Government spending on culture in each province and territory in 2023-24

Analysis of spending on culture per capita and as a percentage of all government spending

Two weeks ago, I noted that Canadian governments at all levels spent $13 billion on culture in 2023-24, which represents 1.2% of total government spending.

Today, I’ll analyze per capita spending on culture by governments within each province, including provincial governments, municipal governments, and educational institutions, in 2023-24.

Separate data are not provided for each level of government within the provinces, and federal spending is not allocated by province. The data source and other important notes are included at the end of this post.

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Per capita spending on culture by governments

The $13 billion spent on culture by all levels of government across Canada in 2023-24 equals $323 per person. Because the dataset does not allocate federal government spending by province or territory, the provincial and territorial per capita statistics (below) are not comparable to the national total of $323.

Collectively, provinces, territories, municipalities, and educational institutions spent $7.6 billion on culture in 2023-24, representing 59% of all government spending on culture. The federal government spent $5.4 billion, or 41% of all government spending on culture.