Instrument Rental Financial Aid

Eligibility Requirements:

• Applicants must qualify as low-income as outlined by the Canadian federal government requirements here. Please note that the listed amounts are after tax.

• Applicants must have Canadian tax documents from the most recent tax year, and reside in Canada.

• The user of the instrument must be under 18, and must have the ability to rent from a music store.

​​

We do not rent out instruments. We simply provide financial aid to cover part of the rental cost. For example, if you rent from Long and McQuade, all your legal and rental agreements are with Long and McQuade, and you pay them the full rental amount. We will then reimburse you part of the rental fee after you've sent us a receipt.

​

Each child/youth is granted 100 CAD total. This is a total grant amount, not a monthly amount. If you use $70 in grant funds in the first month, you will only be able to use $30 in grant funds for all future rentals.

​

Even with grant funding, you are required to pay at least part of the cost ($10 or less). This is to ensure that there is at least some financial commitment from families. Details below.

• If your monthly rental cost is above $20 a month, you will pay $10 a month. For example, if the monthly rental cost is $30, you would pay $10.

• If your monthly rental cost is less than $20 a month, you will pay 50% of the rental cost. For example, if the monthly rental cost is $8, you would pay $4.

• We will cover the remaining cost, up to $100 total.

• If you are not able to afford $10 a month, email us and we will evaluate on a case-by-case basis.

​

Other Details:

• There is no time limit for using your $100.

• If you rent with Long and McQuade, we will send you an exclusive coupon for $10 off.

• We are not responsible for the instrument rentals, instrument use, and instrument lessons. We do provide lessons for certain instruments at $10 a lesson, but registering for this is not mandatory.

• We are a legally-incorporated nonprofit organization that is sponsored by Google and Youth Central, and we've partnered with nonprofits such as the Sunshine Foundation of Canada and Sankofa Calgary.

​

Are there recommended places to rent?

Long and McQuade and St. John's Music are music stores with locations across Canada. They offer rentals at the following prices:

• Keyboards - $14.00 / month. You would pay $7.00 / month.

• Guitars - $8.00 / month. You would pay $4.00 / month.

• Violins - $14.00 / month. You would pay $7.00 / month.

• Band Instruments (Trombones, Flutes, etc.) - $20.00 to $50.00 / month. You would pay $10.00 / month.

• You are not required to rent with Long and McQuade; this is a suggestion.

In order to rent from Long and McQuade, you will need to call your local Long and McQuade location.​

​

What are my next steps from here?

1. Apply for financial aid using the form below. In order to verify low-income status, we require you to submit a proof of income statement that can be obtained here. Any other government-issued document displaying income is also acceptable.

2. Wait until your application is processed. We will email you when it has been approved.

3. Rent an instrument. You will receive instructions on how to rent with Long and McQuade.

4. Send us the receipt for your rental transaction.

5. You will be reimbursed the appropriate amount.