Are Indigenous Peoples well represented among professional artists, arts leaders, and all cultural workers in Canada?

The 7,500 professional Indigenous artists represent almost 4% of all artists

Oct 31, 2023

Today’s post examines the number and representation of Indigenous Peoples within four broad groupings of occupations: professional artists, arts leaders, workers in cultural occupations, and all Canadian workers, based on data from the 2021 census.

The post does not include an analysis of the incomes of Indigenous artists, which I am planning to create and release in two weeks.

I recognize that 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 (and other workers). 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. I did not request separate data for off-reserve and on-reserve residents.

Analysis based on the census 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.)

In the census, Indigenous identity is based on self-identification as First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit. Details of the census questions and other notes regarding methods are provided at the end of this post.

Just under 4% of professional artists in Canada are Indigenous

The following graph shows that representation of Indigenous Peoples is lower among arts leaders (2.7%) and cultural workers (3.0%) than artists (3.7%), and slightly lower among artists than all workers (4.2%).

Indigenous workers in different types of cultural positions include:

7,500 artists (3.7% of Canada’s 202,900 artists).
1,500 arts leaders (2.7% of all 56,200 arts leaders).
27,300 workers in cultural occupations (3.0% of all 914,000 cultural workers)

In the overall labour force, 857,800 workers are Indigenous, accounting for 4.2% of all workers in the country.

Bar graph of Indigenous Peoples as a percentage of artists, arts leaders, workers in cultural occupations, and all workers, Canada, 2021 census. All workers, 4.2%; Cultural occupations, 3%; Arts leaders, 2.7%; Artists, 3.7%. Note: The census counts people in the occupation in which they worked the most hours in early May, 2021. If they did not work that week, they are classified into the occupation of longest duration since January 1, 2020. Source: 2021 census, custom data request by Hill Strategies.

Craftspeople are the largest occupation group among Indigenous artists.

Indigenous artists by occupation

Artists who are classified as craftspeople (1,600) account for about one in every five Indigenous artists (21% of the 7,500 Indigenous artists). Musicians are the second-largest artist occupation group among Indigenous Peoples (1,100, or 15% of all Indigenous artists).

As a percentage of all Canadians in an artist occupation group, Indigenous craftspeople represent the highest percentage: 8.2% of all craftspeople in Canada. As depicted in the graph below, the percentage of artists in specific occupation groups who are Indigenous includes:

8.2% of craftspeople (1,600 Indigenous artists)
4.5% of painters, sculptors, and other visual artists (970 Indigenous artists)
4.4% of actors, comedians, and circus performers (850 Indigenous artists)
4.2% of other performers, a grouping that includes buskers, DJs, puppeteers, face painters, and many other occupations, but excludes actors, musicians, dancers, conductors, etc. (220 Indigenous artists)
3.4% of dancers (370 Indigenous artists)
3.0% of photographers (630 Indigenous artists)
2.9% of musicians (1,100 Indigenous artists)
2.6% of writers (710 Indigenous artists)
2.6% of producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations (920 Indigenous artists)
2.2% of conductors, composers, and arrangers (90 Indigenous artists)

Bar graph of Indigenous artists as a percentage of each artist occupation group, Canada, 2021 census. Conductors, composers & arrangers: 2.2%. Producers, directors & choreographers: 2.6%. Writers: 2.6%. Musicians: 2.9%. Photographers: 3%. Dancers: 3.4%. All artists (average): 3.7%. Other performers: 4.2%. Actors, comedians & circus performers: 4.4%. Painters, sculptors & other visual artists: 4.5%. Craftspeople: 8.2%. Note: The census counts people in the occupation in which they worked the most hours in early May, 2021. If they did not work that week, they are classified into the occupation of longest duration since January 1, 2020. Source: 2021 census, custom data request by Hill Strategies.

Indigenous artists by province and region

There are 2,000 Indigenous artists in each of two regions of the country: Ontario and the three Prairie provinces. In comparison, there are about 1,800 Indigenous artists in British Columbia, 910 in Quebec, 540 in the four Atlantic provinces, and 200 in the three territories.

As shown in the following graph, of all six regions, Indigenous artists account for the largest proportion of all artists in the territories (37%), followed by the Prairies (7.3%), the Atlantic provinces (5.1%), British Columbia (4.5%), Ontario (2.5%), and Quebec (2.1%).

Bar graph of Indigenous artists as a percentage of all artists by region, 2021 census. Quebec: 2.1%. Ontario: 2.5%. Canada: 3.7%. British Columbia: 4.5%. Atlantic: 5.1%. Prairies: 7.3%. Territories: 37%. Note: The census counts people in the occupation in which they worked the most hours in early May, 2021. If they did not work that week, they are classified into the occupation of longest duration since January 1, 2020. Source: 2021 census, custom data request by Hill Strategies.

Indigenous artists tend to be younger than other artists in Canada.

Demographic and employment characteristics of Indigenous artists

According to census data, among professional Indigenous artists:

56% are women (including some Two-Spirit, transgender, and non-binary people). This is higher than the proportions of all Indigenous workers (50%) and all Canadian artists (54%).
33% have a child at home, lower than the proportion of all Indigenous workers (39%) but similar to that of all Canadian artists (31%).
24% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, much higher than the percentage of all Indigenous workers (14%) but lower than that of all Canadian artists (45%).
41% are under 35 years of age, which is similar to the proportion of all Indigenous workers (42%) but higher than that of all Canadian artists (34%).
23% are 55 years of age or older, which is higher than the proportion of all Indigenous workers (20%) but lower than that of all Canadian artists (28%).
72% are self-employed, many times higher than the proportion of all Indigenous workers (10%) and somewhat higher than that of all Canadian artists (68%).
23% reside in rural areas, much lower than the percentage of all Indigenous workers (33%) but much higher than that of all Canadian artists (13%).
14% reside in areas with populations under 30,000 (but that are not considered rural), lower than the proportion of all Indigenous workers (21%) but higher than that of all Canadian artists (8%).
9% reside in cities with populations between 30,000 and 99,999, which is a bit lower than the percentage of all Indigenous workers (11%) but higher than that of all Canadian artists (6%).
54% reside in cities with populations over 100,000, much higher than the proportion of all Indigenous workers (35%) but much lower than that of all Canadian artists (74%).

Indigenous artists are less likely than other Canadian artists (but more likely than other Indigenous workers) to reside in larger urban areas.

Notes on methods and contextual information

For census data, Statistics Canada notes that “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.”

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. 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.

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

There are 202,900 professional artists who reside in Canada, representing 1.0% of the overall labour force. A finer analysis shows that 1 in every 102 Canadian workers is an artist. (A full article related to Canadian artists is available, including a list of the 10 artist occupation groups.)

56,200 Canadians work in five occupation groups that are classified as arts leaders. For more information on the occupation groups included as arts leaders, please see this Canada-wide article. 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.

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. 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).