2,600 cultural workers in PEI, including more than 600 professional artists

Many craftspeople and musicians reside on the Island

Apr 30, 2024

Using custom data that Hill Strategies requested from Statistics Canada’s 2021 long-form census, this article provides an analysis of the demographics, employment characteristics, and incomes of artists and other cultural workers who reside in Prince Edward Island.

This article is made possible with the support of Creative PEI. Hill Strategies Research retained editorial control of the content.

Census data indicate that there are 2,600 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in PEI, including 640 professional artists and 160 people who work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders.

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The 2,600 cultural workers represent 2.9% of all 90,300 workers in the province, well below the national average of 4.4%. One in every 35 workers in the province has a cultural occupation.

The 640 professional artists account for 0.7% of all workers in the province, which is also below the national average (1.0%). One in every 141 workers in the province is an artist.

PEI’s 640 artists include many craftspeople (130, or 20% of the Island’s artists) and musicians (also 130 and 20%). These two occupation groups are followed closely by writers (110, or 17%), producers, directors, choreographers & related occupations (70, or 10%) as well as painters, sculptors & other visual artists (also 70, or 10%). There are 50 photographers (9%) and 40 dancers (6%) who reside on the Island.

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 PEI in three occupation groups: actors, comedians & circus performers; conductors, composers & arrangers; and other performers.

For arts leaders, the largest occupation group is producers, directors, and choreographers (70 workers, who are also classified as artists). There are fewer than 40 arts leaders in the other four leadership occupation groups. As such, the occupation-specific statistics cannot be considered reliable for: managers in publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting & performing arts; library, archive, museum & art gallery managers; conductors, composers & arrangers; as well as conservators & curators.

Graphic of key facts about the 640 professional artists in PEI. Nearly 6 in 10 are women. 6 in 10 reside in towns and rural areas (i.e., outside of Charlottetown). Median personal income of $30,000 is 31% lower than other PEI workers. Source: Hill Strategies analysis of 2021 census data at http://www.statsinsights.ca.

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.

Context: Canada-wide data on artists, arts leaders, and all cultural workers

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.)

56,200 Canadians work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders. Readers should note that all arts leadership occupations are included as cultural workers, and two occupations (conductors / composers and producers / directors / choreographers) are also included as artists. As such, the number of arts leadership workers should not be added to the number of cultural workers or artists.

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

Artists in PEI had very low incomes in 2020

Income data from the census relate to the 2020 calendar year, which included many pandemic related restrictions and significant slowdowns in artistic activity. Because of the challenging context of the pandemic, 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 depicts the differences in the median personal incomes of artists and all workers in PEI and Canada. The median personal income of PEI artists (from all sources) was $30,000 in 2020, which is 31% lower than that of all PEI workers ($43,600) but similar to the median of all Canadian artists ($30,200). The 31% difference between artists and other workers in PEI is lower than the national average of 39%, largely due to the fact that workers in PEI have a lower median income than all Canadian workers.

At $30,000, the median personal income of PEI artists is 15% below the living wage in Charlottetown in 2020 ($35,126). (A living wage is not available for other areas of the Island.) Because the median captures the point at which one-half of workers earn less and the other half earn more, this means that over one-half of PEI’s artists have incomes below the living wage.

Bar graph of Median personal incomes of professional artists and all workers in PEI and Canada, 2020. All workers in Canada, $49600. All workers in PEI, $43600. Canadian artists, $30200. PEI artists, $30000. Note: Personal incomes include all sources for an individual during the 2020 calendar year. Source: 2021 census, custom data request by Hill Strategies.

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 PEI artists was just $7,400 in 2020, which is about one-fifth of the median employment income of all PEI workers ($33,200). The median employment income of artists in the province is well below the median of all Canadian artists ($11,700).

Household income provides a measure of the family situation of artists. Some Island artists (but certainly not all) appear to rely on the support of family members to help them make ends meet. In 2020, the median household income of artists was $81,000, 21% lower than that of all workers in PEI ($102,000) and 13% lower than the median of all Canadian artists ($93,000).

For 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 PEI’s artists

Women represent a higher proportion of artists in PEI than in any other province except Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Among artists in PEI:

58% are women (including some non-binary people), higher than the proportions of all PEI workers (49%) and all Canadian artists (54%).
69% are self-employed, more than five times higher than the percentage of all PEI workers (13%) but similar to that of all Canadian artists (68%).
44% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, close to double the percentage among all PEI workers (25%) but similar to that of all Canadian artists (45%).
42% are 55 years of age or older, much higher than the proportions of all PEI workers (28%) and all Canadian artists (28%).
41% reside in Charlottetown and the other 59% reside in the province’s towns and rural areas. The proportion in towns and rural areas is the highest in the country.
29% have a child at home, lower than the percentage of all PEI workers (38%) but similar to that of all Canadian artists (31%).
10% are immigrants to Canada, similar to the percentage of all PEI workers (8%) but much lower than that of all Canadian artists (21%).
9% are members of racialized groups, similar to the percentage of all PEI workers (11%) but much lower than that of all Canadian artists (19%).
8% are French speakers (i.e., official language minority), higher than the percentage of all PEI workers (5%) but slightly lower than official language minority speakers’ proportion of all Canadian artists (11%).

For the first time, the 2021 census collected information on transgender and non-binary residents. For artists, this information is only available for the four Atlantic provinces as a group. In the Atlantic region, there are about 60 transgender and 110 non-binary artists. Combined, trans and non-binary artists represent 1.6% of all Atlantic artists, higher than the national average of 1.2%. More information about the strengths and limitations of these gender statistics is available here.

59% of PEI’s professional artists reside in towns and rural areas, the highest such proportion in the country.

Cultural workers in PEI earn less than other workers in the province

The median personal income of PEI cultural workers (from all sources) was $41,600 in 2020, which is 5% lower than the median of all PEI workers ($43,600) and 10% below that of all Canadian cultural workers ($46,400). The following graph compares the median personal incomes of cultural workers and all workers in PEI and Canada.

Bar graph of Median personal incomes of cultural workers and all workers in PEI and Canada, 2020.All workers in Canada, $49600. All workers in PEI, $43600. Canadian cultural workers, $46400. PEI cultural workers, $41600. Note: Personal incomes include all sources for an individual during the 2020 calendar year. Source: 2021 census, custom data request by Hill Strategies.

While their incomes are lower than those of other workers in the province, most cultural workers do earn more than the living wage in Charlottetown in 2020 ($35,126). (A living wage is not available for other areas of the Island.)

The median employment income of PEI cultural workers was $30,600 in 2020, which is 8% below that of all PEI workers ($33,200) and 20% below that of all cultural workers in Canada ($38,400).

In 2020, the median household income of PEI’s cultural workers was $95,000, or 7% less than that of all workers in PEI ($102,000) and 13% lower than that of all Canadian cultural workers ($105,000).

Most cultural workers reside in towns and rural areas

Key demographic and employment characteristics regarding PEI’s cultural workers include the following:

44% reside in Charlottetown and the other 56% reside in the province’s towns and rural areas. The proportion in towns and rural areas is tied with New Brunswick for the highest level in the country.
55% are women (including some non-binary people), higher than the proportions of all PEI workers (49%) but similar to the percentage of all Canadian cultural workers (54%).
43% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, much higher than the percentage among all PEI workers (25%) but lower than that of all Canadian cultural workers (48%).
34% have a child at home, lower than the percentage of all PEI workers (38%) but similar to that of all Canadian cultural workers (35%).
32% are 55 years of age or older, higher than the proportions of all PEI workers (28%) and all Canadian cultural workers (22%).
31% are self-employed, much higher than the percentage of all PEI workers (13%) but similar to that of all Canadian cultural workers (33%).
11% are immigrants to Canada, slightly above the percentage of all PEI workers (8%) but below that of all Canadian cultural workers (23%).
9% are members of racialized groups, similar to the percentage of all PEI workers (11%) but much lower than that of all Canadian cultural workers (23%).
7% are French speakers, similar to the percentage of all PEI workers (5%) but slightly lower than official language minority speakers’ proportion of all Canadian cultural workers (11%).
2.5% are Indigenous, similar to the percentages of all PEI workers (2.1%) and all Canadian cultural workers (3.0%).

The first-ever census statistics on transgender and non-binary residents show that there are 160 transgender and 390 non-binary cultural workers in the Atlantic provinces. Combined, the 550 trans and non-binary cultural workers represent 1.4% of all Atlantic cultural workers, which is much higher than higher than the percentage of trans and non-binary workers in the Atlantic provinces’ overall labour force (0.4%). Among cultural workers, the national average is 0.8%. More information about the strengths and limitations of these gender statistics is available here.