Emergency Aid
Short-term financial assistance with costs of necessities to help you maintain your health, housing, or ability to work.
In case of a financial shortfall because of illness, injury, or other hardship, this program can help with immediate costs like rent or mortgage, groceries, medical and emergency dental expenses, utilities, phone and internet bills, and more.
The AFC can provide assistance with costs of necessities to help you maintain your health, housing, or ability to work on a short-term basis (usually one month). If assistance is approved, we will make payments directly to your creditors wherever possible.
Emergency Financial Aid is not intended to address need created by under-employment or ongoing debt and cannot provide ongoing or recurring assistance. It is expected that applicants will make all reasonable efforts to seek other resources, such as looking for work outside the entertainment industry, applying for emergency aid or relief programs through their union or guild, seeking financial counseling, and applying for government benefits.
Please ask us if you would like more information about these resources at any time during the application process.
Common requests include:
- Rent or mortgage
- Grocery costs
- Transportation costs
- Medical costs
- Emergency dental costs
- Utility bills
- Dues (maximum of one year’s worth of dues; no initiation fees)
- Phone and internet (maximum of $150.00 for both)
- Childcare expenses
- Emergency relocation, moving, or travel costs
The AFC cannot assist with:
- Life insurance payments
- Income tax payments
- Credit card or loan payments
- Legal fees
- Education or business costs
- Cable TV
- Agent fees and photos
- Union initiation fees
The AFC cannot generally help with costs that have been unpaid for a very long time, or with costs that will not be due for several months. If you are not sure whether The AFC can help with the items you need, please call our office or email us for more information.
Everyone:
- Documentation of the costs for which you are requesting assistance;
- Documentation to show your work in the industry with earnings from the last 4 years.
- Screenshots of your current bank balances or recent bank statements.
If you have a medical emergency:
Doctor’s note stating the nature of your illness or injury, the date it started, and about how long you will be unable to work.
If you have a dental emergency:
Treatment plan or estimate with itemized costs.
Proof of costs
You will also need to include documentation of the type and amount of costs you are requesting assistance with. If you have any questions or concerns about finding or submitting these documents, please call our office or email contact@AFChelps.ca.
What kind of documents should I submit to prove my costs?
Rent:
- Lease
OR - Previous rent cheque
OR - Eviction notice
OR - Letter from landlord/person you sublet from. Should state your name, their name (or company that rent is to be paid to), address of rented property and the amount of rent you pay per month.
Mortgage:
- Mortgage agreement showing amount and dates of payments
OR - Bank statement showing automatic withdrawal of mortgage. If bank statement does not show your name, you must also include a void cheque to link your name to the account number on the statement.
Utilities, phone/internet bills, health/car/home insurance, car payment:
- Copy of outstanding bill
OR - Screenshot of your account balance on company’s website. Must also show your name.
OR - Bank statement showing automatic withdrawal. If bank statement does not show your name, you must also include a void cheque to link your name to the account number on the statement.
OR - Agreement showing your name, the company’s name, and the dates and amount of each payment.
Food, Transit and Fuel:
No documentation needed.
Dues:
- Copy of a recent dues notice
OR - Ask your union to send us a copy of the notice OR ask your union to confirm the amount that you owe by contacting us directly.
Medical Expenses:
- Copy of outstanding invoice
OR - Treatment plan with estimated costs
Emergency Dental Expenses:
- Treatment plan with estimated costs from your dentist’s office
OR - If you cannot afford to see a dentist to get a treatment plan, please contact us.
Other Expenses:
For other expenses, you will need to submit a bill, invoice, or payment agreement that clearly shows the amount that you owe, what it is you owe for, and the date of purchase or time period you owe for.
Industry work documentation examples:
- Union work history earnings;
- T4s;
- Work invoices/contracts.
Apply for Emergency Financial Aid
You are eligible to apply if you have:
- earned more than half your income in the Canadian entertainment industry (film and TV, music, theatre, and dance) over 3 out of the last 4 years OR earned the majority of your income from the Canadian entertainment industry, if you are over 65
- experienced an unforeseeable emergency that has led to a financial crisis
- made reasonable efforts to find other means of income or support
If you are unsure whether you are eligible to apply or have any questions about the program, we are here to help you through the process. Please email us at contact@afchelps.ca to connect to a member of our program team.
You can apply by downloading a pdf application. We can also mail you an application form if you prefer to apply offline.
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