultant with accounting or bookkeeping knowledge/experience to help us go over and troubleshoot specific issues in Quickbooks Online.

This is a short-term consulting need, and not a long-term commitment to volunteer for the organization.

If you know someone who may be able to help, please ask them to contact me at chair@italianweekottawa.ca.

Thank you kindly,

Hello Members, 

With the Ottawa Festival Summit next week, we wanted to engage you in our preparations for our panel discussions. Influential (and sometimes hard-to-reach) stakeholders from various city services will all be present on the 19th. Have you seen our latest schedule yet? We'll have the Mayor of Ottawa, Event Central, Special Event Advisory Team, NCC, Ottawa Tourism and many others in one place and all talking about how we can move the festival sector forward. 

We want to gather all the questions you might have for any of these groups. If you could ask them anything, what would that be? 

OFN is your microphone and representative at the city level, we do ongoing advocacy work to ensure the festival, fair and special event community is included in important decision making conversations and issues impacting the sustainability and growth of sector are advanced. 

We can't wait to hear your thoughts and…

If you're looking for a software that is a bit more robust and flexible than Canva, check out Affinity.

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Previously, it was a low-cost alternative to the Adobe Suite, having Affinity Publisher, Photo and Designer (much like Adobe's InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator). However, I noticed the other day that they must have been acquired by Canva and Canva has now made the software free to download and use if you have a Canva account.

Check it out!

Are you passionate about classical music and think that we need to work to ensure it remains a viable choice for young musicians?

Do you have strategic knowledge and can you help usher in a new era at one of Ottawa's longest running music festivals?

Then you are in luck, the National Capital Region Music Festival (aka Ottawa Kiwanis Music Festival) is currently recruiting new Board Members.

Check out the attachment to learn more about becoming a board member. 

For more information in the role email us at info@okmf.ca 

Hey, OFN members! You can help guide the future of culture in Ottawa!

In 2025, the City of Ottawa launched its first city-wide Municipal Culture Plan since 2012 to better support the city's diverse communities.

Now, the City is giving you the option to complete a short (2–5 min) or long (approx. 10 min) survey to help the City understand what culture means to you. This process will help identify critical needs, such as those around spaces and places.

Take the survey before November 1st: https://engage.ottawa.ca/culture-plan/surveys/ottawa-s-next-culture-plan

Hi everyone,

In 2026, the Ottawa Festival Network is turning 30! To celebrate, we are in the process of creating a short film in collaboration with Digi60 that will premiere at the Ottawa Festival Summit next month.

We want to highlight the wide variety of festivals and events that take place in Ottawa, and to do this we’re in search of videos and photos from our members to include in the film. See below for the type of content we’re looking for:

1. Festival atmosphere & highlights

- Wide crowd shots - audience enjoying performances, markets, parades, etc.

- Close-ups of performances