With less than a month to its launch, Toronto 1 has put a final dollar value of just under $15 million on its two production funds, part of parent Craig Media’s commitment last year to the CRTC during licensing hearings for the Southern Ontario market.

The New Voices Fund, available to visible minority producers, and the Priority Program Fund will make available $7.4 million each for compelling ‘Torontocentric’ projects.

According to guidelines released in late August, both funds are particularly keen on MOWs with series potential and limited series documentaries.

The New Voices Fund, the first of its kind to provide ‘this level of commitment to the primetime airing of stories from producers of colour,’ according to a Toronto 1 release, will be looking for issue-related projects where race and culture play a role in the stories.

The Priority Program Fund, open to small and medium-sized prodcos, will license and develop projects focusing on a broader range of themes.

The guidelines state that all supported programs should reflect Toronto’s ethnic and racial mix, both on screen and behind the scenes.

The funds will be administered under the charge of Gemini Award-winning producer Karen King, who has been appointed executive director of the New Voices Fund and independent productions at Toronto 1. Development proposals are assessed monthly, while licence fee submissions will coincide with genre-appropriate Canadian Television Fund deadlines.

Toronto 1 launches Sept. 19 on Rogers Cable channel 15.