PROGRAMS, DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES, & JOBS

Call for Submissions – Tremors Festival 2027
Seeking proposals for projects, excerpts, and works-in-progress of approximately 25 – 35 minutes in length. Programmed works will be performed as part of a shared festival bill at a one-ticket event that takes the form of an ‘art party meets night market.’ Audiences will be able to see half of the entire festival programming each night. Artists are expected to perform only once per night.  While presentations are not expected to be “complete” they should be in “performance mode.” Even if that performance mode is a bit rough. Another way of describing the stage of development that projects being showcased at Tremors should be at is:  ‘able to – and seeking to engage an audience’. Submissions are welcomed from individuals, collectives, and organizations. For more details and key dates, visit the Rumble website.
Deadline: September 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM.

One Act Play Submission – Women at Play(s)
Women At Play(s) is currently looking for new original one act plays from Canadian women playwrights, emerging or established, for its ninth festival. This event has had very successful runs in Vancouver and Toronto with sold out shows and great reviews from audience members and critics. Women At Play(s) provides opportunities for women playwrights, directors and actors. It was created to give women a voice. It is meant to inspire and showcase artistic achievements in theatrical performance for women.Plays must be original, not previously produced. All characters must be women, no longer than 20 minutes in length. Women at Play(s) 9 will take place February 26 to March 7, 2027 at VideoCabaret in Toronto. Find out more on their website.
Deadline: September 25, 2026

Leap Playwriting Intensive – Arts Club Theatre
LEAP—Learning Early About Playwriting—is a free and interactive program for young people (ages 16–25) in the B.C. Lower Mainland who are interested in playwriting. Over 180 students have been mentored through the creation of original dramatic works since the program’s inception in 2006. Participants learn the basic principles of playwriting, share their work with classmates, and provide feedback for one another in a safe and supportive environment. Students also receive feedback from theatre professionals and have their plays workshopped and presented to the public in staged readings. Find out more.
Deadline: October 13, 2026

One Act Play Submission – Atlantic One Act Festival
The inaugural ATLANTIC ONE ACT FESTIVAL, hosted by King’s Theatre, will take place in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia/Kespuwitk, Mi’kmaki, the week of August 18-22, 2027. One Act showcases the work of emerging Atlantic Canadian playwrights, because in these times, the importance of telling our own stories has never been greater. Playwrights must be living in one of Canada’s four Atlantic provinces (Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick, or Newfoundland & Labrador). For full program details and submission requirement, please visit the King’s Theatre website.
Deadline: January 8, 2027

AWARDS, COMPETITIONS, & GRANTS

THE NATIONAL CREATION FUND
The National Arts Centre‘s fund is a catalyst for Canadian artists to take their projects to a new level.  It provides the additional time and resources that bold, ambitious projects need to be successful on the national and international stage. The fund will invest up to $3 million a year in the development of 15 to 20 new Canadian works in theatre. Application form here.

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CANADA COUNCIL DEADLINE EXTENSIONS
Canada Council for the Arts has been working to establish relief for artists in need and the application deadline for some of their programs has been extended. The new deadlines and application information can be found here.

FESTIVALS & EVENTS

Vancouver Fringe Festival
September 11 – 21, 2026
https://www.vancouverfringe.com

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS

The Langham Directors’ Workshop – Stratford Festival
The Langham Directors’ Workshop wants to nurture exciting directorial talent and provide you with the resources to explore, play and hone your craft. They want to help you create inspired and boundary-pushing work — not only for our stages, but for your career and beyond. They offer emerging and mid-career professional directors the opportunity to explore innovative Shakespeare and classical works, support large-scale productions on some of the most unique stages in the country, and birth new plays with Canada’s finest playwrights. Visit their website for full details.
Submission deadline: September 13, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST

New Musical Theatre Creation – Theatre Alberta’s Workshop by Request: The Bow Valley Series
February 25 – 28, 2027, Banff Centre
Join this three-day intensive with the Olivier Award winning, Tony and Grammy nominated, Canadian writing team behind the worldwide hit Come From Away, currently one of the most produced musicals in the world and playing to more than 100 countries on Apple TV+. Learn the details of Come From Away’s journey to Broadway and beyond, discuss other musicals and musical storytelling, and get guidance from David Hein and Irene Sankoff while growing and writing new musical theatre. This workshop is presented by Theatre Alberta and Forte Musical Theatre Guild as part of the Workshop by Request Bow Valley Series. Visit the Banff Centre website for more details.
Application deadline: January 13, 2027

RESIDENCIES & RETREATS

Stay tuned for future opportunities!

SEND A PLAY

SUBMISSIONS FOR PTC’S DRAMATURGICAL READING PROGRAM ARE OPEN!
Do you want trained, appropriate feedback for your work? Our dramaturgs are here to provide meaningful recommendations and help you get to the next phase with your work. Submit your work here.

READ MY PLAY
A free Script Exchange Service for Playwrights.
readmyplay.com

FOR IBPOC ARTISTS

We’re delighted to partner with Vancouver-based arts company, Visceral Visions, to spread the word about their fantastic initiative, CultureBrew.Art (CBA). A digital platform created by racialized artists for BIPOC artists, CBA features a Canada-wide searchable database of Indigenous and racialized artists working in every artistic discipline: literary, media, performing, and visual arts.

ONGOING CALLS & OPPORTUNITIES

BLACK THEATRE WORKSHOP
Black Theatre Workshop is always on on the lookout for new works. BTW’s mission is to promote and produce outstanding theatre that educates, entertains and inspires. The company strives to create greater cross-cultural understanding by challenging its audience and the status quo. Expanding the representation of Black Canadian artists, BTW bridges cultural divides – uniting hearts, minds and communities.
blacktheatreworkshop.ca

#cdnopening- CELEBRATE YOUR OPENING NIGHT ONLINE
Canadian theatre companies celebrate Opening Night hundreds, possibly even thousands, of times per year. Spiderwebshow.ca wants to unite opening night celebrations coast-to-coast-to-coast and more than anything, they want to connect our theatre communities that are doing great work – and having great parties – nationwide. Help us by posting your opening night celebrations on Instagram with #cdnopening.  Your theatre, your production and your work will appear alongside theatres from across the country on the Spiderwebshow.ca Instagram feed, one click away from fellow opening night revellers from Victoria to Iqaluit to St. John’s.

CHAMELEON THEATRE COMPANY
Chameleon Theatre Company welcomes new work by women. 
chameleontheatrephilly.com

DANCING SKY THEATRE
Dancing Sky Theatre accepts unsolicited manuscripts of full-length and original plays.
dancingskytheatre.com

THE CRIPSTERS
The Cripsters is a monthly Akimblog feature on disability and culture from the point of view of people with disabilities.They are looking for submissions of 750-1000 words on topics that intersect with art and disability through a social justice lens and that crip/disrupt the way we think about disability. Submissions can take the form of a critical review, an interview, or an article on artistic/curatorial processes, theory and ideas, commentary, community, etc. A writer’s fee is paid.
akimbo.ca

THE 50 PLAYWRIGHTS PROJECT
The 50 Playwrights Project is a digital resource for Latin@ theatre and a virtual home for the voices of Latin@ playwrights and other Teatro allies, created by Dr. Trevor Boffone. The 50 Playwrights Project is engaged in providing accessible information about contemporary Latin@ theatre artists. This project serves as a dramaturgical and pedagogical database for artists, educators, scholars, and students who are looking for more online information about playwrights: where are they from, how do they identify, what are they working on, what advice would they give to aspiring artists, and links to relevant online resources. More info at 50playwrights.org.

GREAT CANADIAN THEATRE COMPANY
Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) produces a subscription season of six full-length plays in English for adult audiences.
gctc.ca

INTERMISSION MAGAZINE
Intermission publishes artist perspectives, original journalism, spotlight profiles, original drama, and audio and video content. Intermission is expanding their content to include publishing short original drama. They now accept excerpts of longer plays as well as short plays. Their focus is on high quality writing (in the vein of The New Yorker or McSweeney’s, if they featured Canadian theatre writing) They’re looking to hear from Canadians—both established playwrights and new, original voices.
intermissionmagazine.ca

LADY PLAYS PODCAST
The online literary journal Lady Plays Podcast, a monthly podcast dramatizing new plays by women, is accepting submissions for future podcast episodes. Each episode will consist of a “staged” reading of the play and an optional interview with the playwright. Submission Guidelines: Plays that will easily translate to a “radio” medium and that feature 5 characters or less will take priority. Plays of all length and style will be considered, writers may submit more than one script.
greenroomblog.com

MIXED BLOOD THEATRE
Mixed Blood Theatre welcomes submissions of contemporary plays that pursue and realize the company’s mission and aesthetic. Mixed Blood uses theatre to address pluralism, usually manifest in race, culture, language, disability, gender, nationality, affectional orientation, and political worldview. Predictably unpredictable, the theatre particularly invites polyglot plays, scripts from the global stage, and work that advances the art form.
mixedblood.com.

NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE
Submit your theatre project proposal to The National Arts Centre.
nac-cna.ca

NATIVE EARTH PERFORMING ARTS
Submit a script to Native Earth Performing Arts. 
nativeearth.ca

PLAYCONNECT
Launched in April 2017, PlayConnect is Playwrights Guild of Canada’s revamped version of the Canada Council Readings Program. It connects playwrights with communities and new audiences by providing an opportunity for travel funding, promotion, and professional development. As a network liaison, PGC ensures that the program is accessible and inclusive of a wide-ranging group of artists and audiences.
playwrightsguild.ca

PGC STAGE READY SCRIPTS AND COPYSCRIPTS PROGRAMS
The Stage Ready Scripts program is for plays which have not yet had a professional production but are ready for the stage. Entering your script into the Stage Ready Program promotes your play to theatre companies, schools, and individuals internationally and may lead to a production. You must be a member of PGC to take advantage of The Stage Ready program. Questions? Contact them at orders@playwrightsguild.ca. PGC also has the Copyscript program for plays that have been produced, but aren’t yet published. The program exists to distribute professionally produced, unpublished plays by full members of PGC. *Only plays that have received a professional production are eligible for the copyscript program. Check out PGC’s services here.

PLAYME CBC PODCAST
Submit plays or short stories to Playme Podcast for a unique opportunity to produce your work in podcast format.
playmepodcast.com

PLEDGE PROJECT
The Pledge Project is searchable database of large cast plays (6 characters or more) written by Canadian women. Enroll your play or find a show today.
pledgeproject.ca

PRESENTATION HOUSE THEATRE’S CREATIVE HUB ENERGY EXCHANGE
The Energy Exchange is intended for artists to receive free rehearsal, development, creation, and production space at Presentation House Theatre in exchange for volunteer hours. The projects can vary in size, art form and level of creation and development. The projects are intended to be independently produced and owned by the artist. Applications for the Creative Hub Energy Exchange program are currently open and accepted on a rolling deadline.
phtheatre.org/creativehub/

RESOURCE CENTRE FOR THE ARTS
The Resource Centre for the Arts wants to present your play.
rca.nf.ca

RISER PROJECT
The RISER Project is a collaborative producing model for theatre artists and companies to create and present new work. It was developed by Why Not Theatre in 2013 in order to address some of the challenges of producing independent theatre, and to provide more opportunity for artists to take on risks in producing their work. riserproject.org

SUBLETSERIES: CO-OP
The SubletSeries@HERE Program supports 250 guest independent artists and groups and their audiences each season. This creative, curated rental program has allowed many upstart companies and emerging artists to realize their full artistic vision on a small budget.
here.org

TEESRI DUNIYA THEATRE
Teesri Duniya Theatre seeks culturally diverse and First Nation plays that are politically relevant examining meaningful social and cultural questions, exploring diverse worldviews and historical events that affect our lives and our socio-cultural heritage.
teesriduniyatheatre.com

THEATRE NEW BRUNSWICK
Theatre New Brunswick invites playwrights to submit scripts for future consideration for both Main Stage and Studio Theatre productions.
tnb.nb.ca

THEATRE TIMES
Theatre Times is a rapidly expanding global theatre portal. If you’re passionate about world theatre, consider joining their team as Regional Editors, Managing Editors, Bloggers, or Editorial Assistants.
thetheatretimes.com

THEATRE ART LIFE
Love to write or have something to say? Become a contributor to Theatre Art Life!
theatreartlife.com

URBANSTAGES
Submit a play to Urban Stages.
urbanstages.org

WOMEN ARTS BLOG
Do you have an idea for an article you would like to write for the Women Arts Blog?
womenarts.org

YOUNG PEOPLE’S THEATRE
Submit a script for developmental support with Young People’s Theatre.
youngpeoplestheatre.org