What they do
Arts Projects grants
Dance, film and media, literary arts, music, theatre and visual arts — for individuals and for organizations.
UA FEST 2026SponsorBusiness
Shevchenko Foundation
The Shevchenko Foundation · Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko · TSF · Шевченківська фундація · Шевченківська Фундація · La Fondation Shevchenko
Shevchenko Foundation · Ukrainian Canadian charitable foundation
Winnipeg endowment, created by Act of Parliament in 1963, funding Ukrainian Canadian culture nationwide.
UA FEST Family
About
The Shevchenko Foundation — its legal name is the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko — is a national charitable organization based in Winnipeg. In its own words it is “entrusted to preserve, develop, and promote Ukrainian Canadian arts, heritage, community, and education”, and it works across the whole country. Its registered charitable number is 11927 3472 RR001.
It began with a monument. In 1959 the Ukrainian community in Canada set out to place a statue of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine’s national poet, on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislature, and raised $175,000 for it. On 9 July 1961 close to 25,000 Ukrainian Canadians came to Winnipeg to watch Prime Minister John Diefenbaker unveil it. The campaign finished with $30,000 left over, and that surplus became an endowment for Ukrainian culture in Canada. Parliament passed an Act to incorporate the Foundation, signed on 22 July 1963 by Governor General G. P. Vanier; the Ukrainian Canadian Congress named the first board and the Foundation was launched in 1964. Its first grant, that same year, was $400.
The model has not changed since. Gifts from donors are pooled and permanently invested, and the income they earn is what pays for grants, scholarships and community programs. The Foundation says it has reinvested more than $14 million into the Ukrainian community in Canada over its first sixty years, close to $1.4 million of it in 2025 alone.
Today it funds five streams of grants — arts, community development, education, heritage preservation and the Canadian WWI Internment Legacy — with application deadlines on 1 April and 1 October each year, and a separate round of scholarships, bursaries and awards open through July. Festivals sit inside the community development stream. It also runs its own programs: the KOBZAR Book Award, the REACH Mentorship/Residency for the Arts, the Emerging Writers Short Prose Competition, the annual Shevchenko commemorative bookmark, and the podcast Kultura Rising.
The Shevchenko Foundation is listed among the sponsors of UAFest 2026 in Carleton Place, Ontario, on 13 September 2026.
Act of Parliament, 22 July 1963
Over $14M reinvested in the community
Grant deadlines 1 April and 1 October
Shevchenko Foundation
What they do
Grants for arts, community development, heritage and education projects, plus bursaries and awards.
What they do
Community Development grants
Projects and festivals that strengthen Ukrainian community institutions in Canada.
What they do
Heritage Preservation grants
Collections management, exhibits and programs, and the history of Ukrainians in Canada.
What they do
Education grants
Programming that teaches Ukrainian language, culture and history, plus a bursary for language study.
What they do
Scholarships, bursaries and awards
Eight fields of study, from trades to science and medicine; applications are taken from 1 to 31 July.
What they do
KOBZAR Book Award
Their own literary award, announced in 2003 and presented for a tenth time in 2024.
What they do
REACH Mentorship/Residency for the Arts
An artist mentorship award run with the Ihnatowycz Family Foundation; Diana Lawryshyn holds the 2026 award.
What they do
Kultura Rising
Their own eight-episode podcast, hosted by playwright Andrew Kushnir, on artists in Canada during the war.
What they do
Canadian WWI Internment Legacy
A $10 million fund for projects that commemorate the First World War internment operations in Canada.
Open to
Grant applications from Canadian organizations and individualsScholarship and bursary applications, 1–31 JulyDonations, monthly giving and gifts of securitiesWills, estate gifts and named funds
Shevchenko Foundation
Photos
Shevchenko Foundation
Where to find them
The Shevchenko Foundation works out of an office on St. Mary Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and it is a national body: its grants, scholarships and programs go to Ukrainian Canadian organizations and individuals anywhere in the country. Its own history records 50th-anniversary events in Nanaimo, Thunder Bay, Halifax and other centres.
Eastern Ontario is one of the places it reaches. UAFest takes place in Riverside Park, Carleton Place — about 45 minutes west of downtown Ottawa — and the Foundation is listed among its 2026 sponsors. There is one office: applicants from the Ottawa Valley reach Winnipeg through the toll-free line, the local number, admin@shevchenkofoundation.ca or the form on the Foundation’s site.
UAFest participation
Their story and UAFest
61
1961
9 July — the Taras Shevchenko monument is unveiled at the Manitoba Legislature before some 25,000 people
63
1963
22 July — Governor General G. P. Vanier signs the Act incorporating the Foundation
64
1964
The Foundation is launched and gives its first grant — $400
67
1967
The Foundation receives charitable status
23
2023
9 May — the federal agreement on First World War internment ends; the $10 million capital stays with the Foundation as the Canadian WWI Internment Legacy
24
2024
60th anniversary commemorations continue — over $1.2 million in grants, program funding and community support (2023-24)
25
2025
Close to $1.4 million returned to the community in grants and community sponsorships
26
2026
13 September — listed among the sponsors of UAFest in Carleton Place
Shevchenko Foundation
Questions & answers
What is the Shevchenko Foundation?
A national Canadian charity, legally the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko, incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1963 and based in Winnipeg. It preserves, develops and promotes Ukrainian Canadian arts, heritage, community and education.
What do they fund?
Five grant streams — arts, community development, education, heritage preservation and the Canadian WWI Internment Legacy — as well as scholarships, bursaries and awards. Festivals fall under community development.
Who can apply, and when?
Grant deadlines are 1 April and 1 October each year, with scholarship applications taken from 1 to 31 July. The Foundation states that, as a Canadian charity, it can disburse funds only to Canadian organizations and to individuals with Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status; a Ukrainian newcomer or student in Canada temporarily applies through a Canadian organization instead. Applications go in as a single PDF, in English, one per cycle.
How do I reach them?
Their office is at 315–260 St. Mary Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0M6. They publish a toll-free line, 1-866-524-5314, a local number, 204-944-9128, the address admin@shevchenkofoundation.ca, and a contact form on their site.
What is their link to UAFest?
The Shevchenko Foundation is listed among the sponsors of UAFest 2026, the free Ukrainian festival held on Sunday 13 September 2026 at Riverside Park in Carleton Place, Ontario.
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