The CEDC Tourism Event Fund provides support to events that have the capacity to attract out-of-town visitors for overnight stays, driving economic impact for Thunder Bay’s hospitality industry, including accommodation properties that collect the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT), and the City of Thunder Bay overall.
Program Objectives
The objectives of the CEDC Tourism Event Fund are to support events that:
- Attract out-of-town visitors for overnight stays in the City of Thunder Bay
- Generate overnight room nights at local accommodation properties collecting the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT).
- Drive significant economic benefit for the tourism and hospitality industries, and the City of Thunder Bay overall, from the spending of out-of-town visitors attending the event.
- Provides positive regional, provincial, national, or international exposure that enhances the profile and visibility of the City of Thunder Bay as a place to visit for sport, culture, business and leisure travel.
Program Definitions
A tourism event is defined as a meeting or convention, sport championship or tournament, festival, concert, corporate or social gathering that attracts visitors from out-of-town for overnight stays in the City of Thunder Bay and promotes the city in a positive manner.
An out-of-town visitor is defined as a person who travels from out-of-town from over 80 kilometres away and stays overnight in Thunder Bay.
An accommodation property is a hotel, motel, BnB, Air BnB, hostel, cabin, or other fixed roof accommodation that collects the Municipal Accommodation Tax in Thunder Bay.
Eligibility Requirements
Event Eligibility
The CEDC Tourism Event Fund will fund a maximum of $50,000 or 25% of the total event budget expenses, whichever is less. The minimum requirements for the fund are that the event must generate a minimum of 50 visitor days and 25 room/nights at accommodation properties collecting the Municipal Accommodation Tax. The number of visitor days, room nights at local hotels, and economic impact generated by the event are key criteria used to determine funding.
Blockbuster Events
Events deemed to be a blockbuster event are eligible for funding above the maximum of $50,000 and will be evaluated on a case per case basis. A blockbuster event meets the following criteria of:
- Has provincial, national or international significance to attract out-of-town visitors
- Has an event budget of 1 million dollars or more
- Obtains 2500 room/nights (or more) at accommodation properties collecting the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) in Thunder Bay
- Generates 5000 or more visitor days
- Economic impact of $2 million dollars or more
Applicant Eligibility
The applicant must be a Canadian legal entity that is able to enter into a funding agreement. Both not-for-profit and for-profit entities are eligible to apply, an equity investment may be required for for-profit entities. Proof of legal entity and the entity’s most recent financial statement must be submitted with the application.
Legal entities can only submit two applications per calendar year, multi-year applications are welcome.
The applicant must also meet the application deadline by submitting a short form application a minimum of 90 days out from the date of their event and 120 days out for blockbuster events.
Evaluation Considerations
Evaluation considerations that will impact the Tourism Investment Committee’s decision on your application include:
- Alignment with Tourism Thunder Bay values to
- Expand and improve year-round visitor experiences through an increased focus on destination development
- Increase the economic impact of tourism through enhanced visitor attraction and retention strategies
- Supporting Indigenous tourism development and promotion
- Improving visitor movement through improved wayfinding
- Support our tourism Industry with the tools they need to start-up, diversify and expand - Number of visitor days (number of visitors x event days)
- Number of room nights
- Event economic impact
- Appeal of Event & Effectiveness of the marketing plan
To attract out-of-town visitors. - Media coverage and earned media value
To promote Thunder Bay as a future host for events and further promote Thunder Bay as an overall place to visit. - Event seasonality, timing and uniqueness
- Community business impacts
Of the event into the community to support attractions, businesses, and other activities beyond the hotel room or event venue. - Opportunity for future growth
Of the event allowing Thunder Bay to host future events or grow an existing event.
The greater the number of visitor days, room nights and economic impact the increased potential funded amount.
Additional Funding Considerations
The CEDC Tourism Event Fund is a discretionary program with a limited funding allocation. In some cases, an event may meet all program criteria but may not be approved for funding as other events may more effectively meet the criteria. In all cases, events are encouraged to show a profit and become self-sustainable.
Program Process
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APPLY NOW - Short Form Application |
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Applicants submit a short form application to CEDC Tourism Thunder Bay staff who will conduct a preliminary assessment on the event to determine if it will meet all eligibility requirements for a tourism event such as out-of-town visitors, overnight stays and/or room/nights. Application intake is continual throughout the year. Click on the link below to briefly tell us about your event and how it will attract visitors to Thunder Bay CEDC Tourism Event Fund – Short Form Application Completed applications will be submitted by email to: John Cameron |
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| Long Form Application | ||
If the requirements are met in the short form application, CEDC staff will email the applicant the long form application and a sample budget. This application will be used to apply to the Tourism Investment Committee (TIC) for funding. During this process, applicants are encouraged to work with the CEDC team to ensure application completeness. CEDC staff can assist with reaching out to accommodation properties and setting up a booking code.
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| Tourism Investment Committee Meetings | ||
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When the long form application is considered complete by CEDC staff it will be added to the agenda for the Tourism Investment Committee (TIC) for review and evaluation. The applicant will be required to provide a brief 5 minute presentation of the application to the committee and answer any questions the committee may have. The TIC will review all funding applications and can approve funding requests up to $50,000. The TIC is generally scheduled to meet on a monthly basis on the second Wednesday of the month. If the amount requested is over the $50,000 then the TIC will refer the application with its recommendations to the Board of Directors of the Thunder Bay CEDC for final approval. |
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| Decision on Funding Request | ||
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Funding decisions will be communicated to the applicant within two weeks of the committee meeting concluding. Applications approved for funding by the Tourism Investment Committee (TIC) or the CEDC Board of Directors (BOD) will require the applicant to enter into a legal funding agreement with the Thunder Bay CEDC. The agreement will provide provisions on how funding will be paid out, the reporting requirements, and potential payback of funds once the event is complete. In all cases, there will be a 50% holdback of funds contingent on a final report and evaluation metrics being met. |
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| Marketing the Event | ||
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Approved applicants will have the opportunity to meet with the Tourism Thunder Bay marketing team to discuss the marketing plan to attract out-of-town visitors and other opportunities to promote the event using the Tourism Thunder Bay brand, website, tourism event calendar and social media channels. |
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| Final Reporting | ||
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The applicant must submit a final report within 90 days of the event concluding. The CEDC staff will email the applicant a final report template for completion which includes:
The final 50% holdback will be paid out based on the evaluation of the metrics submitted in the final report. If the evaluation metrics are met, the final 50% holdback will be released. If the evaluation metrics are not met, the applicant will not receive the final holdback. |
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