Using custom data that Hill Strategies requested from Statistics Canada’s 2021 long-form census, this article offers detailed statistics on Jewish cultural workers, including artists and arts leaders. The analysis provides counts and incomes of workers in the arts, culture, and heritage, with comparisons to all workers in the country.

Two weeks ago, I published two articles on Muslim artists and cultural workers in Canada (related to representation and incomes). Those articles, using a religion-only definition, provided some comparative information about Jewish artists and cultural workers.

However, sociology professor Robert Brym has noted that:

Who does the census count as Jewish? Conventionally, a “yes” answer to either of the following questions results in a Canadian being counted as Jewish in the Canadian census: (1) Does the person identify as Jewish by religion? (2) Does the person identify as Jewish by ethnicity and identify with no religion?

The second criterion is included in the count of Jewish workers in today’s article but was absent from my previous article. This provides a broader view of Jewish workers in the arts, culture, and heritage, including Jews by ethnicity who have no religious affiliation. People who identify as Jewish by ethnicity but practice another religion (a relatively small number) are not included here.

How the census counts workers, including artists and other cultural workers

The occupational perspective from the census includes people who work across the economy, as long as they are classified into one of 10 artist occupation groups, 5 arts leadership occupation groups, or 52 cultural occupation groups.

In the census, artists must spend more time as artists than in any other occupation to be classified into an artist occupation group. More specifically, occupational data from the census are based on the number of people who worked more hours in an occupation than in any other between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more in that occupation than any other between January of 2020 and May of 2021.

The prevalence of “gig work” and the often-atypical nature of artists’ workflows can make it challenging for official statistics to count artists as artists. As such, census estimates of the number of artists might be low.

The 52 occupation groups included as cultural workers include the 10 artist occupation groups as well as the 5 arts leadership occupation groups, plus many other cultural occupations (e.g., graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations), and heritage occupations (e.g., librarians, curators, and archivists). Because the count of cultural workers includes both artists and arts leaders, the number of artists and arts leaders should not be added to the number of cultural workers.

For a deeper dive on the occupation classifications, please see my articles on the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups and the strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers.

To ensure confidentiality and data reliability, no estimates of fewer than 40 people are presented in this article.

The challenging context of the pandemic in the spring of 2021 is important to keep in mind when interpreting census data on artists, which were collected in May of 2021. Income data from the census relate to the 2020 calendar year.

Context: All artists, arts leaders, and cultural workers in Canada

Across Canada, there are 202,900 professional artists, representing 1.0% of the Canadian labour force. Examined differently, this means that 1 in every 102 Canadian workers is an artist. (A full article on Canadian artists is available here.)

A similar analysis examines workers in arts leadership occupations in Canada, There are more than 56,000 Canadian workers in five occupation groups, which include individual occupations such as producers, directors, choreographers, conductors, composers, curators, conservators, and arts and heritage managers. Two of the arts leadership occupations (those including conductors and composers as well as producers, directors, and choreographers) are also included as artists. As such, the number of arts leadership workers should not be added to the number of artists.

The broadest analysis relates to the 914,000 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations, representing 4.4% of all Canadian workers. The 52 occupation groups in this category include the 10 artist occupation groups as well as the 5 arts leadership occupation groups, other cultural occupations (e.g., graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations), and heritage occupations (e.g., librarians, curators, and archivists).

23,000 cultural workers are Jewish, including more than 7,000 artists and 2,200 arts leaders

Census data indicate that there are 23,000 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations who are Jewish, including 7,100 professional artists and 2,200 people who work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders.

The 23,000 Jewish cultural workers represent 2.5% of all cultural workers in Canada, twice as high as the share of Jewish workers in the overall labour force (1.2%).

The 7,100 Jewish artists represent 3.5% of all artists in Canada, nearly three times higher than the share of Jewish workers in the overall labour force (1.2%).

The 7,100 Jewish artists pursue a range of artistic endeavours, and there are above-average concentrations in writing, producing, and directing:

• 1,500 are primarily writers (21% of Jewish artists)

• 1,500 are producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations (also 21%)

• 1,100 are musicians (16%)

• 770 are painters, sculptors, and other visual artists (11%)

• 720 are actors, comedians, and circus performers (10%)

• 480 are photographers (7%)

• 330 are dancers (5%)

• 260 are artisans and craftspeople (4%)

• 190 are conductors, composers, and arrangers (3%)

• 160 are classified as other performers (2%)

Strong concentration of artists and cultural workers among Jewish workers

As shown in the following graph, artists and cultural workers are both much more strongly represented among Jewish workers than among all Canadian workers.

Jewish artists account for 2.8% of all 251,500 Jewish workers in Canada, which is nearly three times the concentration of artists among all Canadian workers (1.0%). Expressed differently, one in every 36 Jewish workers is an artist, compared with one in every 102 workers in the country.

Jewish cultural workers account for 9.2% of all Jewish workers, which is more than double the concentration of cultural workers among all Canadian workers (4.4%). Expressed differently, one in every 11 Jewish workers have a cultural occupation, compared with one in every 23 workers in the country.

There are many Jewish arts leaders in Canada, especially producers, directors, and choreographers

About 2,200 Jewish people work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders. Two-thirds of Jewish arts leaders are in the broad grouping of producers, directors, and choreographers:

• Producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations: 1,500 (67% of Jewish arts leaders)

• Managers in publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting, and performing arts: 390 (17%)

• Conductors, composers, and arrangers: 190 (8%)

• Library, archive, museum, and art gallery managers: 100 (4%)

• Conservators and curators: 80 (3%)

Jewish people account for 4.0% of Canada’s arts leaders, more than three times higher than Jewish people’s share of all Canadian workers (1.2%).

Readers should be aware that the five arts leadership occupations are an imperfect approximation of the total number of people with senior level positions in the arts. “Arts leaders” is a category that I conceived of in 2022, based on a close examination of occupational classifications that are available from the census. While the grouping is quite broadly based, there are undoubtedly other senior workers in the sector who are not captured in the five occupation groupings. One example of known exclusions is some senior managers in the arts, including those in arts associations. The occupation groupings for senior managers are not separated based on the nature of their work or association (i.e., in the arts or in other sectors of society). Similarly, government employees with an arts-related portfolio at any level of government are not separated based on their portfolios.

Women cultural workers, artists, and arts leaders

55% of Jewish cultural workers are women, higher than the proportion of all Jewish workers (48%) but similar to that of all Canadian cultural workers (54%).

Exactly one-half of Jewish artists are women (including some non-binary people), slightly higher than the proportion of all Jewish workers (48%) but lower than that of all Canadian artists (54%).

Women are much less strongly represented among Jewish arts leaders (39%), but this is close to the proportion of all Canadian arts leaders who are women (42%).

Jewish artists have much lower incomes than other Jewish workers

Income data from the census relate to the 2020 calendar year, which included significant slowdowns in artistic activity. Because of the challenging context in that year, the focus of this article is on overall personal incomes, with employment and household incomes provided as additional information. Personal income includes all sources, such as employment income, net revenue from self-employment, pandemic supports, rental income, investment income, and others.

The median personal income of Jewish artists (from all sources) was $33,200 in 2020, 45% below that of all Jewish workers ($60,000) but 10% above the median of all Canadian artists ($30,200). The graph below depicts the differences in the median personal incomes between Jewish artists, all Jewish workers, all artists, and all workers in Canada.

Readers should be aware that these income statistics are the median across all 10 artist occupation groups. The relatively high proportion of producers and directors (the highest-earning artist occupation group) among Jewish artists will affect the income statistics.

Estimates of employment income include the work-related earnings of artists from all paid and self-employed positions that they held during the year. The median employment income of Jewish artists was just $10,700 in 2020, which is less than one-quarter of the median employment income of all Jewish workers in that year ($47,600). The median employment income of Jewish artists is 9% below the median of all Canadian artists ($11,700).

Household income provides a measure of the family situation of artists. In 2020, the median household income of Jewish artists was $98,000, 31% lower than that of all Jewish workers ($143,000) but 5% higher than the median of all Canadian artists ($93,000).

For all of the above statistics, median incomes were chosen as the key measurement, because the median should provide a better indication of the situation of a typical artist than the average (i.e., the “mean”), a statistic that is more strongly affected by a few individuals with very high incomes. All of the income statistics are shown before taxes.

Incomes of Jewish cultural workers

The median personal income of Jewish cultural workers (from all sources) was $46,400 in 2020, which is 23% lower than the median of all Jewish workers ($60,000) but equal to that of all Canadian cultural workers (also $46,400). The following graph compares the median personal incomes of Jewish cultural workers, all Jewish workers, all cultural workers, and all workers in Canada.

The median employment income of Jewish cultural workers was $32,400 in 2020, which is 32% below that of all Jewish workers ($47,600) and 16% below that of all cultural workers in Canada ($38,400).

In 2020, the median household income of Jewish cultural workers was $117,000, or 18% less than that of all Jewish workers ($143,000) but 7% higher than that of all Canadian cultural workers ($109,000).

Incomes of Jewish arts leaders

The median personal income of Jewish arts leaders (from all sources) was $58,400 in 2020, which is 3% lower than the median of all Jewish workers ($60,000) and 2% higher than that of all Canadian arts leaders ($57,200). In other words, despite their senior artistic positions, Jewish arts leaders still earn slightly less than other Jewish workers in Canada.

The median employment income of Jewish arts leaders was $44,400 in 2020, which is 7% below that of all Jewish workers ($47,600) and 11% below that of all arts leaders in Canada ($50,000).

In 2020, the median household income of Jewish arts leaders was $116,000, 19% less than that of all Jewish workers ($143,000) but 3% higher than that of all Canadian arts leaders ($113,000).

Jewish artists and cultural workers by province and city

Jewish artists and cultural workers are strongly concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. The breakdown by province and region follows.

Ontario is home to 58% of Canada’s Jewish artists and 59% of all Jewish cultural workers, both of which are similar to the province’s 57% share of all Jewish workers. On its own, the City of Toronto accounts for 40% of Canada’s Jewish artists and 38% of all Jewish cultural workers, both of which are much higher than the 27% of all Jewish workers who reside in Toronto.

19% of Jewish artists reside in Quebec, as do 20% of Jewish cultural workers, compared with 21% of all Jewish workers. The Ville de Montréal accounts for 12% of Canada’s Jewish artists, 11% of all Jewish cultural workers, and 9% of all Jewish workers.

British Columbia is home to 16% of Canada’s Jewish artists and 13% of Jewish cultural workers in the country, both of which are higher than the province’s 11% share of all Jewish workers. On its own, the City of Vancouver accounts for 8% of Canada’s Jewish artists, 7% of all Jewish cultural workers, and 4% of all Jewish workers in Canada.

The three Prairie provinces are home to 5% of Canada’s Jewish artists, 6% of all Jewish cultural workers, both of which are lower than the 9% of all Jewish workers who reside on the Prairies.

2% of Canada’s Jewish artists reside in the four Atlantic provinces, equal to the four provinces’ percentages of Jewish cultural workers and all Jewish workers.

The report examines income statistics for artists as a group, for arts leaders as a group, and for cultural occupations as a group – not for individual occupation categories (e.g., writers, actors, performing arts managers, etc.).

Median personal income is the key statistic used. This statistic includes all sources of income, including (for example) employment income and pandemic supports. The income statistics from the 2021 census relate to 2020, a year with many pandemic lockdowns and slowdowns in artistic activity.

Details about the occupation groups included in each of the broad categories are available at the end of this post, along with other notes regarding methods.

This article is one of two released today, both commissioned by the Inspirit Foundation. The other statistical article, on Muslim representation in the arts, culture, and heritage, can be found here. A full report on the Muslim Artists Live Here project, containing qualitative information and select statistics, is available on the Inspirit Foundation website.

Muslim workers tend to have much lower incomes than other Canadians

The following graph shows that Muslim workers have much lower median incomes than other Canadian workers in the arts and culture, as tends to be the case throughout the economy.

Muslim artists have a median income of $24,600, which is 19% lower than the median for all Canadian artists ($30,200).

Muslim workers in select senior occupations in the arts (“arts leaders”) have a median income of $36,000, or 37% lower than the median for all Canadian arts leaders ($57,200).

Muslim workers in the arts, culture, and heritage (“cultural workers”) also have a median income of $36,000, which is 22% lower than the median for all Canadian cultural workers ($46,400).

In the Canadian economy as a whole, Muslim workers have a median income of $38,400, or 23% lower than the median for all Canadian workers ($49,600).

The rest of this report explores median incomes by gender for these groupings of occupations.

Artists

The following graph shows that Sikh and Muslim artists have the lowest median incomes ($23,600 and $24,600, respectively) among all groups of artists by religion. The median income of all Canadian artists is $30,200.

Median incomes are equal between Muslim men and Muslim women who are artists, contrary to the situation for all artists, where women artists have much lower incomes than men. As shown in the graph below:

• Men artists have the highest median income ($32,800).

• Women artists have median income of $28,600, 13% lower than men.

• For the 1,950 Muslim men artists, the median income is $24,600, 25% lower than all men who are artists.

• For the 1,980 Muslim women artists, the median income is also $24,600, 25% lower than all men who are artists.

Arts leadership occupations

As shown in the following graph, Muslim arts leaders have the lowest median incomes ($36,000) among all groups of arts leaders by religion. The median income of all Canadian arts leaders is $57,200.

The graph below shows that, among arts leaders:

• The median personal income is the similar for all men and women who work in one of five arts leadership occupation groups ($56,800 for men and $58,000 for women).

• The 520 Muslim men who are arts leaders have a median income of $30,200, 47% lower than the median for all men who are arts leaders.

• The 380 Muslim women who are arts leaders have a median income of $45,200, 20% lower than all men who are arts leaders.

It is unusual and interesting that Muslim women who are arts leaders have much higher median incomes than Muslim men. It is also interesting that all women who are arts leaders have median incomes that are at least equal to all men. These statistics seem to indicate that, when they obtain arts leadership positions, women are paid relatively well.

A more thorough analysis would be required to better understand these findings, including the mix of arts leadership occupations occupied by women and men, education levels, work experiences, and differences in employment (and household) incomes, not just total personal incomes.

All workers in the arts, culture, and heritage

Among workers in all cultural occupations, Muslim workers have the lowest median incomes ($36,000) of any religious group, as demonstrated in the following graph. The median income of all Canadian cultural workers is $46,400.

There is a substantial income gap between women and men who are cultural workers, including among Muslim women and men:

• Men cultural workers have the highest median income ($49,600).

• Women cultural workers have a median income of $44,000, 11% lower than all men.

• The 13,600 Muslim men who are cultural workers have a median income of $38,000, 23% lower than the median for all men.

• The 14,100 Muslim women who are cultural workers have a median income of $34,800, 30% lower than all men.

Context: Muslim workers and all workers throughout the economy

The following graph shows that, throughout the economy, Sikh and Muslim workers have the lowest median incomes ($38,000 and $38,400, respectively) among all groups of workers by religion. The median income of all Canadian workers is $49,600.

As shown in the graph below, men have by far the highest median personal incomes among all workers in the Canadian economy. Women have much lower median incomes, and Muslim men and women have even lower median incomes. Specifically:

• Men have a median income of $54,400.

• Women have a median income of $45,600, 16% lower than men.

• Muslim men have a median income of $39,600, 27% lower than the median for all men.

• Muslim women have the lowest median income ($37,200, or 32% lower than all men).

Notes on methods, including occupation lists

The analysis is based on data from the 2021 census.

Data on Muslim workers are drawn from the census question: “What is this person’s religion?” This was a write-in question that included the following notes and tips:

• “Indicate a specific denomination or religion even if this person is not currently a practising member of that group.”

• “For example, Roman Catholic, United Church, Anglican, Muslim, Baptist, Hindu, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jewish, Greek Orthodox, etc.” (These 13 examples of denominations and religions are in the order of their response frequency in 2011.)

• “Specify one denomination or religion only.”

Respondents could also select “no religion”.

(Sources: Religion Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021 and long-form census questionnaire)

The above income statistics relate to 2020, a year with many pandemic lockdowns and slowdowns in artistic activity. It was also a year when many artists and cultural workers received support from pandemic assistance programs, including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). It is impossible to know whether the lockdowns and slowdowns in artistic activity or the CERB payments had a greater impact on the differences in median incomes between artists and other workers. In theory, if the CERB payments had a greater stabilizing effect on incomes than the artistic shutdowns and slowdowns, it would have the effect of decreasing the income gaps between arts workers and other workers in 2020.

The occupational perspective counts people who work across the economy, as long as they are classified into one of the selected occupation groups.

Statistics Canada’s full occupation titles for the 10 occupation groups included as artists are:

• Actors, comedians, and circus performers

• Artisans and craftspersons

• Authors and writers (excluding technical writers)

• Conductors, composers, and arrangers

• Dancers

• Musicians and singers

• Other performers (including buskers, DJs, puppeteers, face painters, erotic dancers, and many other entertainers)

• Painters, sculptors, and other visual artists

• Photographers

• Producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations

An overview of all Canadian artists is available here

The five arts leadership occupations are:

• Conductors, composers, and arrangers

• Conservators and curators

• Library, archive, museum, and art gallery managers

• Managers in publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting, and the performing arts

• Producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations

An overview of all Canadian arts leaders, with a specific focus on the representation of women, is available here.

The statistics on workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations include people who work in 52 occupation groups, including:

• Heritage occupations such as librarians, curators, and archivists

• Cultural occupations such as graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations

• The 10 artist occupations

A list of the 52 cultural occupation groups is available in an article that also outlined the methods behind choosing these 52 occupation groups. A separate article highlights some strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers.

• Professional artists

• Arts leaders

• All workers in the arts, culture, and heritage

• All Canadian workers

Information about occupation groups included in these categories is available throughout the report.

Data on Muslim workers are drawn from the census question: “What is this person’s religion?” This was a write-in question that included the following notes and tips:

• “Indicate a specific denomination or religion even if this person is not currently a practising member of that group.”

• “For example, Roman Catholic, United Church, Anglican, Muslim, Baptist, Hindu, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jewish, Greek Orthodox, etc.” (These 13 examples of denominations and religions are in the order of their response frequency in 2011.)

• “Specify one denomination or religion only.”

Respondents could also select “no religion”.

(Sources: Religion Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021 and long-form census questionnaire)

Other notes about methods are provided at the end of this article.

This article is one of two released today, both commissioned by the Inspirit Foundation. The other statistical article, on Muslim incomes in the arts, culture, and heritage, can be found here. A full report on the Muslim Artists Live Here project, containing qualitative information and select statistics, is available on the Inspirit Foundation website.

General statistics on Muslim workers in Canada

868,100 Canadian workers identify as Muslim, or 4% of all 20.6 million workers.

Canadians of a Muslim faith are as likely as other Canadians to be in the labour force, whether employed or looking for work (63.4% of Muslim Canadians vs. an average of 63.7% for all Canadians). However, using census calculations, the unemployment rate is much higher among Muslim Canadians (16.7%) than other Canadian workers (10.3%).

The representation of Muslim people is lower in the arts and culture than in the overall labour force

The following graph highlights the proportions of artists, arts leaders, all cultural workers, and all workers in Canada who are Muslim. The graph demonstrates that Muslim Canadians are underrepresented in all arts and culture occupation groupings.

Artists, arts leaders, and cultural workers by religion

Artists

3,900 of Canada’s 202,900 artists are Muslim (2%), much lower than Muslim people’s share of the Canadian labour force (4%). As shown in the following graph, the largest proportions of artists have no religious affiliation (49%) or are of a Christian faith (42%). “All other religions” contains many faiths, none of which accounts for more than 1% of Canadian artists.

For more information about the 202,900 professional artists who reside in Canada, please see an article related to all Canadian artists. The 10 artist occupation groups are listed in a subsequent section, as well as in the article on all Canadian artists.

Artists as a percentage of the overall labour force

Professional artists represent 1.0% of all Canadian workers but only 0.5% of all Muslim workers in Canada. One in every 221 Muslim workers is an artist (compared with an average of 1 in 102 workers).

For people of other faiths, the concentrations of artists are:

• 2.6% for Jewish people

• 1.8% for people with a traditional (North American Indigenous) spirituality

• 1.3% for people with no religious affiliation

• 1.1% for Buddhists

• 0.8% for Christians

• 0.3% for Hindus

• 0.2% for Sikhs

• 2.4% for people with another religion or spiritual tradition

Muslim artists by occupation

The 3,900 Muslim artists include:

• 650 producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations (17% of all Muslim artists)

• 620 writers (16%)

• 560 photographers (14%)

• 540 musicians (14%)

• 490 visual artists (12%)

• 400 artisans and craftspeople (10%)

• 330 actors, comedians, and circus performers (8%)

• 170 other performers (4%)

• 120 dancers (3%)

• 50 conductors, composers, and arrangers (1%)

As a percentage of all artists in each occupation group, Muslim artists represent very different amounts. As shown in the following graph, the percentages of artist occupation groups represented by Muslim artists are:

• 3.2% of other performers, a grouping that includes buskers, DJs, puppeteers, face painters, and many other occupations, but excludes actors, musicians, dancers, conductors, etc.

• 2.8% of photographers

• 2.3% of painters, sculptors, and other visual artists

• 2.2% of writers

• 2.0% of craftspeople

• 1.8% of producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations

• 1.7% of actors, comedians, and circus performers

• 1.4% of musicians

• 1.4% of conductors, composers, and arrangers

• 1.1% of dancers

Arts leaders

Among Canada’s 56,200 arts leaders, 900 are Muslim (2%). Five occupation groups are included in the counts of arts leaders:

• Producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations (36,200 workers in Canada, including 650 Muslim workers)

• Managers in publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting, and the performing arts (8,800 workers, including 140 Muslim workers)

• Library, archive, museum, and art gallery managers (5,100 workers, including 40 Muslim workers)

• Conductors, composers, and arrangers (3,900 workers, including 50 Muslim workers)

• Conservators and curators (2,200 workers, including fewer than 40 Muslim workers)

The following graph shows the proportions of arts leaders for the largest religious groups.

“Arts leaders” is a category that Kelly Hill (President of Hill Strategies) conceived of based on a close examination of Statistics Canada’s occupational classifications, in particular the 52 occupation groups included as cultural workers. This category does not capture all senior-level workers in the arts. Many are excluded from culture specific counts due to the lack of fine-grained information in standard occupation categories. Some examples of occupations that could be considered arts leaders but are grouped into other, non-culture-specific occupation groups include:

• Directors and other senior managers in the arts and culture, including arts associations. Association directors and senior managers are not separated based on the nature of their work or association.

• Government employees with a cultural portfolio at any level of government. Government workers are not separated based on their portfolios.

• Arts consultants and researchers.

Because two arts leadership occupations are also included as artists, the number of arts leaders should not be added to the number of artists. Artists and arts leaders are both included in the counts of cultural workers in the following section.

Cultural workers

914,000 Canadians work in 52 occupation groups in the arts, culture, and heritage. These workers represent 4.4% of the Canadian labour force. The 52 occupation groups in this category include the 10 artist occupation groups as well as the 5 arts leadership occupation groups, other cultural occupations (e.g., graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations), and heritage occupations (e.g., librarians, curators, and archivists).

3% of all cultural workers in Canada are Muslim (27,800). Large proportions of cultural workers either have no religious affiliation (47%) or are Christian (44%), as shown in the following graph.

Cultural workers as a percentage of the overall labour force

Cultural workers of a Muslim faith represent 3.2% of all Muslim workers in Canada, lower than the Canadian average (4.4% of all Canadian workers). One in every 31 Muslim workers is a cultural worker (compared with an average of 1 in 23 workers).

Secular arts and culture

The arts and culture are particularly secular areas of society, as shown by high proportions of workers with no religious affiliation:

• Artists: 49% have no religious affiliation

• Arts leaders: 54%

• Cultural workers: 47%

• All workers 36%

Christians represent a slight majority of all Canadian workers (52%) but much smaller proportions of artists (42%), arts leaders (38%), and cultural workers (44%).

Notes on methods

The analysis relates to professional workers, but with a very specific concept of professional. Census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation between January of 2020 and May of 2021. Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation in May of 2021 would be classified in the other occupation. (The same would be true of workers in arts leadership occupations and all cultural occupations.)

The occupational perspective counts people who work across the economy, as long as they are classified into one of 10 artist occupation groups, 5 arts leadership occupation groups, or 52 cultural occupation groups. Details about the occupation groups included in each of the categories is available in a recent article, which also outlined the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups. Another article highlighted some strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers. In this article, no estimates of fewer than 40 people are presented in order to ensure confidentiality and data reliability.

The challenging context of the pandemic in the spring of 2021 is important to keep in mind when interpreting census data on artists, which were collected in May of 2021. Income data from the census relate to the 2020 calendar year.

Readers should note that the category of “cultural workers” includes artists and many other occupations in the arts, culture, and heritage. As such, the number of artists and cultural workers should not be combined for any area.

The article was prepared at the request of the Capital Regional District. Hill Strategies retained analytical independence and editorial control of the content.

Details of the occupational categories and other notes regarding methods are provided at the end of the article.

The Capital Regional District has a very high concentration of artists and cultural workers

Here is a reminder of key findings from a previous report on artists and cultural workers in the CRD.

There are 14,400 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in the Capital Regional District, representing 6.0% of the 241,400 people in the District’s labour force, above both the provincial average (5.4%) and the national average (4.4%). One in every 17 workers in the Capital Regional District has a cultural occupation. The proportion of local workers in cultural occupations ranks in the top 10 of nearly 300 regions, districts, and counties in Canada.

In 2020, a typical cultural worker in the CRD had total personal income of $43,600, 16% less than all workers in the District ($51,600).

There are 4,200 professional artists in the Capital Regional District (CRD), representing 1.7% of the Capital Regional District’s overall labour force, which is higher than both the provincial average (1.4%) and the national average (1.0%).

In other words, 1 in every 58 workers in the Capital Regional District is a professional artist. As was the case with cultural workers, the concentration of artists in the CRD is in the top 10 of nearly 300 regions, districts, and counties in Canada.

In 2020, a typical artist in the CRD had total personal income of $31,200, 40% lower than that of all workers in the District ($51,600).

This article shows that many municipalities and electoral areas within the Capital Regional District have very high concentrations of cultural workers and artists in their local labour forces.

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Many parts of the Capital Regional District have very high concentrations of artists and other cultural workers

As shown in the following graph, most CRD municipalities have concentrations of cultural workers (and artists) that are above the national average (4.4%). Four CRD municipalities and electoral areas have higher concentrations of cultural workers than the provincial average (5.4%):

• Saltspring Island Electoral Area: 10.7% (the second highest percentage in Canada)

• Victoria: 8.5%

• Oak Bay: 6.4%

• North Saanich: 5.9%

Four CRD municipalities and electoral areas are not included in the analysis, because they have fewer than 10,000 residents. Data were not requested for these municipalities, because the information related to artists would not likely be reliable for such small population areas. The four CRD municipalities with no data are: Highlands, Metchosin, Southern Gulf Islands Electoral Area, and Juan de Fuca Electoral Area. The municipalities and electoral areas with reliable data represent 93% of cultural workers and 90% of artists in the CRD.

Number of artists and cultural workers by municipality within the Capital Regional District

The following table provides basic facts about cultural workers and artists who reside in municipalities within the Capital Regional District. Victoria has the largest number of cultural workers and artists, followed by Saanich. For its size, Saltspring Island Electoral Area has a very large number of cultural workers and artists. (More on this below.)

Key facts about cultural workers and artists in each municipality and electoral area

This section provides details for each municipality with reliable data, including an analysis of the proportions of the local labour force with cultural occupations and as artists, as well as median incomes. The municipalities and electoral areas are presented in descending order of the proportion of the local labour force in cultural occupations.

The financial analysis focuses on median incomes, which are believed to provide a better indication of the typical situation of professional artists than the average (i.e., the “mean”), a statistic that is more strongly affected by a few individuals with very high incomes. In addition, the article focuses on total personal incomes, which includes all sources, such as employment income, net revenue from self-employment, pandemic supports, rental income, and investment income. It should be kept in mind that the income statistics from the 2021 census relate to the 2020 calendar year, which included many pandemic related lockdowns and significant slowdowns in artistic activity.

Saltspring Island Electoral Area has the second highest percentage of its labour force in cultural occupations out of all municipalities in Canada (10.7%, just one decimal point lower than Vancouver’s 10.8%). On Saltspring Island, there are 670 cultural workers among a labour force of 6,300 people. The 320 artists on Saltspring Island represent 5.1% of the local labour force, by far the highest concentration among Canadian municipalities and electoral areas with a population of at least 10,000. (West Vancouver is second, with 2.8%.) One in every 9 workers on Saltspring Island has a cultural occupation, and one in every 20 workers is an artist.

Saltspring Island’s cultural workers have a median income of $32,400, which is 21% lower than all workers on the Island ($41,200). Local artists have a median income of $28,000, 32% lower than the overall local labour force.

The City of Victoria has a very high proportion of its labour force in cultural occupations (8.5%): there are 4,800 cultural workers among a local labour force of 56,800 people. The 1,300 artists in Victoria represent 2.3% of the local labour force. One in every 12 workers in Victoria has a cultural occupation, and one in every 44 workers is an artist.

The median income of cultural workers residing in Victoria is $45,200, or 7% less than the overall local labour force ($48,400). Victoria artists have a median income of $32,800, which is 32% lower than all local workers.

In the District of Oak Bay, 6.4% of the local labour has a cultural occupation (580 of 9,100 workers), including 2.0% who are artists (190 of 9,100). One in every 16 workers in Oak Bay has a cultural occupation, and one in every 49 workers is an artist.

Oak Bay’s cultural workers have a median income of $47,600, which is 22% lower than all local workers ($60,800). Local artists have a median income of $31,200, roughly one-half of the overall local labour force (49% lower).

In the District of North Saanich, 5.9% of the local labour are cultural workers (390 of 6,600 workers), including 2.3% who are artists (160 of 6,600). One in every 17 workers in North Saanich has a cultural occupation, and one in every 43 workers is an artist.

The median income of cultural workers residing in North Saanich is $41,600, or 32% less than the overall local labour force ($60,800). Artists in North Saanich have a median income of $29,400, less than one-half of all local workers (52% lower).

The District of Esquimalt has 580 cultural workers among a local labour force of 10,700 people, or 5.4%. There are 140 artists in Esquimalt, or 1.3% of the local labour force. One in every 19 workers in Esquimalt has a cultural occupation, and one in every 79 workers is an artist.

Esquimalt’s cultural workers have a median income of $42,400, which is 18% lower than all local workers ($51,600). Local artists have a median income of $26,200, roughly one-half of the overall local labour force (49% lower).

In the District of Central Saanich, cultural workers represent 5.2% of the local labour force (510 of 9,800 workers), including 1.3% who are artists (130 of 9,800). One in every 19 workers in Central Saanich has a cultural occupation, and one in every 75 workers is an artist.

The median income of cultural workers residing in Central Saanich is $54,800, or 6% less than the overall local labour force ($58,000). Artists in Central Saanich have a median income of $27,000, less than one-half of all local workers (53% lower).

The District of Saanich has 3,390 cultural workers among a local labour force of 68,000 people, or 5.0%. There are 910 artists in Saanich, or 1.3% of the local labour force. One in every 20 workers in Saanich has a cultural occupation, and one in every 75 workers is an artist.

Saanich’s cultural workers have a median income of $43,200, which is 16% lower than all local workers ($51,200). Local artists have a median income of $30,600, or 40% less than the overall local labour force.

In the District of Sooke, cultural workers represent 4.9% of the local labour force (420 of 8,500 workers), including 1.7% who are artists (140 of 8,500). One in every 20 workers in Sooke has a cultural occupation, and one in every 60 workers is an artist.

The median income of Sooke’s cultural workers is $42,800, or 16% less than the overall local labour force ($51,200). Artists residing in Sooke have a median income of $33,600, which is 34% less than all local workers.

The Town of View Royal has 320 cultural workers among a local labour force of 6,800 people, or 4.7%. There are 80 artists in View Royal, or 1.2% of the local labour force. One in every 21 workers in View Royal has a cultural occupation, and one in every 85 workers is an artist.

Cultural workers in View Royal have a median income of $53,600, which is 9% lower than all local workers ($58,800). Local artists have a median income of $42,800, or 27% less than the overall local labour force.

In the City of Colwood, cultural workers represent 4.4% of the local labour force (490 of 10,900 workers), including 1.1% who are artists (120 of 10,900). One in every 23 workers in Colwood has a cultural occupation, and one in every 91 workers is an artist.

The median income of Colwood’s cultural workers is $48,000, or 16% less than the overall local labour force ($57,200). Artists residing in Colwood have a particularly high median income ($52,400), which is just 8% less than all local workers.

The Town of Sidney has 230 cultural workers among a local labour force of 5,600 people, or 4.1%. There are 90 artists in Sidney, or 1.5% of the local labour force. One in every 25 workers in Sidney has a cultural occupation, and one in every 65 workers is an artist.

Sidney’s cultural workers have a median income of $44,000, which is 15% lower than all local workers ($51,600). Local artists have a median income of $39,600, or 23% less than the overall local labour force.

In the City of Langford, cultural workers represent 3.6% of the local labour force (1,050 of 29,300 workers), including 0.7% who are artists (200 of 29,300). One in every 28 workers in Langford has a cultural occupation, and one in every 146 workers is an artist.

Langford’s cultural workers have a median income of $50,000, which is 6% lower than all local workers ($53,200). Local artists have a median income of $30,800, or 42% less than the overall local labour force.

Notes regarding methods and occupational groupings

The above analysis relates to professional workers, but with a very specific concept of professional. The census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation between January of 2020 and May of 2021. Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation in May of 2021 would be classified in the other occupation. (The same would be true of workers in all cultural occupations.)

The occupational perspective counts people who work across the economy, as long as they are classified into one of 10 artist occupation groups or 52 cultural occupation groups. Details about the occupation groups included in these categories is available in a recent article, which also outlined the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups. Another article highlighted some strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers.

To ensure confidentiality and data reliability, no estimates of fewer than 40 people are presented in this article.

The challenging context of the pandemic in the spring of 2021 is important to keep in mind when interpreting census data on artists, which were collected in May of 2021. Income data from the census relate to the 2020 calendar year.

The article was prepared at the request of the City of Saskatoon. Hill Strategies retained analytical independence and editorial control of the content.

In the census, Indigenous identity is based on self-identification as First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit. In this article, I generally use the term racialized to refer to what Statistics Canada has called the visible minority population. For brevity, the article sometimes uses the acronym BIPOC (black, Indigenous, people of colour) to refer to the entirety of Indigenous and racialized workers in the city.

Details of the census questions and other notes regarding methods are provided at the end of this article.

Number of Indigenous and racialized workers in the arts, culture, and heritage in Saskatoon

BIPOC artists

The 1,390 artists in Saskatoon represent 0.9% of the 153,100 people in the city’s overall labour force.

Among the 1,390 artists in Saskatoon, 210 are BIPOC (15% of the city’s artists), including 90 Indigenous artists (6%) and 120 racialized artists (9%). No Saskatoon artists or cultural workers indicated that they are both Indigenous and racialized.

BIPOC cultural workers

There are 5,700 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in Saskatoon, representing 3.7% of the city’s labour force.

Of the 5,700 cultural workers, 1,140 are BIPOC (20% of the city’s cultural workers), including 410 Indigenous cultural workers (7%) and 730 racialized cultural workers (13%).

Representation of BIPOC people is lower in the arts, culture, and heritage than in the overall workforce

The following graph compares the proportion of artists, all cultural workers, and all workers in Saskatoon who are Indigenous or racialized.

Whether they are Indigenous or racialized, the representation of BIPOC workers is highest in the city’s overall workforce, followed by the broad cultural workforce, with lower representation of BIPOC people as artists.

For example, all Indigenous individuals represent 9% of the city’s labour force, 7% of workers in cultural occupations, and 6% of artists. All racialized people represent 24% of the city’s labour force, 13% of workers in cultural occupations, and 9% of artists.

Incomes of BIPOC artists and cultural workers in Saskatoon

The financial analysis in this article focuses on median incomes, which are believed to provide a better indication of the situation of a typical professional artist than the average (i.e., the “mean”), which is more strongly affected by a few individuals with very high incomes. The article examines income statistics for artists as a group and for cultural workers as a group – not for individual occupation categories (e.g., writers, actors, performing arts managers, etc.).

Median personal income was chosen as the key indicator, as it includes all sources of an individual’s income. It should be kept in mind that the income statistics from the 2021 census relate to the 2020 calendar year, which included significant slowdowns in artistic activity.

Incomes of BIPOC artists

Whether they are Indigenous or racialized, the median incomes of BIPOC artists are lower than for other artists in Saskatoon, as shown in the following graph.

The median personal income of Indigenous artists (from all sources) was $27,200 in 2020, 13% lower than the median for non-Indigenous artists ($29,600).

The median personal income of Saskatoon’s racialized artists was $25,400 in 2020, 20% lower than the median for non-Indigenous artists ($29,800).

Incomes of BIPOC cultural workers

Among cultural workers in Saskatoon, Indigenous Peoples have a very similar median income to non-Indigenous workers ($42,800 vs. $43,200, as shown at the top of the next graph).

The statistics are very different for racialized cultural workers, for whom the median income ($32,800) is 27% lower than for non-racialized cultural workers ($45,200).

Notes on census methods

The analysis relates to professional workers, but with a very specific concept of professional. Census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation between January of 2020 and May of 2021. Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation in May of 2021 would be classified in the other occupation. (The same would be true of workers in all cultural occupations.)

The occupational perspective counts people who work across the economy, as long as they are classified into one of 10 artist occupation groups or 52 cultural occupation groups. Details about the occupation groups included in these categories is available in a recent article, which also outlined the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups. Another article highlighted some strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers. To ensure confidentiality and data reliability, no estimates of fewer than 40 people are presented in this article.

Statistics Canada indicates that, in the census, “Indigenous identity refers to whether the person identified with the Indigenous peoples of Canada. This includes those who identify as First Nations (North American Indian), Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), and/or those who report being Registered or Treaty Indians (that is, registered under the Indian Act of Canada), and/or those who have membership in a First Nation or Indian band.”

There is a great diversity of Indigenous Peoples residing on the territory commonly known as Canada. However, for the purposes of this focus on artists – a relatively small population group – it has been necessary to examine Indigenous Peoples as one group.

Readers should be aware that Census data are less complete for Indigenous Peoples than many other groups, which might result in a low estimate of the number of Indigenous artists, cultural workers, and other workers. However, this may be less of an issue in urban areas than on reserves. Some reserves and settlements did not allow census activity within their borders, while other areas were inaccessible due to wildfires or floods in the spring of 2021. Statistics Canada estimates that 23% of the on-reserve Indigenous population did not respond to the long-form census, a non-response rate that is almost 10 times higher than in the general population (2.6%). The response rate was likely higher for Indigenous residents off-reserve than on-reserve.

According to Canada’s Employment Equity Act, visible minority people include “persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour." Census respondents, including members of their household, were classified as racialized or not mainly based on their response to the question “Is this person:”, followed by 11 response options containing the most common population groups as well as an area for a brief open-ended response. The 11 readily available options were: White, South Asian (e.g., East Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan), Chinese, Black, Filipino, Arab, Latin American, Southeast Asian (e.g., Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Thai), West Asian (e.g., Iranian, Afghan), Korean, and Japanese. Respondents could select multiple options for each person in their household. Respondents selecting any option except for White were counted as racialized people, as were some respondents who wrote in their response.

The challenging context of the pandemic in the spring of 2021 is important to keep in mind when interpreting census data on artists, which were collected in May of 2021. Income data from the census relate to the 2020 calendar year.

The accompanying graphic summarizes some key findings of the research.

The article is made possible with the support of the Rozsa Foundation. Hill Strategies retained editorial control of the content.

How the census counts workers, including artists and other cultural workers

The occupational perspective from the census includes people who work across the economy, as long as they are classified into one of 10 artist occupation groups, 5 arts leadership occupation groups, or 52 cultural occupation groups.

In the census, artists must spend more time as artists than in any other occupation to be classified into an artist occupation group. More specifically, occupational data from the census are based on the number of people who worked more hours in an occupation than in any other between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more in that occupation than any other between January of 2020 and May of 2021.

The prevalence of “gig work” and the often-atypical nature of artists’ workflows can make it challenging for official statistics to count artists as artists. As such, census estimates of the number of artists might be low.

The 52 occupation groups included as cultural workers include the 10 artist occupation groups as well as the 5 arts leadership occupation groups, plus many other cultural occupations (e.g., graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations), and heritage occupations (e.g., librarians, curators, and archivists). Because the count of cultural workers includes both artists and arts leaders, the number of artists and arts leaders should not be added to the number of cultural workers.

For a deeper dive on the occupation classifications, please see my articles on the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups and the strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers.

Provincial and national context regarding artists, arts leaders, and all cultural workers

There are 18,100 professional artists who reside in Alberta, 9% of the 202,900 artists in Canada. As a percentage of the overall labour force, artists represent 0.7% in Alberta and 1.0% in Canada.

56,200 Canadians, including 3,600 Albertans, work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders. Alberta accounts for 6% of Canada’s arts leaders, lower than the province’s 12% share of all workers. Readers should note that two arts leadership occupations (conductors / composers and producers / directors / choreographers) are also included as artists. As such, the number of arts leaders should not be added to the number of artists in any jurisdiction.

The broadest analysis relates to the 80,600 Albertans and 914,000 Canadians who work in arts, culture, and heritage occupations. These workers represent 3.3% of Alberta’s labour force and 4.4% of the Canadian labour force. The 52 occupation groups in this category include the ten artist occupation groups, the five arts leadership occupation groups, other cultural occupations (e.g., graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations), and heritage occupations (e.g., librarians, curators, and archivists).

Over 33,000 cultural workers in Calgary, including more than 7,000 artists

Census data indicate that there are 33,300 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in Calgary, including 7,020 professional artists and 1,420 people who work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders.

The 33,300 cultural workers represent 4.4% of all 764,100 workers in Calgary, much higher than the provincial average (3.3%) and equal to the national average (4.4%).

The 7,020 artists represent 0.9% of the city’s overall labour force, above the provincial average (0.7%) and just below the national average (1.0%). The concentration of artists in Calgary is similar to other Prairie cities, including Saskatoon (0.9%), Winnipeg (0.9%), Edmonton (0.8%), and Regina (0.8%).

Calgary’s artists had very low incomes in 2020

Income data from the census relate to the 2020 calendar year, which included significant slowdowns in artistic activity. Because of the challenging context in that year, the focus of this article is on overall personal incomes, with employment and household incomes provided as additional information. Personal income includes all sources, such as employment income, net revenue from self-employment, pandemic supports, rental income, investment income, and others.

The graph below shows the median personal incomes of artists and all workers in Calgary and Alberta. The median personal income of Calgary artists (from all sources) was $28,400 in 2020, 46% lower than that of all workers in the city ($52,400). The median personal income of local artists is similar to the median for all of Alberta ($28,000). The difference in median personal income between artists and other workers in Calgary (-46%) is similar to the difference in all of Alberta (-47%) but is larger than the nationwide difference (-39%).

At $28,400, the median personal income of Calgary artists is 25% below the living wage in Calgary in 2020 ($37,700). Because the median income represents the point at which one-half of workers earn less and the other half earn more, this means that well over one-half of Calgary’s artists have incomes below the living wage.

Estimates of employment income include the work-related earnings of artists from all paid and self-employed positions that they held during the year. The median employment income of Calgary artists was just $11,800 in 2020, which is about one-quarter of the median employment income of all Calgary workers in the same year ($45,600). Despite the low earnings of artists in the city, their median employment income was slightly higher than the provincial average ($10,700) during a year that was incredibly difficult for many artists.

Household income provides a measure of the family situation of artists. Calgary artists, despite significant support from other members of their households, have median household incomes ($99,000) that are 22% lower than other workers in the city ($127,000). The median household income of Calgary artists is similar to the median of all Alberta artists ($100,000).

For all of the above statistics, median incomes were chosen as the key measurement, because the median should provide a better indication of the situation of a typical artist than the average (i.e., the “mean”), a statistic that is more strongly affected by a few individuals with very high incomes. All income statistics are shown before taxes.

Demographic and employment characteristics of Calgary artists

Of the 7,020 artists in Calgary:

• 69% are self-employed, more than four times the self-employment rate of all Calgary workers (15%) but similar to the rate of all Alberta artists (72%).

• 58% are women (which, for the census, includes some non-binary people), much higher than the proportion of all Calgary workers (48%) but lower than that of all Alberta artists (62%).

• 46% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, higher than the proportions of all Calgary workers (41%) and all Alberta artists (40%).

• 21% are members of racialized groups, much lower than the percentage of all Calgary workers (40%) but higher than that of all Alberta artists (17%).

• 4% are Indigenous, between the proportions of all Calgary workers (3%) and all Alberta artists (6%).

• 23% are immigrants to Canada, much lower than the proportion of all Calgary workers (38%) but higher than that that of all Alberta artists (18%).

• 4% are French speakers (i.e., official language minority), similar to the percentages of all Calgary workers (3%) and all Alberta artists (3%).

• 34% have a child at home, lower than the proportion of all Calgary workers (43%) but similar to that of all Alberta artists (35%).

• 24% are 55 years of age or older, which is slightly higher than the proportion of all Calgary workers (21%) but slightly lower than that of all Alberta artists (26%).

Calgary artists by occupation

As is the case in most jurisdictions, musicians are the largest artist occupation group in Calgary, representing about one in every five artists. From most to least common, the 7,020 artists in Calgary include:

• 1,500 musicians (21% of the city’s artists)

• 910 photographers (13%)

• 910 producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations (13%)

• 790 painters, sculptors & other visual artists (11%)

• 780 writers (11%)

• 710 artisans & craftspeople (10%)

• 550 dancers (8%)

• 520 actors, comedians & circus performers (7%)

• 260 other performers (4%)

• 90 conductors, composers & arrangers (1%)

Over 1,400 arts leaders in Calgary

There are 1,420 Calgary residents who work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders, with the broad grouping of producers, directors, and choreographers accounting for nearly two-thirds of them. In Calgary, there are:

• 910 producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations (64% of the arts leaders in the city)

• 280 managers in publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting & performing arts (20%)

• 90 conductors, composers & arrangers (6%)

• 80 library, archive, museum & art gallery managers (6%)

• 60 conservators & curators (4%)

Note that the five arts leadership occupations are an imperfect approximation of the total number of people with senior level positions in the arts. “Arts leaders” is a category that Hill Strategies conceived of in 2022, based on a close examination of occupational classifications that are available from the census. While the grouping is quite broadly based, there are undoubtedly other senior workers in the sector who are not captured in the five occupation groupings. One example of known exclusions is directors and other senior managers in the arts, including those in arts associations. The occupation groupings for directors and senior managers are not separated based on the nature of their work or association (i.e., arts or other sectors of society). Similarly, government employees with an arts-related portfolio at any level of government are not separated based on their portfolios.

Summary information about cultural workers in Calgary

There are 33,300 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in Calgary, representing 4.4% of the local labour force, much higher than the provincial average (3.3%) and equal to the national average (4.4%). One in every 23 workers in Calgary has a cultural occupation.

In 2020, a typical cultural worker in Calgary had:

• Employment income of $40,000, 12% less than all Calgary workers ($45,600)

• Total personal income of $47,200, 10% less than all workers in the city ($52,400)

• Household income of $118,000, 7% less than all local workers ($127,000)

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Significant behind-the-scenes data work

Over many days in 2024, I have worked out comparable data on the number of artists from different census periods. I scoured hundreds of datasets from five census years (1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2016) to find data that are comparable to my custom data request in 2021. I then downloaded those datasets, pinpointed the 10 artist occupations (out of about 700 occupational categories), copied the artist data into spreadsheets, and analyzed the results.

Here’s a brief list of what I needed to address, with further details at the end of this post:

• Changes in our definition of “artists”.

• Changes in Statistics Canada’s occupational classifications.

• Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets.

• Changes in census methods, particularly the outlier year of 2011.

There are some elements that I have not been able to address:

• Demographic breakdowns, because of additional complications due to the relative lack of readily available, comparable census data.

• Change in the number of cultural workers, because there have been significant changes in the 52 occupation groups that are included as cultural workers.

For those who are particularly curious, I’ve written about some of the census changes in more detail, especially here, here, and here. My post on Canada-wide changes in the number of artists is here.

The number of artists in Ontario almost doubled between 1991 and 2021

In 2021, there were 81,800 professional artists in Ontario, compared with 45,000 in 1991. This represents an increase of 82% in the number of professional artists in the province over a 30-year timeframe, which is well above the 34% increase in the overall labour force.

The 82% increase in Ontario is the second highest among the provinces (behind only B.C.’s 114% increase) and is higher than the national increase (75%).

The following graph demonstrates that the growth in the number of artists in Ontario has been fairly consistent over the 30-year period.

Note regarding 2011 data: Because of significant changes in methods of the (voluntary) National Household Survey in 2011, I am not considering the count of artists in that year to be comparable to other years. For graphing purposes, I have imputed estimates for 2011 as the midpoints between the 2006 and 2016 estimates.

The largest increases in the number of artists in Ontario were before 2006

The following graph demonstrates that there has been an increase in the number of artists in each five-year period between 1991 and 2021. However, the largest increases came prior to 2006 (17% between 1991 and 1996, 12% between 1996 and 2001, and 14% between 2001 and 2006). In the most recent five-year period (2016 to 2021), there was just a 2% increase.

The final graph in today’s post shows that the growth in the number of artists has exceeded that of all workers in every five-year period except for 2016 to 2021. The difference between artists and the overall labour force is most striking in the first five-year period. Between 1991 and 1996, there was a 17% increase in artists and a 1% decrease in the overall number of workers.

Changes by artist occupation

While there have been periodic changes in Statistics Canada’s occupational classifications since 1991, seven of the ten artist occupation groups have not been amended over this timeframe. There have been very different rates of change in the number of artists in the seven occupation groups with comparable data in 1991 and 2021:

• Producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations: 175% increase (from 5,300 in 1991 to 14,700 in 2021)

• Dancers: 140% increase (from 1,800 to 4,200)

• Conductors, composers & arrangers: 89% increase (from 890 to 1,700)

• Photographers: 75% increase (from 4,700 to 8,200)

• Musicians: 47% increase (from 10,300 to 15,100)

• Painters, sculptors & other visual artists: 72% increase (from 4,600 to 7,900)

• Artisans & craftspeople: 14% decrease (from 8,400 to 7,300)

The three artist occupation groups where an analysis of changes is not possible are: writers; actors and comedians; and the catch-all group of “other performers”.

Detailed notes

Here is further information about what I needed to address to ensure an “apples-to-apples” comparison of artists over time.

Changes in our definition of artists

• In 2021, in consultation with readers, we decided to include photographers as an artist occupation. Photographers had not been included in my previous counts of artists or the data that I had requested in previous census years.

Periodic changes in Statistics Canada’s occupational classifications

• For artists, almost all the classification changes have been between occupation groups that are both included as artists, rather than between artist and non-artist occupation groups. That is good! However, because of the changes, an analysis of trends is not possible for some artist occupations.

• A new occupation group was created in 2021 for “technical writers”. The 4,500 Ontario workers in this occupation group were not counted as artists in 2021 but were included with other types of writers (an artist occupation group) in every other census year since 1991. To adjust for this, the counts of artists prior to 2021 have been reduced by 5%, which is the proportion of technical workers among all artists and technical writers in 2021.

Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets

• This is a tricky challenge and one that even holds for a single census year. Some datasets exclude people who were out of the labour force in May but had worked at some point in the previous 16 months. Many other datasets only include those who were in the labour force at the time in May of each census year.

• My analyses of 2021 census data have included all people classified into an occupation, even though some of them did not work in May of 2021.

• I believe that this inclusion is particularly helpful when looking at the number of professional artists, because of the ebbs and flows of artistic work.

• I had to find datasets from each census year based on the same type of count (called “universe” by Statistics Canada). This was one of the toughest challenges.

Changes to census methods

• The 2011 census was an outlier year, because the equivalent of the long-form census (called the “National Household Survey”) was a voluntary survey of 30% of all households. In all other census periods, the long-form census was a mandatory survey that covered 20% of households from 1991 to 2006 and 25% of households in 2016 and 2021.

• The response rate in 2011 was just 69%, compared with a typical response rate above 95% in other years. I do not believe that the 2011 data are comparable to other years – and, indeed, the 2011 data tend to be quite different from other census periods.

• Because of the lack of comparable data for 2011, I have imputed data for that year as the midpoint between the estimates for 2006 and 2016. The percentage changes are therefore imprecise for 2006 to 2011 and 2011 to 2016 but do provide an accurate portrait of the changes during the broader timeframe (i.e., 2006 to 2016).

Here are some other important notes to keep in mind when considering the above analysis of artists in the workforce:

• The analysis relates to professional workers, but with a very specific concept of professional. The census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation during the census week (always in early May), plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation after January 1 of the prior year (2020, in the case of the 2021 census). Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation during the census period would be classified in the other occupation.

• The atypical nature of artists’ workflows can make it challenging for official statistics to count artists as artists. As such, census estimates of the number of artists might be low. “Gig work” has been common among artists for a very long time. Internet sources even indicate that the term “gig” was coined by jazz musicians in the early 1900s. (Source examples here and here.)

In addition, even more detailed findings on the province’s cultural labour force will be published in April as part of a larger New Brunswick project. That project was conducted for Arts Link NB, in partnership with the Owens Art Gallery and the Association acadienne des artistes professionel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick.

The fruit of significant behind-the-scenes data work

Over many days in 2024, I have worked out comparable data on the number of artists from different census periods. I scoured hundreds of datasets from five census years (1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2016) to find data that are comparable to my custom data request in 2021. I then downloaded those datasets, pinpointed the 10 artist occupations (out of about 700 occupational categories), copied the artist data into spreadsheets, and analyzed the results.

Here’s a brief list of what I needed to address, with further details at the end of this post:

• Changes in our definition of “artists”.

• Changes in Statistics Canada’s occupation classifications.

• Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets.

• Changes in census methods, particularly the outlier year of 2011.

There are some elements that I have not been able to address:

• Demographic breakdowns, because of additional complications due to the relative lack of readily available, comparable census data.

• Change in the number of cultural workers, because there have been significant changes in the 52 occupation groups that are included as cultural workers.

For those who are particularly curious, I’ve written about some of the census changes in more detail, especially here, here, and here. My post on Canada-wide changes in the number of artists is here.

50% growth in the number of artists in New Brunswick since 1991

There are 50% more professional artists in New Brunswick than 30 years ago, compared with 10% growth in the overall labour force in the province. Nationally, there was 75% growth in the number of artists and 33% growth in the overall labour force during the same timeframe.

The following graph tracks the changes in the number of artists in New Brunswick in each census period. The number of professional artists in the province increased from 1,800 in 1991 to 2,700 in 2021. There have been small increases in every census period since 2001.

Note regarding 2011 data: Because of significant changes in methods of the (voluntary) National Household Survey in 2011, I am not considering the count of artists in that year to be comparable to other years. For graphing purposes, I have imputed estimates for 2011 as the midpoints between the 2006 and 2016 estimates.

Variable rates of change in the number of artists in New Brunswick

As shown in the following graph, the percentage changes in the number of artists have been highly variable over time, with a 29% increase between 1991 and 1996 followed by a 10% decrease between 1996 and 2001. Despite the decrease, there was a 16% increase in the number of artists in New Brunswick during the 1990s (i.e., 1991 to 2001). Since 2001, there has been an increase of at least 3% in every five-year census period.

Increases in the number of artists have exceeded the rest of the provincial labour force in most periods

The final graph in today’s post shows that, except for the decrease in artists between 1996 and 2001, the growth in the number of artists has exceeded that of all workers in every five-year period. The difference between artists and the overall labour force is most striking in the first five-year period (1991 to 1996).

As noted earlier, the growth in the number of artists has been five times larger than growth in the provincial labour force over the entire 30-year period (50% vs. 10%).

Detailed notes

Here is further information about what I needed to address to ensure an “apples-to-apples” comparison of artists over time.

Changes in our definition of artists

• In 2021, in consultation with you, we decided to include photographers as an artist occupation. Photographers had not been included in my previous counts of artists or the data that I had requested in previous census years.

Periodic changes in Statistics Canada’s occupational classifications

• For artists, almost all the classification changes have been between occupation groups that are both included as artists, rather than between artist and non-artist occupation groups. That is good! However, because of the changes, an analysis of trends is not possible for some artist occupations.

• A new occupation group was created in 2021 for “technical writers”. The 1,300 B.C. workers in this occupation group were not counted as artists in 2021 but were included with other types of writers (an artist occupation group) in every other census year since 1991. To adjust for this, the counts of artists prior to 2021 have been reduced by 3%, which is the proportion of technical workers among all artists and technical writers in 2021.

Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets

• This is a tricky challenge and one that even holds for a single census year. Some datasets exclude people who were out of the labour force in May but had worked at some point in the previous 16 months. Many other datasets only include those who were in the labour force at the time in May of each census year.

• My analyses of 2021 census data have included all people classified into an occupation, even though some of them did not work in May of 2021.

• I believe that this inclusion is particularly helpful when looking at the number of professional artists, because of the ebbs and flows of artistic work.

• I had to find datasets from each census year based on the same type of count (called “universe” by Statistics Canada). This was one of the toughest challenges.

Changes to census methods

• The 2011 census was an outlier year, because the equivalent of the long-form census (called the “National Household Survey”) was a voluntary survey of 30% of all households. In all other census periods, the long-form census was a mandatory survey that covered 20% of households from 1991 to 2006 and 25% of households in 2016 and 2021.

• The response rate in 2011 was just 69%, compared with a typical response rate above 95% in other years. I do not believe that the 2011 data are comparable to other years – and, indeed, the 2011 data tend to be quite different from other census periods.

• Because of the lack of comparable data for 2011, I have imputed data for that year as the midpoint between the estimates for 2006 and 2016. The percentage changes are therefore imprecise for 2006 to 2011 and 2011 to 2016 but do provide an accurate portrait of the changes during the broader timeframe (i.e., 2006 to 2016).

Here are some other important notes to keep in mind when considering the above analysis of artists in the workforce:

• The analysis relates to professional workers, but with a very specific concept of professional. The census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation during the census week (always in early May), plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation after January 1 of the prior year (2020, in the case of the 2021 census). Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation during the census period would be classified in the other occupation.

• The atypical nature of artists’ workflows can make it challenging for official statistics to count artists as artists. As such, census estimates of the number of artists might be low. “Gig work” has been common among artists for a very long time. Internet sources even indicate that the term “gig” was coined by jazz musicians in the early 1900s. (Source examples here and here.)

Significant behind-the-scenes data work

Over the course of 2024, I worked out comparable data on the number of artists from different census periods. More specifically, I scoured hundreds of datasets from five census years (1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2016) to find data that are comparable to my custom data request in 2021. I then downloaded those datasets, pinpointed the 10 artist occupations (out of about 700 occupational categories), copied the artist data into spreadsheets, and analyzed the results.

Here’s a brief list of what I needed to address, with further details at the end of this post:

• Changes in our definition of “artists”.

• Changes in Statistics Canada’s occupation classifications.

• Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets.

• Changes in census methods, particularly the outlier year of 2011.

There are some elements that I have not been able to address:

• Demographic breakdowns, because of additional complications due to the relative lack of readily available, comparable census data.

• Change in the number of cultural workers, because there have been significant changes in the 52 occupation groups that are included as cultural workers.

For those who are particularly curious, I’ve written about some of the census changes in more detail, especially here, here, and here. My post on Canada-wide changes in the number of artists is here.

78% increase in the number of artists in Alberta between 1991 and 2021

In Alberta, the 18,100 professional artists in 2021 is a 78% increase compared with the 10,200 artists in 1991. This increase is much higher than the 58% growth in the provincial labour force during the same 30-year period.

The increase in Alberta is one of the highest among the provinces and slightly above the 75% increase in the number of artists in Canada during the same timeframe.

The following graph shows that there has been an increase in the number of artists in Alberta in every five-year census period. Further details are available in the next section.

Note regarding 2011 data: Because of significant changes in methods of the (voluntary) National Household Survey in 2011, I am not considering the count of artists in that year to be comparable to other years. For graphing purposes, I have imputed estimates for 2011 as the midpoints between the 2006 and 2016 estimates.

If you are interested in a similar article for your jurisdiction, please sign up below and choose the “Sponsor-shareable” option. I’ll be in touch when I get the notification of the sign-up.

Provincial data are available for the full time period. At the local level, there are additional challenges, but I am able to work through some of them. Data for Census Metropolitan Areas are easier to find than for local municipalities, but I have found at least a couple of data points for larger municipalities.

Strong growth rates in most 5-year periods

As shown in the following graph, the rate of growth in the number of artists was highest during the first five-year census period (i.e., 21% growth between 1991 and 1996). This was followed by consistently strong growth rates of 9% or 10%. Growth was least strong during the most recent census period: a 3% increase between 2016 and 2021.

The final graph in today’s post shows that the growth in the number of artists greatly exceeded that of all workers in the first and the most recent five-year census periods. The growth in the number of artists was lower than the large increases in the overall labour force between 1996 and 2006. Between 2006 and 2016, the percentage change in the number of artists was a bit higher than that of all workers in the province.

Changes by artist occupation

While there have been changes in some job classifications since 1991, the definitions of seven out of ten artist groups have stayed the same. In four of these seven artist occupation groups, the number of artists more than doubled between 1991 and 2021. However, one artist occupation group saw a decrease during this period:

• Dancers: 251% increase (from 410 in 1991 to 1,400 in 2021)

• Painters, sculptors & other visual artists: 163% increase (from 800 to 2,100)

• Photographers: 162% increase (from 1,000 to 2,600)

• Producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations: 109% increase (from 880 to 1,800)

• Conductors, composers & arrangers: 66% increase (from 150 to 240)

• Musicians: 30% increase (from 3,000 to 3,900)

• Artisans & craftspeople: 5% decrease (from 2,400 to 2,300)

The three artist occupation groups where an analysis of changes is not possible are: writers; actors, comedians, and circus performers; and the catch-all group of “other performers”.

Detailed notes

Here is further information about what I needed to address to ensure an “apples-to-apples” comparison of artists over time.

Changes in our definition of artists

• In 2021, in consultation with readers, we decided to include photographers as an artist occupation. Photographers had not been included in my previous counts of artists or the data that I had requested in previous census years.

Periodic changes in Statistics Canada’s occupational classifications

• For artists, almost all the classification changes have been between occupation groups that are both included as artists, rather than between artist and non-artist occupation groups. That is good! However, because of the changes, an analysis of trends is not possible for some artist occupations.

• A new occupation group was created in 2021 for “technical writers”. The 900 Alberta workers in this occupation group were not counted as artists in 2021 but were included with other types of writers (an artist occupation group) in every other census year since 1991. To adjust for this, the counts of artists prior to 2021 have been reduced by 5%, which is the proportion of technical workers among all artists and technical writers in 2021.

Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets

• This is a tricky challenge and one that even holds for a single census year. Some datasets exclude people who were out of the labour force in May but had worked at some point in the previous 16 months. Many other datasets only include those who were in the labour force at the time in May of each census year.

• My analyses of 2021 census data have included all people classified into an occupation, even though some of them did not work in May of 2021.

• I believe that this inclusion is particularly helpful when looking at the number of professional artists, because of the ebbs and flows of artistic work.

• I had to find datasets from each census year based on the same type of count (called “universe” by Statistics Canada). This was one of the toughest challenges.

Changes to census methods

• The 2011 census was an outlier year, because the equivalent of the long-form census (called the “National Household Survey”) was a voluntary survey of 30% of all households. In all other census periods, the long-form census was a mandatory survey that covered 20% of households from 1991 to 2006 and 25% of households in 2016 and 2021.

• The response rate in 2011 was just 69%, compared with a typical response rate above 95% in other years. I do not believe that the 2011 data are comparable to other years – and, indeed, the 2011 data tend to be quite different from other census periods.

• Because of the lack of comparable data for 2011, I have imputed data for that year as the midpoint between the estimates for 2006 and 2016. The percentage changes are therefore imprecise for 2006 to 2011 and 2011 to 2016 but do provide an accurate portrait of the changes during the broader timeframe (i.e., 2006 to 2016).

Here are some other important notes to keep in mind when considering the above analysis of artists in the workforce:

• The analysis relates to professional workers, but with a very specific concept of professional. The census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation during the census week (always in early May), plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation after January 1 of the prior year (2020, in the case of the 2021 census). Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation during the census period would be classified in the other occupation.

• The atypical nature of artists’ workflows can make it challenging for official statistics to count artists as artists. As such, census estimates of the number of artists might be low. “Gig work” has been common among artists for a very long time. Internet sources even indicate that the term “gig” was coined by jazz musicians in the early 1900s. (Source examples here and here.)

Context: Provincial and Canadian data

According to census data, there are 81,800 professional artists in Ontario, representing 1.0% of the province’s 7.9 million workers. Presented differently, this means that 1 in every 96 workers in the province is an artist. A full article on Ontario artists and cultural workers is available here, and a similar article for London is available here.

Across Canada, there are 202,900 professional artists, representing 1.0% of the Canadian labour force. In other words, 1 in every 102 Canadian workers is an artist. A summary analysis of all Canadian artists is available here.

Regions of Ontario

The regions in this article correspond with the Ontario Arts Council’s regions:

Toronto

• City of Toronto

South Central

• Durham Regional Municipality

• Halton Regional Municipality

• Peel Regional Municipality

• York Regional Municipality

Southwest

• Brant County

• Chatham-Kent

• Essex County

• Elgin County

• City of Hamilton

• Haldimand-Norfolk Regional Municipality

• Huron County

• Lambton County

• Middlesex County

• Niagara Regional Municipality

• Oxford County

• Perth County

• Simcoe County

• Waterloo Regional Municipality

• Wellington County

Central

• Bruce County

• Dufferin County

• Grey County

• Haliburton County

• City of Kawartha Lakes

• Muskoka District Municipality

• Northumberland County

• Peterborough County

East

• Frontenac County

• Hastings County

• Lanark County

• Leeds and Grenville United Counties

• Lennox and Addington County

• City of Ottawa

• Prescott and Russell United Counties

• Prince Edward County

• Renfrew County

• Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry United Counties

Northeast

• Algoma District

• Cochrane District

• Manitoulin District

• Nipissing District

• Parry Sound District

• City of Greater Sudbury

• Sudbury District

• Timiskaming District

Northwest

• Rainy River District

• Thunder Bay District

Far North

• Kenora District

Artists by region of Ontario

The City of Toronto is home to 32,300 artists, or 39% of all artists in Ontario. Artists represent 2.0% of all workers in Toronto, double the provincial average. Artists represent 1 in every 50 workers in the city. Toronto’s proportion of each artist occupation is provided in a subsequent section.

There are 49,500 professional artists who reside in other regions of the province, accounting for 61% of the provincial total and 0.8% of the overall labour force outside of Toronto. The regional distribution of these artists follows:

• 16,200 artists reside in the south central region, accounting for 0.7% of all local workers (or 1 in every 137 local workers).

• 16,100 reside in the southwest region, representing 0.8% of all local workers (or 1 in every 124 local workers).

• 9,400 reside in the east region, accounting for 0.9% of all local workers (or 1 in every 111 local workers).

• 5,700 reside in the central region, representing 0.9% of all local workers (or 1 in every 111 local workers).

• 1,600 reside in the northeast region, accounting for 0.6% of all local workers (or 1 in every 173 local workers).

• 500 reside in the northwest region, accounting for 0.6% of all local workers (or 1 in every 176 local workers).

• 100 reside in the far north region, representing 0.3% of all local workers (or 1 in every 317 local workers).

Demographic similarities and differences by region

Three important characteristics of artists in Ontario are the high proportion of women (53%, higher than the 48% of all Ontario workers), very high educational achievement (48% with a bachelor’s degree or higher, much higher than the 36% of all Ontario workers), and an extremely high self-employment rate (69%, nearly five times higher than the 15% of all Ontario workers).

As shown in the following graphs, each of these characteristics varies by region of the province, which might be at least partly due to the prevalence of different artist occupations by region.

The first graph shows that about two-thirds of artists in the northwest are women, much higher than the Ontario average (53%). Among the eight regions of Ontario, Toronto has the lowest proportion of women artists (49%).

The second graph shows that Toronto has the highest percentage of artists with at least a bachelor’s degree (57%). In all other regions, less than one-half of professional artists have at least a bachelor’s degree.

As shown in the third graph, the self-employment rates of artists are very high in every region of the province, with the lowest self-employment rate being 63% in the northwest. The self-employment rates are extremely high in the far north (85%) and the central region (79%), two predominantly rural areas of the province.

Regional distribution of each artist occupation

The proportion of Ontario’s artists who reside in Toronto varies considerably by occupation.

Among the 10 artist occupations, artisans and craftspeople are least likely to reside in Toronto: just 19% do so, meaning that 81% reside outside of the provincial capital. The two artist occupation groups that are most likely to reside in Toronto are producers, directors, and choreographers (59%) and actors, comedians, and circus performers (54%).

For each artist occupation, the percentages residing in Toronto are:

• 19% of the 7,300 artisans and craftspeople in Ontario

• 31% of the 8,200 photographers

• 31% of the 4,200 dancers

• 32% of the 15,100 musicians

• 33% of the 2,400 other performers (including DJs, puppeteers, buskers, face painters, and models)

• 34% of the 7,900 painters, sculptors, and other visual artists

• 39% of the 1,700 conductors, composers, and arrangers

• 44% of the 12,800 writers

• 54% of the 7,600 actors, comedians, and circus performers

• 59% of the 14,700 producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations

Cultural workers by region

In Ontario, there are 370,000 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations, representing 4.7% of the province’s overall labour force, above the national average of 4.4%, One in every 21 workers in Ontario has a cultural occupation.

The 52 occupation groups categorized as workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations (or simply “cultural workers”) include the 10 artist occupation groups, other cultural occupations (e.g., graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations), as well as heritage occupations (e.g., librarians, curators, and archivists).

The 370,000 cultural workers in the province include:

• 129,200 in Toronto, representing 8.1% of all local workers (or 1 in every 12 local workers). Toronto is home to 35% of the province’s cultural workers, slightly below the region’s share of artists (39%) but well above its share of the provincial labour force (20%)

• 90,900 in the south central region, which represents 4.1% of all local workers (or 1 in every 24 local workers).

• 71,600 in the southwest region, accounting for 3.6% of all local workers (or 1 in every 28 local workers).

• 45,800 in the east region, which represents 4.4% of all local workers (or 1 in every 23 local workers).

• 22,900 in the central region, accounting for 3.6% of all local workers (or 1 in every 28 local workers).

• 7,100 in the northeast region, which represents 2.5% of all local workers (or 1 in every 40 local workers).

• 2,100 in the northwest region, accounting for 2.4% of all local workers (or 1 in every 41 local workers).

• 530 in the far north region, which represents 1.7% of all local workers (or 1 in every 60 local workers).

Notes on methods

The analysis relates to professional workers, but with a very specific concept of professional. The census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation between January of 2020 and May of 2021. Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation in May of 2021 would be classified in the other occupation. (The same would be true of workers in all occupations in the arts, culture, and heritage.)

The occupational perspective counts people who work across the economy, as long as they are classified into one of 10 artist occupation groups, 5 arts leadership occupation groups, or 52 cultural occupation groups. Details about the occupation groups included in each of the categories is available in a separate article, which also outlined the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups. Another article highlighted some strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers.

The challenging context of the pandemic in the spring of 2021 is important to keep in mind when interpreting census data on artists, which were collected in May of 2021.

Focus on Census Metropolitan Area data, despite significant behind-the-scenes data work

Over many days in 2024, I sought out comparable data on the number of artists from different census periods. I scoured hundreds of datasets from five census years (1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2016) to find data that are comparable to my custom data request in 2021. I then downloaded those datasets, pinpointed the 10 artist occupations (out of about 700 occupational categories), copied the artist data into spreadsheets, and analyzed the results.

For municipalities, I was unable to find comparable data for the entire period. However, I was able to find data for:

• the Saskatoon Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) for 1991 through 2021

• the City of Saskatoon for 2006 and 2021

• the Province of Saskatchewan for 1991 through 2021

At the end of this post, I provide further notes on elements that I needed to address to ensure and “apples-to-apples” comparison:

• Changes in our definition of “artists”.

• Changes in Statistics Canada’s occupation classifications.

• Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets.

• Changes in census methods, particularly the outlier year of 2011.

There are some elements that I have not been able to address:

• Demographic breakdowns, because of additional complications due to the relative lack of readily available, comparable census data.

• Change in the number of cultural workers, because there have been significant changes in some of the 52 occupation groups that are included as cultural workers.

For those who are particularly curious, I’ve written about some of the census changes in more detail, especially here, here, and here. My post on Canada-wide changes in the number of artists is here.

35% increase in the number of artists in the Saskatoon CMA between 1991 and 2021

In 2021, there were 1,490 professional artists in the Saskatoon CMA, compared with 1,100 in 1991. This represents an increase of 35% in the number of professional artists in the CMA over a 30-year timeframe, which is much higher than the 8% provincial increase (the lowest increase among the provinces).

The increase in the Saskatoon CMA is lower than the 49% increase in the CMA’s overall labour force and the 75% nationwide increase in the number of artists.

Comparable data are only available for the City of Saskatoon in 2006 and 2021. In 2021, there were 1,390 professional artists residing in the city, which is a 26% increase over the number in 2006 (1,100).

The 26% increase in the city is higher than the 20% increase in the Saskatoon CMA, the 1% increase in the City of Regina, and the 9% increase in Saskatchewan during the same timeframe. In other words, Saskatoon represents an increasing proportion of professional artists in the area and the province.

The following graph demonstrates that, since 2001, there has been a relatively steady increase in the number of artists in the Saskatoon CMA. In contrast, in the province as a whole, there have been only moderate changes in the number of artists over the 30-year period.

Not surprisingly, the number of artists in the City of Saskatoon is very similar to the CMA estimates for 2006 and 2021 (the two years for which municipal data are available).

Note regarding 2011 data: Because of significant changes in methods of the (voluntary) National Household Survey in 2011, I am not considering the count of artists in that year to be comparable to other years. For graphing purposes, I have imputed estimates for 2011 as the midpoints between the 2006 and 2016 estimates.

Five periods with increases, one with a decrease

The following graph shows that, in the Saskatoon CMA, there has been an increase in the number of artists in five of the six five-year periods between 1991 and 2021. The largest increase came between 2001 and 2006. In the most recent five-year period (2016 to 2021), there was a 3% increase in the number of professional artists in the CMA.

The final graph in today’s post shows that the increase in the number of artists in the Saskatoon CMA has been higher than the increase in the overall number of workers in two periods: 2001 to 2006 and 2016 to 2021 (albeit slightly).Large increases in the number of artists in British Columbia throughout the 30-year timeframe

The data in the following graph indicate that the growth rate in the number of artists has been strong in each five-year period between 1991 and 2021, but the largest increases came at the beginning of the historical data (24% between 1991 and 1996 and 20% between 1996 and 2001). Since 2001, the five-year growth rates have hovered around 10%.

The final graph in today’s post shows that the growth in the number of artists has exceeded that of all workers in every five-year period. The difference between artists and the overall labour force is most striking in the first two five-year periods (1991 to 1996 and 1996 to 2001).

Changes by artist occupation

While there have been periodic changes in Statistics Canada’s occupational classifications since 1991, seven of the ten artist occupation groups have not been amended over this timeframe. There have been very different rates of change in the number of artists in the seven occupation groups with comparable data in 1991 and 2021:

• Producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations: 329% increase (from 1,500 in 1991 to 6,500 in 2021)

• Photographers: 200% increase (from 1,300 to 3,900)

• Conductors, composers & arrangers: 155% increase (from 260 to 650)

• Dancers: 125% increase (from 820 to 1,800)

• Painters, sculptors & other visual artists: 86% increase (from 2,300 to 4,300)

• Musicians: 46% increase (from 4,800 to 7,000)

• Artisans & craftspeople: 8% decrease (from 4,400 to 4,000)

The three artist occupation groups where an analysis of changes is not possible are: writers; actors and comedians; and the catch-all group of “other performers”.

Detailed notes

Here is further information about what I needed to address to ensure an “apples-to-apples” comparison of artists over time.

Changes in our definition of artists

• In 2021, in consultation with you, we decided to include photographers as an artist occupation. Photographers had not been included in my previous counts of artists or the data that I had requested in previous census years.

Periodic changes in Statistics Canada’s occupational classifications

• For artists, almost all the classification changes have been between occupation groups that are both included as artists, rather than between artist and non-artist occupation groups. That is good! However, because of the changes, an analysis of trends is not possible for some artist occupations.

• A new occupation group was created in 2021 for “technical writers”. The 100 Saskatoon workers in this occupation group were not counted as artists in 2021 but were included with other types of writers (an artist occupation group) in every other census year since 1991. To adjust for this, the counts of artists prior to 2021 have been reduced by 3%, which is the proportion of technical workers among all artists and technical writers in 2021.

Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets

• This is a tricky challenge and one that even holds for a single census year. Some datasets exclude people who were out of the labour force in May but had worked at some point in the previous 16 months. Many other datasets only include those who were in the labour force at the time in May of each census year.

• My analyses of 2021 census data have included all people classified into an occupation, even though some of them did not work in May of 2021.

• I believe that this inclusion is particularly helpful when looking at the number of professional artists, because of the ebbs and flows of artistic work.

• I had to find datasets from each census year based on the same type of count (called “universe” by Statistics Canada). This was one of the toughest challenges.

Changes to census methods

• The 2011 census was an outlier year, because the equivalent of the long-form census (called the “National Household Survey”) was a voluntary survey of 30% of all households. In all other census periods, the long-form census was a mandatory survey that covered 20% of households from 1991 to 2006 and 25% of households in 2016 and 2021.

• The response rate in 2011 was just 69%, compared with a typical response rate above 95% in other years. I do not believe that the 2011 data are comparable to other years – and, indeed, the 2011 data tend to be quite different from other census periods.

• Because of the lack of comparable data for 2011, I have imputed data for that year as the midpoint between the estimates for 2006 and 2016. The percentage changes are therefore imprecise for 2006 to 2011 and 2011 to 2016 but do provide an accurate portrait of the changes during the broader timeframe (i.e., 2006 to 2016).

Here are some other important notes to keep in mind when considering the above analysis of artists in the workforce:

• The analysis relates to professional workers, but with a very specific concept of professional. The census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation during the census week (always in early May), plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation after January 1 of the prior year (2020, in the case of the 2021 census). Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation during the census period would be classified in the other occupation.

• The atypical nature of artists’ workflows can make it challenging for official statistics to count artists as artists. As such, census estimates of the number of artists might be low. “Gig work” has been common among artists for a very long time. Internet sources even indicate that the term “gig” was coined by jazz musicians in the early 1900s. (Source examples here and here.)

The fruit of significant behind-the-scenes data work

Over many days in 2024, I have worked out comparable data on the number of artists from different census periods. I scoured hundreds of datasets from five census years (1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2016) to find data that are comparable to my custom data request in 2021. I then downloaded those datasets, pinpointed the 10 artist occupations (out of about 700 occupational categories), copied the artist data into spreadsheets, and analyzed the results.

Here’s a brief list of what I needed to address, with further details at the end of this post:

• Changes in our definition of “artists”.

• Changes in Statistics Canada’s occupation classifications.

• Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets.

• Changes in census methods, particularly the outlier year of 2011.

There are some elements that I have not been able to address:

• Demographic breakdowns, because of additional complications due to the relative lack of readily available, comparable census data.

• Change in the number of cultural workers, because there have been significant changes in the 52 occupation groups that are included as cultural workers.

For those who are particularly curious, I’ve written about some of the census changes in more detail, especially here, here, and here. My post on Canada-wide changes in the number of artists is here.

The number of artists in B.C. more than doubled between 1991 and 2021

In 2021, there were 39,700 professional artists in the province, compared with 18,600 in 1991. This is a 114% increase in the number of professional artists in the province over a 30-year timeframe, which is much higher than the 51% growth in the overall labour force.

The increase in B.C. is the highest among the provinces and well above the 75% increase in the number of artists in Canada during the same timeframe.

The following graph demonstrates the consistent growth in the number of artists in B.C.

Note regarding 2011 data: Because of significant changes in methods of the (voluntary) National Household Survey in 2011, I am not considering the count of artists in that year to be comparable to other years. For graphing purposes, I have imputed estimates for 2011 as the midpoints between the 2006 and 2016 estimates.

Large increases in the number of artists in British Columbia throughout the 30-year timeframe

The data in the following graph indicate that the growth rate in the number of artists has been strong in each five-year period between 1991 and 2021, but the largest increases came at the beginning of the historical data (24% between 1991 and 1996 and 20% between 1996 and 2001). Since 2001, the five-year growth rates have hovered around 10%.

The final graph in today’s post shows that the growth in the number of artists has exceeded that of all workers in every five-year period. The difference between artists and the overall labour force is most striking in the first two five-year periods (1991 to 1996 and 1996 to 2001).

Changes by artist occupation

While there have been periodic changes in Statistics Canada’s occupational classifications since 1991, seven of the ten artist occupation groups have not been amended over this timeframe. There have been very different rates of change in the number of artists in the seven occupation groups with comparable data in 1991 and 2021:

• Producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations: 329% increase (from 1,500 in 1991 to 6,500 in 2021)

• Photographers: 200% increase (from 1,300 to 3,900)

• Conductors, composers & arrangers: 155% increase (from 260 to 650)

• Dancers: 125% increase (from 820 to 1,800)

• Painters, sculptors & other visual artists: 86% increase (from 2,300 to 4,300)

• Musicians: 46% increase (from 4,800 to 7,000)

• Artisans & craftspeople: 8% decrease (from 4,400 to 4,000)

The three artist occupation groups where an analysis of changes is not possible are: writers; actors and comedians; and the catch-all group of “other performers”.

Detailed notes

Here is further information about what I needed to address to ensure an “apples-to-apples” comparison of artists over time.

Changes in our definition of artists

• In 2021, in consultation with you, we decided to include photographers as an artist occupation. Photographers had not been included in my previous counts of artists or the data that I had requested in previous census years.

Periodic changes in Statistics Canada’s occupational classifications

• For artists, almost all the classification changes have been between occupation groups that are both included as artists, rather than between artist and non-artist occupation groups. That is good! However, because of the changes, an analysis of trends is not possible for some artist occupations.

• A new occupation group was created in 2021 for “technical writers”. The 1,300 B.C. workers in this occupation group were not counted as artists in 2021 but were included with other types of writers (an artist occupation group) in every other census year since 1991. To adjust for this, the counts of artists prior to 2021 have been reduced by 3%, which is the proportion of technical workers among all artists and technical writers in 2021.

Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets

• This is a tricky challenge and one that even holds for a single census year. Some datasets exclude people who were out of the labour force in May but had worked at some point in the previous 16 months. Many other datasets only include those who were in the labour force at the time in May of each census year.

• My analyses of 2021 census data have included all people classified into an occupation, even though some of them did not work in May of 2021.

• I believe that this inclusion is particularly helpful when looking at the number of professional artists, because of the ebbs and flows of artistic work.

• I had to find datasets from each census year based on the same type of count (called “universe” by Statistics Canada). This was one of the toughest challenges.

Changes to census methods

• The 2011 census was an outlier year, because the equivalent of the long-form census (called the “National Household Survey”) was a voluntary survey of 30% of all households. In all other census periods, the long-form census was a mandatory survey that covered 20% of households from 1991 to 2006 and 25% of households in 2016 and 2021.

• The response rate in 2011 was just 69%, compared with a typical response rate above 95% in other years. I do not believe that the 2011 data are comparable to other years – and, indeed, the 2011 data tend to be quite different from other census periods.

• Because of the lack of comparable data for 2011, I have imputed data for that year as the midpoint between the estimates for 2006 and 2016. The percentage changes are therefore imprecise for 2006 to 2011 and 2011 to 2016 but do provide an accurate portrait of the changes during the broader timeframe (i.e., 2006 to 2016).

Here are some other important notes to keep in mind when considering the above analysis of artists in the workforce:

• The analysis relates to professional workers, but with a very specific concept of professional. The census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation during the census week (always in early May), plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation after January 1 of the prior year (2020, in the case of the 2021 census). Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation during the census period would be classified in the other occupation.

• The atypical nature of artists’ workflows can make it challenging for official statistics to count artists as artists. As such, census estimates of the number of artists might be low. “Gig work” has been common among artists for a very long time. Internet sources even indicate that the term “gig” was coined by jazz musicians in the early 1900s. (Source examples here and here.)

Context: Provincial and Canadian data

According to census data, there are 5,200 professional artists in Manitoba, representing 0.7% of the province’s 727,100 workers. Presented differently, this means that 1 in every 140 workers in the province is an artist. A full article on Manitoba artists and cultural workers is available here.

Across Canada, there are 202,900 professional artists, representing 1.0% of the Canadian labour force. In other words, 1 in every 102 Canadian workers is an artist. A summary analysis of all Canadian artists is available here.

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74% of Manitoba’s artists reside in the Winnipeg region

The Winnipeg Capital Region, which includes the City of Winnipeg and the RM of Headingley, is home to 3,800 artists, or 74% of all artists in Manitoba. Artists represent 0.9% of all workers in the Capital Region, or 1 in every 112 workers. The Capital Region’s proportion of each artist occupation is provided in the next section.

The 1,400 artists in other regions of the province (26% of the provincial total) are distributed as follows:

• 420 in the Eastman Region, which represents 0.6% of all local workers (or 1 in every 162 local workers).

• 310 in the Westman Region, representing 0.5% of all local workers (or 1 in every 211 local workers).

• 270 in the Interlake Region, which represents 0.5% of all local workers (or 1 in every 188 local workers).

• 180 in the Pembina Valley Region, representing 0.5% of all local workers (or 1 in every 189 local workers).

• 80 in the Central Plains Region, which represents 0.3% of all local workers (or 1 in every 333 local workers).

• 70 in the Northern Region, representing 0.2% of all local workers (or 1 in every 468 local workers).

• Fewer than 40 in the Parkland Region. Any estimates below 40 are not considered reliable.

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Artists by occupation

Because of relatively small numbers in most regions of the province, only a simplified analysis of each artist occupation (i.e., inside / outside the Winnipeg Capital Region) is provided here.

Among the 10 artist occupations, artisans and craftspeople are least likely to reside in Winnipeg: 55% reside in Winnipeg, and 45% reside outside of the Capital Region. The three artist occupation groups that are most likely to reside in Winnipeg are producers, directors, and choreographers (87%); actors, comedians, and circus performers (85%); as well as writers (84%). For each artist occupation, the percentages residing in Winnipeg are:

• 55% of the 600 artisans and craftspeople in Manitoba

• 63% of the 420 dancers

• 67% of the 550 photographers

• 69% of the 80 conductors, composers, and arrangers

• 70% of the 1,200 musicians

• 76% of the 420 painters, sculptors, and other visual artists

• 80% of the 150 other performers (including DJs, puppeteers, buskers, face painters, and models)

• 84% of the 560 writers

• 85% of the 490 actors, comedians, and circus performers

• 87% of the 750 producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations

Demographic similarities and differences by region

Three important characteristics of artists in Manitoba are the high proportion of women (56%, much higher than the 47% of all Manitoba workers), very high educational achievement (40% with a bachelor’s degree or higher, much higher than the 27% of all Manitoba workers), and an extremely high self-employment rate (63%, more than five times higher than the 12% of all Manitoba workers).

As shown in the following graphs, each of these characteristics vary by region of the province, which might be at least partly due to the prevalence of different artist occupations.

The first graph shows that three-quarters of artists in the Interlake Region are women, much higher than the Manitoba average (56%). The Winnipeg Capital Region has the lowest proportion of women artists (53%).

The second graph shows that the Winnipeg Capital Region has the highest percentage of artists with at least a bachelor’s degree (44%), followed closely by the Westman Region (43%). The other three regions with reliable data have much lower proportions of artists with a bachelor’s degree.

As shown in the third graph, roughly three-quarters of professional artists in the Pembina Valley Region (78%) and the Central Plains Region (73%) are self-employed. The self-employment rates are much lower in the Winnipeg Capital Region (62%) and the Westman Region (57%).

Cultural workers by region of Manitoba

In Manitoba, there are 23,900 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations, representing 3.3% of the province’s overall labour force, below the national average of 4.4%, One in every 30 workers in Manitoba has a cultural occupation.

The 52 occupation groups categorized as “workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations” (or simply “cultural workers”) include the 10 artist occupation groups, other cultural occupations (e.g., graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations), as well as heritage occupations (e.g., librarians, curators, and archivists).

The number of cultural workers in each region of the province is:

• 17,700 in the Winnipeg Capital Region, representing 4.1% of all local workers (or 1 in every 24 local workers). The Winnipeg Capital Region is home to 74% of the province’s cultural workers, equal to the Region’s share of artists.

• 1,700 in the Eastman Region, which represents 2.4% of all local workers (or 1 in every 41 local workers).

• 1,200 in the Westman Region, representing 1.9% of all local workers (or 1 in every 54 local workers).

• 1,200 in the Interlake Region, which represents 2.2% of all local workers (or 1 in every 45 local workers).

• 930 in the Pembina Valley Region, representing 2.6% of all local workers (or 1 in every 38 local workers).

• 470 in the Northern Region, which represents 1.4% of all local workers (or 1 in every 70 local workers).

• 420 in the Central Plains Region, representing 1.7% of all local workers (or 1 in every 59 local workers).

• 340 in the Parkland Region, which represents 1.6% of all local workers (or 1 in every 61 local workers).

Notes on methods

The analysis relates to professional workers, but with a very specific concept of professional. The census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation between January of 2020 and May of 2021. Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation in May of 2021 would be classified in the other occupation. (The same would be true of workers in all occupations in the arts, culture, and heritage.)

The occupational perspective counts people who work across the economy, as long as they are classified into one of 10 artist occupation groups, 5 arts leadership occupation groups, or 52 cultural occupation groups. Details about the occupation groups included in each of the categories is available in a separate article, which also outlined the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups. Another article highlighted some strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers.

The challenging context of the pandemic in the spring of 2021 is important to keep in mind when interpreting census data on artists, which were collected in May of 2021.

The article is made possible with the support of the Corporation of the County of Prince Edward. Hill Strategies Research retained editorial control of the content.

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Provincial and national context, plus key definitions

The 81,800 professional artists who reside in Ontario account for 40% of the 202,900 artists in Canada. As a percentage of the overall labour force, artists represent 1.0% in both Ontario and Canada. A finer analysis shows that 1 in every 96 Ontario workers and every 102 Canadian workers is an artist. (Articles related to Ontario artists and Canadian artists are available.)

56,200 Canadians, including 23,000 Ontarians, work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders. Ontario accounts for 41% of Canada’s arts leaders, slightly higher than the province’s share of all workers (38%). Readers should note that the number of arts leadership workers should not be added to the number of cultural workers or the number of artists. This is because the arts leadership occupations are already included as cultural workers, and two leadership occupations are also included as artists.

The broadest analysis relates to the 370,000 Ontarians and 914,000 Canadians who work in arts, culture, and heritage occupations. These workers represent 4.7% of Ontario’s labour force and 4.4% of the Canadian labour force. One in every 21 Ontario workers and every 23 Canadian workers has a cultural occupation.

The 52 occupation groups in this category include the 10 artist occupation groups as well as the 5 arts leadership occupation groups, other cultural occupations (e.g., graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations), and heritage occupations (e.g., librarians, curators, and archivists).

Further information about each of the categories is available, as are the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups. Contextual information about the strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers is also available.

Census data relate to a very specific definition of professional workers: people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation between January of 2020 and May of 2021. Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation in May of 2021 would be classified in the other occupation. (The same would be true of workers in arts leadership occupations and all cultural occupations.)

The prevalence of “gig work” and the often-atypical nature of artists’ workflows can make it challenging for official statistics to count artists as artists. As such, census estimates of the number of artists might be low.

The County has a very high concentration of professional artists

The 300 professional artists in Prince Edward County account for 2.3% of the County’s labour force, more than double the provincial and national averages (both 1.0%). The concentration of artists in Prince Edward County is tied with Stratford and Niagara-on-the-Lake, the locations of two large theatre festivals, for the highest such percentage in Ontario and is tied for the seventh highest among Canadian municipalities.

In Prince Edward County, 1 in every 43 workers is a professional artist, compared with the provincial average of 1 in every 96 workers.

In the census, artists would have to spend more time as artists than in any other occupation to be classified into an artist occupation group. More specifically, occupational data from the census are based on the number of people who worked more hours in an occupation than in any other between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more in that occupation than any other between January of 2020 and May of 2021. People are counted in the location of their residence, which is not always the same as their work location.

To ensure confidentiality and data reliability, no estimates of fewer than 40 people are presented in this article. With 300 professional artists in the County, only three of the 10 artist occupation groups have more than 40 workers:

• 70 painters, sculptors & other visual artists

• 60 producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations

• 50 writers

There are fewer than 40 artists in Prince Edward County in seven other occupation groups: actors, comedians & circus performers; conductors, composers & arrangers; craftspeople; dancers; musicians; other performers; and photographers.

Demographic and employment characteristics of artists in Prince Edward County

Among the 300 artists in Prince Edward County:

• 86% are self-employed, more than three times higher than the self-employment rate of all workers in the County (25%) and much higher than the rate among all Ontario artists (69%).

• 61% are women (including some non-binary people), higher than the proportions of all workers in Prince Edward County (49%) and all Ontario artists (53%).

• 41% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, much higher than the percentage of all workers in the County (25%) but lower than that of all Ontario artists (48%).

• 25% have a child at home, lower than the percentages of all workers in the County (35%) and all Ontario artists (30%).

• 20% are immigrants to Canada, much higher than the proportion of all workers in the County (7%) but lower than that of all Ontario artists (25%).

• 61% are 55 years of age or older, much higher than the percentages of all workers in the County (39%) and all Ontario artists (28%).

• There are fewer than 40 local artists who are Indigenous or members of a racialized group, and the data for them are not presented here for confidentiality and reliability reasons.

Professional artists in Prince Edward County had very low median incomes in 2020

The following statistics and graph relate to median personal income, which includes all sources of income for individuals, such as employment income, net revenue from self-employment, pandemic supports, rental income, investment income, and others.

As shown in the graph, the median personal income of artists in Prince Edward County (from all sources) was $33,200 in 2020, 30% lower than that of all workers in the County ($47,600).

However, the median personal income of artists in the County is somewhat higher than the province-wide median ($29,600), and the income gap relative to other workers is lower in the County (-30%) than in the province as a whole (-41%).

Significant financial sacrifices

Two other income statistics confirm that Prince Edward County’s artists make significant financial sacrifices to practise their craft, especially in 2020, when the median employment income of the County’s artists was just $8,900. This is roughly one-quarter of the median employment income of all workers in the County ($36,400). The median employment income of artists in the County is below the provincial median ($11,200). In addition, artists in Prince Edward County have median household incomes ($82,000) that are 26% lower than other workers in the County ($111,000). The median household income of artists in the County is below the median of all Ontario artists ($92,000).

Prince Edward County has a very high concentration of cultural workers

The 830 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in Prince Edward County account for 6.6% of the 12,600 people in the local labour force, a percentage that is much higher than both the provincial average (4.7%) and the national average (4.4%). One in every 15 workers in the County has a cultural occupation.

The median income statistics for cultural workers in Prince Edward County in 2020 are:

• Employment income of $24,000, 34% lower than the median for all workers in the County ($36,400)

• Total personal income of $41,600, 13% less than all workers in the County ($47,600)

• Household income of $95,000, 14% less than all workers in the County ($111,000)

100 arts leaders reside in Prince Edward County

The County is home to 100 workers in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders, many of whom have the highest-paying arts profession: producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations (of which there are 60 who reside in Prince Edward County). This occupation group, along with conductors, composers & arrangers, is counted both as artists and arts leaders.

To ensure confidentiality and data reliability, no estimates of fewer than 40 people are presented in this article. There are fewer than 40 workers in the County in the other four occupation groups captured as arts leaders: conductors, composers & arrangers; library, archive, museum, and art gallery managers; managers in publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting, and performing arts; and conservators and curators.

In keeping with their senior positions within the cultural sector as well as the strong concentration of producers, directors, and choreographers, arts leaders in Prince Edward County tend to have relatively high median incomes:

• Employment income of $53,200, similar to the provincial median of $51,200 (but much higher than the median for all workers in the County: $36,400)

• Total personal income of $64,000, higher than the provincial median of $57,600 (and much higher than the median for all workers in the County: $47,600)

• Household income of $154,000, higher than the provincial median of $120,000 (and much higher than the median for all workers in the County: $111,000)

As noted above, people are enumerated in the location of their residence, which is not always the same as their work location.

Help sustain Statistical insights!

The article is made possible with the support of the West Kootenay Arts Council. An analysis of artists in neighbouring areas (the Columbia Basin, including the Regional District of Central Kootenay and the Regional District of East Kootenay) was prepared in 2023. Hill Strategies Research retained editorial control of the content.

Provincial and national context, plus key definitions

There are 39,700 professional artists who reside in B.C., representing 20% of the 202,900 artists in Canada. As a percentage of the overall labour force, artists account for 1.4% in B.C., the highest percentage among the provinces and well above the national average (1.0%). In B.C., one in every 72 workers is an artist, compared with one in every 102 Canadian workers. (Articles related to B.C. artists and Canadian artists are available. The Canadian post provides a list of the 10 artist occupation groups.)

56,200 Canadians, including 10,100 British Columbians, work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders. B.C. accounts for 18% of Canada’s arts leaders, higher than the province’s share of all workers (14%). For more information on the occupation groups included as arts leaders, please see this Canada-wide article. Two of the arts leadership occupations (those including conductors and composers as well as producers, directors, and choreographers) are also included as artists. As such, the number of arts leadership workers should not be added to the number of artists in any jurisdiction.

The broadest analysis relates to the 154,800 British Columbians and 914,000 Canadians who work in arts, culture, and heritage occupations. These workers represent 5.4% of B.C.’s labour force, the highest proportion among the provinces and well above the national average of 4.4%. One in every 18 B.C. workers and every 23 Canadian workers has a cultural occupation.

The 52 occupation groups in this category include the 10 artist occupation groups as well as the 5 arts leadership occupation groups, other cultural occupations (e.g., graphic designers, print operators, editors, translators, architects, and professionals in fundraising, advertising, marketing, and public relations), and heritage occupations (e.g., librarians, curators, and archivists).

Further information about each of the categories is available, as are the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups. Contextual information about the strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers is also available.

Census data relate to a very specific definition of professional workers: people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation between January of 2020 and May of 2021. Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation in May of 2021 would be classified in the other occupation. (The same would be true of workers in arts leadership occupations and all cultural occupations.)

The prevalence of “gig work” and the often-atypical nature of artists’ workflows can make it challenging for official statistics to count artists as artists. As such, census estimates of the number of artists might be low.

120 professional artists in Kootenay Boundary

There are 120 professional artists in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (hereafter “Kootenay Boundary”). Artists represent 1.0% of all workers in Kootenay Boundary, which is equal to the national average (1.0%) but below the provincial average (1.4%). Examined differently, these statistics mean that 1 in every 93 workers in Kootenay Boundary is a professional artist.

In comparison, there are 870 professional artists in the Columbia Basin, which is adjacent to Kootenay Boundary. The Columbia Basin total includes 570 artists in the Regional District of Central Kootenay and 250 in the Regional District of East Kootenay. In these jurisdictions, artists represent:

• 1.1% of the Columbia Basin’s overall labour force (equivalent to 1 in every 93 workers in the Columbia Basin)

• 1.7% of the overall labour force in Central Kootenay (1 in every 59 workers)

• 0.7% of the overall labour force in East Kootenay (1 in every 152 workers)

Demographic and employment characteristics of artists in Kootenay Boundary

Among the 120 artists in Kootenay Boundary:

• 83% are self-employed, many times higher than the self-employment rate of all workers in Kootenay Boundary (18%) and much higher than the rate among all B.C. artists (72%).

• 42% are women (potentially including some non-binary individuals), lower than the percentage of all workers in Kootenay Boundary (47%) and much lower than all B.C. artists (55%).

• 38% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, almost twice the proportion of all workers in Kootenay Boundary (20%) but similar to that of all B.C. artists (43%).

• To ensure confidentiality and data reliability, no estimates of fewer than 40 people are presented in this article. There are fewer than 40 artists in many other demographic categories, and the data for them are not presented here. This includes the number of local artists who are Indigenous, members of a racialized group, immigrants to Canada, or in different age ranges.

Professional artists in Kootenay Boundary had very low median incomes in 2020

The following statistics and graph relate to median personal income, which includes all sources of income for individuals, such as employment income, net revenue from self-employment, pandemic supports, rental income, investment income, and others.

As shown in the graph, the median personal income of artists in Kootenay Boundary is $24,800, which is 48% less than the median of all local workers ($48,000).

In comparison, the median personal income of the roughly 40,000 professional artists in all of B.C. is $29,400, which is 40% less than the median of all workers in the province ($49,200).

Artists in Kootenay Boundary make significant financial sacrifices to practise their craft

This section provides two other measurements of the incomes of artists and all workers in Kootenay Boundary. Employment income shows the work-related earnings (including net self-employment income), and household income provides a measure of workers’ family situations.

These statistics indicate that Kootenay Boundary’s artists make significant financial sacrifices to practise their craft, especially in 2020, when the median employment income of artists was only $10,000, which is roughly one-quarter of the median in the local labour force ($38,400). This has an impact on artists' median personal income (48% lower than the overall labour force, as noted above) and on their total household income ($75,000, or 32% lower than the median of $110,000 in the local labour force).

No reliable data on the individual occupations of professional artists

As noted above, 40 people is the threshold of confidentiality and reliability for census counts. With 120 artists distributed among 10 occupation groups, the counts for each occupation group are not reliable for Kootenay Boundary.

50 arts leaders reside in Kootenay Boundary

Fifty Kootenay Boundary residents work in the five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders. A breakdown by occupation is not possible, because there are fewer than 40 workers in each of the five occupation groups:

• Library, archive, museum, and art gallery managers

• Managers in publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting, and performing arts

• Producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations

• Conductors, composers, and arrangers

• Conservators and curators

In keeping with their senior positions, arts leaders in Canada tend to have relatively high incomes. However, this is not the case in Kootenay Boundary. In 2020, a typical arts leader in Kootenay Boundary had:

• Employment income of just $14,300, 63% less than all Kootenay Boundary workers ($38,400)

• Total personal income of $39,200, 18% less than all workers in Kootenay Boundary ($48,000)

• Household income of $120,000, slightly higher (by 9%) than all local workers ($110,000)

Over 400 cultural workers in Kootenay Boundary

There are 430 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in Kootenay Boundary, representing 2.6% of the 16,900 people in the local labour force, well below the provincial average (5.4%) and the national average (4.4%). One in every 39 workers in Kootenay Boundary has a cultural occupation.

In 2020, a typical cultural worker in Kootenay Boundary had:

• Employment income of $17,600, 54% less than all Kootenay Boundary workers ($38,400)

• Total personal income of $32,800, 32% less than all local workers ($48,000)

• Household income of $105,000, slightly lower (by 5%) than all workers in Kootenay Boundary ($110,000)

Two weeks ago, I showed that artists who are immigrants to Canada have relatively low incomes. In that post, covering only nationwide data, I examined the differences between racialized and non-racialized immigrants.

Last week, I examined the representation of immigrants among artists, arts leaders, and all cultural workers in each province and in the three territories.

Today, I analyze provincial and regional data on the median incomes of immigrant artists, including differences between racialized and non-racialized immigrants.

Because of concerns over data reliability, differences between racialized and non-racialized immigrants are not examined in two Atlantic provinces (Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador) or in the territories.

Sponsors: Please let me know if an intersectional analysis of immigration, racialization, gender, and education is something that you would like me to pursue for your jurisdiction. I believe that there might be some interesting findings there.

Other notes regarding methods are provided at the end of this post.

Incomes of immigrant artists in each province and in the territories

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Today, I analyze provincial and territorial data on the number and percentage of immigrants in the same groupings of occupations (professional artists, arts leaders, workers in cultural occupations, and all workers), based on data from the 2021 census.

Next week, I will examine similarities and differences in income statistics for immigrants and non-immigrants in each province and in the territories.

Notes regarding methods are provided at the end of this post.

Representation of immigrant artists by province and region

As shown in the following graph, immigrants to Canada account for the largest proportion of all artists in British Columbia (28%) and Ontario (25%), followed by the Prairies (15%), Quebec (also 15%), the Atlantic provinces (11%), and the three territories (8%).

However, compared with the overall labour force, the graph shows that the Atlantic provinces have a relatively high proportion of immigrant artists (11% of artists vs. 7% of all workers). In every other province or region, the proportion of artists who are immigrants is below the equivalent percentage in the overall labour force.

The rest of today’s (very long) article contains an analysis of the number and proportion of immigrant workers in each province (not just by region, as above) and in the three territories (as a group, due to concerns over data reliability in each territory).

Statistics for four groupings of occupations are presented: professional artists, arts leaders, all workers in cultural occupations, and all workers.

Details of immigrant artists, arts leaders, and cultural workers in each province and in the three territories

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Today’s post analyses the median incomes of immigrant Canadians within four broad groupings of occupations: artists, arts leaders, workers in cultural occupations, and all workers in the country. The post is intended as a high-level summary of the situation of immigrant artists, arts leaders, and cultural workers, including differences between racialized and non-racialized immigrants (but not other differences within the diversity of immigrants in Canada).

Income statistics are examined for artists as a group, arts leaders as a group, and all cultural workers as a group – not for individual occupation categories (e.g., craftspeople, actors, curators, arts managers, etc.). The income statistics from the 2021 census relate to 2020, a year with many pandemic lockdowns and slowdowns in artistic activity. For clarity, I focus on one income statistic: median personal income, which includes all sources of income, including (for example) employment income and pandemic supports. Other notes regarding methods are provided at the end of this post.

Last week, I noted that that the representation of immigrant Canadians is lower among arts leaders (18%) and artists (21%) than among cultural workers (23%) and all workers (25%).

Next week, I’ll analyze provincial statistics on immigrant workers in the arts, culture, and heritage.

Context: immigrant workers have lower incomes in the overall labour force

Among all Canadian workers, immigrants have a median income ($48,000) that is 6% lower than non-immigrants ($51,200).

In these income statistics, whether someone is racialized appears to play a stronger role than whether someone is an immigrant. The following graph shows that immigrant workers have similar incomes to non-immigrants, when examined in conjunction with racialization:

• Non-racialized non-immigrant workers have a median income of $52,000.

• Non-racialized immigrant workers have a median income of $52,400, similar to non-racialized non-immigrant workers.

• Racialized non-immigrant workers have a median income of $39,200, 25% lower than non-racialized non-immigrant workers.

• Racialized immigrant workers have a median income of $42,800, 18% lower than non-racialized non-immigrant workers (but slightly higher than racialized non-immigrant workers).

Analysis of artists, arts leaders, and all cultural workers

The remainder of this post analyses the median incomes of immigrant and non-immigrant artists, arts leaders, and workers in cultural occupations, with comparisons between racialized and non-racialized people in these positions.

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I thought, hmm, I have the data to analyze that! So here we are.

Today’s post examines the number and representation of immigrants to Canada within four broad groupings of occupations, based on data that I commissioned from the 2021 census: professional artists, arts leaders, workers in cultural occupations, and all Canadian workers. The post examines differences between racialized and non-racialized immigrants, differences by period of immigration, and differences between immigrants and second- and third-generation Canadians. A quick summary of immigrants by artist occupation is also provided.

The post does not include an analysis of the incomes of immigrant workers, which I am planning for next week. I am also planning a post with provincial and territorial analyses, likely in two weeks.

Note that people with permanent resident status are excluded from these statistics. Other notes regarding methods are provided at the end of this post.

Just over one-fifth of professional artists in Canada are (first-generation) immigrants

The following graph shows that immigrant workers are under-represented in the arts, culture, and heritage, especially in arts leadership positions. Canada is home to:

• 43,000 immigrant artists, representing 21% of the country’s 202,900 artists.

• 10,300 arts leaders, or 18% of all 56,200 arts leaders.

• 213,200 workers in cultural occupations, or 23% of all 914,000 cultural workers.

As a benchmark, the 5.3 million immigrant workers in Canada represent 25% of all workers.

Racialized and non-racialized immigrants

There are substantial differences in the propensity and opportunity to be a professional artist between racialized and non-racialized immigrants, compared with the percentage of all workers in the same groups.

Overall, 0.8% of immigrants are artists (compared with 1.1% of non-immigrants). As shown in the graph below:

• Only 0.6% of racialized immigrants are professional artists.

• 1.5% of non-racialized immigrants are professional artists.

• In comparison, 1.3% of racialized non-immigrants are professional artists, as are 1.0% of non-racialized non-immigrants.

For context, exactly one-half of all immigrant artists are racialized, compared with just 9% of non-immigrant artists.

Immigrant artists by period of immigration

This section examines the similarities and differences in the propensity and opportunity to become a professional artist based on when someone immigrated.

The graph below shows that there are slight differences by period of generation:

• Among the most recent immigrants to Canada (between 2016 and May of 2021), 0.8% are professional artists.

• 0.7% of people who immigrated to Canada between 2011 and 2015 are professional artists.

• Similarly, 0.7% of people who immigrated to Canada between 2001 and 2010 are professional artists.

• The highest concentration of artists (1.0%) is among people who immigrated to Canada before 2001.

In comparison, 1.1% of Canadians who are not immigrants are artists.

Artists by generation of immigration

Are immigrants’ children (i.e., second-generation Canadians) or grandchildren (i.e., third-generation Canadians) more likely to become professional artists than the immigrants themselves? (Only first-generation immigrants were included in the above statistics.)

The answer to my question is yes, but with a twist. As shown in the graph below, 0.8% of immigrants to Canada are professional artists. The concentration of artists rises to 1.3% for second-generation Canadians but falls to 1.0% for third-or-more-generation Canadians.

Immigrant artists by occupation

As a percentage of all Canadians in 10 artist occupation groups, immigrants account for the highest percentage of visual artists (25% of all painters, sculptors, and other visual artists). As depicted in the graph below, immigrants represent the following percentages of workers in each artist occupation group:

• 25% of painters, sculptors, and other visual artists (5,400 immigrant artists)

• 24% of photographers (4,900 immigrant artists)

• 24% of musicians (8,900 immigrant artists)

• 22% of craftspeople (4,400 immigrant artists)

• 20% of conductors, composers, and arrangers (770 immigrant artists)

• 19% of other performers, a grouping that includes buskers, DJs, puppeteers, face painters, and many other occupations, but excludes actors, musicians, dancers, conductors, etc. (1,000 immigrant artists)

• 19% of actors, comedians, and circus performers (3,800 immigrant artists)

• 19% of writers (5,300 immigrant artists)

• 19% of producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations (6,800 immigrant artists)

• 17% of dancers (1,800 immigrant artists)

Overall, there are 43,000 immigrant artists in Canada, representing 21% of all artists.

Notes on methods

As with my other census analyses, this post relates to a very specific concept of professionals. Census data on occupations include people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus people who were not in the labour force at that time but had worked more as an artist than at another occupation between January of 2020 and May of 2021. Part-time artists who spent more time at another occupation in May of 2021 would be classified in the other occupation. (The same would be true of workers in arts leadership occupations and all cultural occupations.)

The occupational data in the census include people who work across the economy, as long as they are classified into one of 10 artist occupation groups, 5 arts leadership occupation groups, or 52 cultural occupation groups. Details about the occupation groups included in each of the categories is available in a Canada-wide article, which also outlined the methods behind choosing the 52 cultural occupation groups. Another article highlighted some strengths and limitations of the census for counting artists and cultural workers.

I have stated that I would “eventually work out appropriate comparisons to previous census years”. That eventuality is today – for Canada-wide data, at least.

Sponsors: I’d like to know if you are interested in an historical article as your custom post this year. As noted below, I have additional challenges at the municipal level, but I am starting to investigate the options now. (So far, it looks like data for Census Metropolitan Areas are easier to find than local municipalities.)

If you are not yet a sponsor but are interested in an historical analysis, please sign up below and choose the “Sponsor-shareable” option. I’ll be in touch when I get a notification of the sign-up.

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Complications

I have figured out an analysis of changes over time, comparing apples to apples. I should note that working through these issues regarding the number of artists is the relatively easy part. Working through data issues regarding artists’ incomes is even more challenging.

Today’s post covers changes in the number of artists, not changes in their incomes.

Here’s a brief list of what I needed to address:

• Changes in our definition of “artists”, specifically the inclusion of photographers in 2021. (They were excluded from my previous counts of artists.)

• Changes in Statistics Canada’s occupation groupings. Most (but not all) of the changes have been between occupation groups that are both included as artists, rather than between artist and non-artist occupation groups. Plus, there is the new wrinkle of a separate occupation group for “technical writers” (not considered artists) in 2021.

• Slightly different definitions of who is counted as a worker (including artists) in different datasets. This challenge even holds for one census year, where some datasets exclude people who were either unemployed or out of the labour force in May but had worked at some point in the previous 16 months. Most of my analyses so far have included those workers, despite their non-working status in May of 2021.

• Changes in census methods, particularly the outlier year of 2011, when the National Household Survey was a voluntary survey of 30% of all households, rather than the mandatory long form census of 20% of households (through 2006) or 25% of households (2016 and 2021). The response rate in 2011 was just 69%, compared with a typical response rate above 95%.

I’ve written about some of these changes in more detail, especially here, here, and here.

Regarding local data and demographic breakdowns, there are additional complications due to the relative lack of readily available census data. Often, the datasets that are publicly available do not offer the most detailed level of occupational data, which is the level required to count artist occupation groups. Some datasets cover, at best, metropolitan areas (not cities per se) and only have limited demographic breakdowns. Without multiple dataset options, it is much tougher to work around the above-noted “apples and oranges” challenges. My own requests have been the most consistent source of local information, but even those have changed over time, and they have not always covered the same definition of local communities or the same demographic categories.

Huge growth in the number of artists since 1991

There are 75% more artists in the labour force than 30 years ago, compared with 33% growth in the overall labour force.

In 2021, there were 202,800 professional artists in Canada, compared with 116,200 in 1991.

Today’s first graph shows that, if the growth in professional artists had been the same as the overall labour force since 1991, there would be almost 50,000 fewer artists in Canada in 2021 (154,600 instead of 202,800).

Note that I am not considering the count of artists in 2011 to be comparable to other years because of the different methods of the (voluntary) National Household Survey in that year. For graphing purposes, I have imputed an estimate for 2011, which is the mid-point between the 2006 and 2016 estimates.

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