Smaller metropolitan areas had the highest cultural workforce increase over the past dozen years (populations between 220,000 and 500,000)
Part 3 of my series: Local trends in the arts, culture, and heritage workforce between 2013 and 2025
Today I continue my series of articles analyzing local statistics on workers in arts, culture, heritage, and some sport occupations with a study of individual and group changes between 2013 and 2025 for 10 CMAs with populations between 220,000 and 500,000: Abbotsford-Mission, Barrie, Kelowna, Oshawa, Regina, Saskatoon, Sherbrooke, St. John’s, Victoria, and Windsor. For context, I’ll include an analysis of the Canada-wide change between 2013 and 2025.
Two weeks ago, I examined the trends for Canada, the 31 CMAs (as a group), and the 6 largest CMAs: Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, and Vancouver. Last week, I examined changes for 7 CMAs with populations between 500,000 and 1 million: Winnipeg, Quebec City, Hamilton, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, London, Halifax, and St. Catharines-Niagara.
Next week, I’ll examine the smallest CMAs, i.e., the 8 with populations under 200,000: Fredericton, Greater Sudbury, Guelph, Kingston, Moncton, Peterborough, Saint John, and Trois-Rivières.
These articles are based on publicly available occupation statistics from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As was the case in my other articles, I have created three-year averages to provide a higher level of statistical reliability and minimize the impact of unusual single year estimates in many CMAs. The data in this article labelled 2025 therefore represent the average for 2023-2025. The earliest data point (labelled 2013) is actually the average for 2011-2013.
Key things to know about the Labour Force Survey
In my opinion, data from the Labour Force Survey are useful but imperfect for analyzing the labour force in the arts, culture, and heritage. I outline many limitations at the end of this article and in even greater detail here.
Because of its relatively small sample size, the Labour Force Survey can only offer reliable local data for a broad category of arts, culture, heritage, and sports workers. The summary data relate to what Statistics Canada calls “occupations in the arts, culture, recreation, and sports, except management”. I will generally call this occupation category “arts, culture, heritage, and sport workers”. Details about the occupation groupings within this category are at the end of this article.
Most of the people in this category (roughly 75%) work in the arts, culture, and heritage (rather than sports and recreation). The category covers approximately 60% of all workers in the arts, culture, and heritage.
The data are available for CMAs, not for municipalities per se.
Given the Labour Force Survey’s limitations, the analysis that follows is relatively simple: I examine whether the number of workers in the selected occupation grouping has increased or decreased over 12 years or so.
26% increase for all of Canada
Between 2013 and 2025, there was a 26% increase in the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport in Canada (estimates of 510,000 in 2013 and 641,000 in 2025).
49% increase in the 10 CMAs, the highest increase among all CMA groups
3.3 million people, or 8% of Canada’s population, reside in the 10 CMAs that have populations between 220,000 and 500,000.
7% of all Canadian workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport (47,000 people) reside in these 10 CMAs, a percentage that is very close to the CMAs’ share of the population.
Between 2013 and 2025, the 49% increase in number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport in the 10 CMAs is the highest among the four groups of CMAs analyzed in this series of articles and is nearly double the Canadian average (26%). While the number of workers increased most years (except 2020 to 2022), a very large increase has occurred since 2022, as shown in the following graph. Collectively, in the 10 CMAs, there were 31,000 workers in this occupation grouping in 2013 and 47,000 in 2025.
All 10 CMAs saw increases in the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport, but 3 of the CMAs had increases that were below the national average (26%).
Details follow for each of the 10 CMAs, from largest to smallest.
Oshawa CMA
In the Oshawa Census Metropolitan Area (population of 493,000 in 2025), the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport increased by 66% between 2013 and 2025, the second highest increase among the 10 CMAs in today’s article. The estimates of the number of workers were 4,300 in 2013 and 7,100 in 2025.
Windsor CMA
Between 2013 and 2025, the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport in the Windsor CMA (population of 489,000 in 2025) remained relatively stable until the most recent year. There were 3,800 workers in this occupation grouping in 2013 and 4,500 in 2025, representing a 20% increase, below the national average of 26%.
Victoria CMA
In the Victoria CMA (population of 445,000 in 2025), the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport increased by 63% between 2013 and 2025, more than double the national average (26%). There were 6,100 workers in this occupation grouping in 2013 and 9,900 in 2025.
Saskatoon CMA
The number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport in the Saskatoon CMA (population of 378,000 in 2025) increased by 62% between 2013 and 2025, more than double the national average (26%). The largest increases have come since 2022. The estimates of workers in this occupation grouping were 3,000 in 2013 and 4,900 in 2025.
Regina CMA
In the Regina CMA (population of 291,000 in 2025), the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport has increased consistently, with the exception of pandemic induced decreases from 2020 to 2022. The estimate in 2025 (3,500) is 30% higher than the estimate in 2013 (2,700), slightly above the national average of 26%.
Kelowna CMA
In the Kelowna CMA (population of 255,000 in 2025), the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport increased by 60% between 2013 and 2025 (estimates of 2,700 workers in this occupation grouping in 2013 and 4,400 in 2025). The percentage change in Kelowna is more than double the national average (26%).
Barrie CMA
In the Barrie CMA (population of 252,000 in 2025), the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport increased between 2013 and 2019 but then decreased sharply during the pandemic. The rebound since 2023 has brought the estimate of workers in this occupation grouping to 3,200 in 2025, which is 17% higher than the estimate in 2013 (2,700).
Sherbrooke CMA
In the Sherbrooke CMA (population of 244,000 in 2025), the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport increased by 72% between 2013 and 2025, the highest increase among the 10 CMAs in today’s article and almost three times the Canadian average (26%). The estimates of the number of workers in this category were 2,200 in 2013 and 3,800 in 2025.
St. John’s CMA
Between 2013 and 2025, the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport in the St. John’s CMA (population of 243,000 in 2025) increased by 29%, slightly above the national average of 26%. There were 2,400 workers in this occupation grouping in 2013 and 3,100 in 2025, with all of the growth coming before 2016.
Abbotsford-Mission CMA
In the Abbotsford-Mission CMA (population of 224,000 in 2025), the number of workers in the arts, culture, heritage, and sport saw inconsistent changes. Thanks to a low estimate in 2013 (2,100 workers) and post-pandemic growth (to 2,400 in 2025), the increase was 16% over the whole timeframe, which is well below the national average of 26%.
Data sources and notes
Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0468-01. Employment characteristics by census metropolitan area, annual. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410046801
Population statistics are drawn from Statistics Canada. Table 17-10-0148-01. Population estimates, July 1, by census metropolitan area and census agglomeration, 2021 boundaries, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710014801
Why analyze the Labour Force Survey?
I’ve analyzed this dataset (now), rather than the census (which has a much larger sample size) because of timeliness and easy availability. The strength of the Labour Force Survey is its frequency. It is conducted monthly, but the local cultural estimates would not be reliable on a monthly basis, particularly for areas with smaller populations. To counter this limitation, my analysis focuses on three-year averages (not annual or monthly data). When multiplied by 12 for each year, then by 3 for the three-year averages, the sample sizes become more interesting.
The Labour Force Survey data can show us trends that the census, conducted only every five years, cannot. In addition, occupation data from the census is published roughly a year and a half after the census is conducted. We will probably be waiting until late 2027 for labour force data from the census in May of 2026.
Occupational categories
The data in this article relate to what Statistics Canada calls “occupations in the arts, culture, recreation, and sports, except management”. Most of the people in this category are cultural workers: I have estimated that roughly 75% to 80% of people in this broad occupation grouping work in the arts, culture, and heritage. And the category covers most (but certainly not all) cultural workers: I have estimated that the workers in this broad occupation grouping account for roughly 60% of all workers in the arts, culture, and heritage. (Further details, including a thorough discussion of LFS limitations, is available here.)
Within this broad occupational category, there are four occupation groupings. In Statistics Canada’s language, these are:
Professional occupations in the arts and culture, which include: some artists, such as producers, directors, conductors, and musicians; writers, translators, and other communications professionals; as well as librarians, archivists, conservators, and curators.
Technical occupations in the arts and culture, including: graphic and interior designers; as well as technical workers in libraries, archives, motion pictures, broadcasting, and the performing arts.
Other occupations in the arts, culture, and sports, including: artists such as dancers, actors, comedians, circus performers, photographers, craftspeople, and visual artists; theatre and fashion designers; select museum and art gallery jobs (e.g., registrars, restorers); assistants in film, broadcasting, photography, and performing arts; as well as a few sports occupations (athletes, coaches, and referees).
Support occupations in the arts, culture, and sports, including: program leaders and instructors in recreation, sport, and fitness; as well as puppeteers, buskers, magicians, portrayers of Santa Claus, influencers, and models. The recreation and sports workers in this occupational grouping greatly outnumber the cultural workers (which is why I exclude this grouping whenever possible).
LFS limitations (in brief)
Earnings data are not available in the summary dataset published by Statistics Canada. For the cultural sector, this is not a big loss, because the LFS questionnaire captures salaries only, not self-employment earnings. (That’s the more important limitation for the cultural sector and for other sectors where self-employment is common.)
Other important limitations of the LFS:
People’s description of their main job during the reference period is used to classify them into occupations. Some data on secondary occupations is available but is not covered in this report.
It doesn’t have a large enough sample size to delve into the details for individual occupation groupings in Census Metropolitan Areas, which is why the broad category is helpful.
It captures data on Indigenous workers only every three months and only started capturing data on racialized workers in the summer of 2020.
No data are available for 2SLGBTQIA+, D/deaf, and disabled workers.
Neither the LFS nor the census can provide insights into the reasons behind statistical trends.