Overview

News - Financial Assistance - SaskMusic Initiatives - Resources

COVID-19 Policies for SaskMusic

Overview

Proof of full vaccination required for all attendees, staff and crew, artists, and panelists, at in-person indoor events.

The latest Public Health Measures for Saskatchewan can be found here.

Detail

As of September 15, 2021, the following requirements will be applied to all attendees (which is meant to include public/members, staff and crew, artists, and panelists) to SaskMusic-coordinated events held in Saskatchewan:

This information will not be retained or recorded or used for any other purposes than permitting attendance to the specific event. A hand stamp can be provided for those wishing to enter/exit the event.

Either of the following will be accepted for verification, with a clearly visible name:

  1. A printed or digital copy of your immunization record (available from https://www.ehealthsask.ca/MySaskHealthRecord/MySaskHealthRecord), or the fully completed card you received when you got your vaccinations; along with
  2. A valid ID (photo drivers’ license, health card, or credit card) with a matching name.

Residents under 12 years of age are exempt from the proof of vaccination requirement but will be required to wear a face mask at all times when not eating or drinking.

Guidelines are subject to change in response to health region updates and/or Government of Saskatchewan mandates.

SaskMusic Employees

All SaskMusic full-time employees, and contract employees working either in-office or for SaskMusic off-site events are required to be double-vaccinated. This means you must have received your second dose at least 14 days prior to the day of the in-person work. Individuals who cannot receive the vaccine due to medical exemptions verified by a doctor’s letter may request alternate work accommodations.

Employees shall not attend work in-office/off-site events if they have been a close contact of anyone testing positive for COVID-19 in the 5 days prior and have no symptoms.

Employees shall not attend work in-office/off-site events if they ran a temperature above 38 C in the 24 hours prior.

*Donations to the Emergency Financial Relief Fund*

100% of funds donated (less any bank/transaction fees) will be distributed to applicants of the program.
To donate via PayPal using your PayPal funds, a credit card, or Visa Debit:

Donate button

or to donate via cheque: mail to SaskMusic, 1831 College Ave, Regina SK, S4P 4V5; telephone 306-347-0676

We encourage you to purchase music and merchandise directly from artists or via Bandcamp.com. Here is a helpful link to albums and artists tagged “Saskatchewan” on that site (you can also search directly for your favourite artists): https://bandcamp.com/tag/saskatchewan?tab=all_releases

We have removed the financial assistance programs information from this page as pandemic-specific programs are largely wrapped up. For future announcements please subscribe to our free SaskMusic e-release.

SaskMusic Initiatives

Open House Livestreaming Series (2020)

We hosted livestreamed concerts from Saskatchewan artists throughout April and May 2020 on our Facebook page. You can still watch the artists' livestreams at the links below.

COVID-19 Emergency Financial Relief Fund

SaskMusic distributes $55K through Emergency Financial Relief Fund

(April 23, 2020) In response to pandemic ramifications on our industry, we launched the EFRF in March, with an intake deadline of March 30. We received requests for approximately $111,000 in assistance to help cover losses from mid-March through the end of April, with a cap of $1000 per application. We are pleased to have been able to provide over $55,000 in support to musicians, music teachers, sound and lighting technicians and others. These numbers, of course, reflect only a small portion of lost revenue for our industry members during this very challenging time.

The EFRF is an unprecedented initiative for SaskMusic. Although we have no new intake announcements at this time, we will continue to accept donations to the fund and may be able to extend additional funding if further fund donations are received.

We have also gathered a list of additional resources to our industry here on our website. While our offices will remain physically closed for the interim, our staff and mentors remain available for questions and consults at this time, and we encourage you to reach out if you need any assistance.

You can view the original intake info for the EFRF here.

Office Updates

(Updated March 31, 2020)
The health and safety of our staff, members, colleagues, and our communities is our top priority at this time, and we’re closely following public health updates and new developments related to COVID-19, aka Coronavirus. We recognize that these circumstances are particularly stressful for those in the arts community, many of whom rely heavily on public performance and the gathering together of audiences to make a living.

As of March 17 our two offices will be closed to the walk-in public, with staff working from home. We are postponing all in-person events such as workshops and gatherings. We will be considering ways to deliver alternative programming such as web-only presentations. Staff and our career track mentors are happy to meet with you for one-on-ones via phone or video chat during this time.

We encourage you to follow all health region-advised practices, and monitor news releases for updates to these recommendations. Current important items of note (in our own wording):

In all cases, refer to the local health authorities’ guidelines as your main source of info.

Resources

We'll be collecting COVID-19 related resources here.

For webinars, including those related to COVID-19 anxiety, funding, and other issues, please see our Events: Workshops section. We will post items there as we present or hear about them.

Live Event Tips

As our music community navigates through stages of this pandemic, it's important to follow public health guidelines. These are a few things to keep in mind as a starting point for your own research and consideration in implementing local regulations. Compliance with recommended protocols is imperative to helping us get back to a place where we can eventually re-open our industry. (Thanks to the International Bluegrass Music Association for the following.)

Presenters are encouraged to provide clear plans to artists and agents at time of offer, with the understanding that plans may evolve. Artists and agents are encouraged to provide presenters with any questions or concerns and update their riders to make their requirements clear. Studios, producers and artists are encouraged to form agreements about safety prior to recording projects.

Some additional resources

Online Music Lessons

We've put out the call, and have begun collecting a list of music teachers who are currently providing music lessons online. You can view the new section, Online Music Lessons, here in our Directory.

If you're giving lessons and would like to be listed, you can login to (or create) your account on this website and submit your own Directory listing (look under the Companies/Services area for the category); or just email lorenakelly@saskmusic.org with a description of your services including instrument(s) taught, musical styles, level of instructions, how the general public can reach you, and any other pertinent information. A photo or logo would be very helpful as well.