Statistical profile of the 20,900 professional artists on the Island of Montreal
Short English summary of a full article that is now available in French
This article provides highlights from a longer French-language report on professional artists in Montreal (defined as the Island of Montreal). The full report also provides summary information about arts leaders and all workers in cultural occupations. The article is based on custom data that Hill Strategies requested from Statistics Canada’s 2021 long-form census.
This analysis is made possible with the support of the Conseil des arts de Montréal. Hill Strategies Research retained editorial control of the content.
Details of the occupational categories and other notes regarding methods are provided at the end of this article.
20,900 professional artists on the Island of Montreal
The 20,900 professional artists on the Island of Montreal represent 1.8% of the local workforce, well above the averages in Quebec (0.9%) and all of Canada (1.0%). One in 55 working Montrealers is an artist.
Montreal is home to 48% of Quebec’s professional artists, which is double the Island’s percentage of all Quebec workers (24%).
Neighbouring regions have a lower concentration of artists than the Island:
Laval (territoire équivalent): 1,300 artists, 0.5% of its 247,000 workers.
Longueuil (territoire équivalent): 2,400 artists, 1.0% of its 244,000 workers.
There are reliable statistics for nine Island municipalities:
Westmount: 280 artists, 2.7% of its 10,300 workers
Montréal: 19 500 artists, 1.9% of its 1,016,800 workers.
Beaconsfield: 130 artists, 1.2% of its 10,700 workers.
Dorval: 120 artists, 1.1% of its 11,400 workers.
Pointe-Claire: 180 artists, 1.0% of its 17,600 workers.
Côte-Saint-Luc: 170 artists, 1.0% of its 17,100 workers.
Mont-Royal: 100 artists, 0.8% of its 11,300 workers.
Dollard-Des Ormeaux: 150 artists, 0.6% of its 27,200 workers.
Kirkland: 50 artists, 0.5% of its 11,000 workers.Â
Additional information available in the French article
The French article also provides information about:
The more than 8,000 workers in arts leadership occupations and the 91,400 cultural workers on the Island.
All artists, arts leaders, and cultural workers in Quebec.
Demographics of artists, in particular their high levels of education and high levels of self-employment.
The wide range of artists who reside on the Island.
The relatively low personal incomes of Montreal artists.
The full French report is available here.
Methods
The census relies on a very specific concept of professional workers, one that includes people who worked more hours as an artist than at any other occupation between May 1 and 8, 2021, plus those 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 cultural occupations and arts leadership occupations.)
The occupational perspective in this article 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.
An article related to Canadian artists provides a list of the 10 artist occupation groups. The 52 cultural occupation groups 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 details about the occupation groups included in each of the categories are 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.
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.