Long-term trends in multiple job holding in each province
Analysis of almost 40 years of data on employees in the arts, culture, and sports
Two weeks ago, I examined Canadian data on multiple job holding in culture, showing that multiple job holding is much more common in the arts, culture, and heritage than elsewhere. Last week, I analyzed reliable provincial data for employees in the arts, culture, and sports (yes, unfortunately including some sports workers). Even with the inclusion of some sports and recreation workers, the vast majority of people (roughly 75 to 80%) in the broader category work in the arts, culture, and heritage. I have had to include the sports and recreation occupation groups in the provincial analyses because of the limited data reliability of the more specific data for only those employees in the arts, culture, and heritage.
Today’s article shows similarities and differences in the changes between 1989 and 2025 for employed workers in the arts, culture, and sports in each province.
The data analysis has been complex: 10 provinces times 37 data years. I found some significant and (in my opinion) unlikely shifts in the provincial data, which might indicate mediocre data quality in a specific year. As I did last week, I rely on 3-year averages here to help smooth out most of the yearly oddities.
Here is my guide to interpreting the findings:
Please be cautious in interpreting the data. The provincial data in this article can point to: (a) differences between employed workers in the arts, culture, and sports vs. other employed workers in the same province; and (b) broad trends within the arts, culture, and sports in each province over time, such as sustained increases or decreases in the rate of multiple job holding.
Please do not put much stock in a very low or high reading in one data year. This would probably be due to the small number of respondents in the arts, culture, and sports (even over three years), rather than a widespread change in the multiple job holding rate.
The article is very long, because I’ve created a graph of trends over time for each province. My text introduction to each graph is quite short, just long enough to give an idea of the type of cautious interpretation that I recommend.
The post is based on data from the Labour Force Survey, specifically annual averages for workers with an employment position, not those who are self-employed in their main job.
Occupational groupings
Because of its relatively small sample size, the Labour Force Survey provides summary data only in most provinces. The summary data relate to what Statistics Canada calls “occupations in the arts, culture, recreation, and sports, except management”.
Within this broad occupational category, there are four detailed 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 occupation grouping greatly outnumber the cultural workers, which is why I excluded it from my national analysis.
I analyzed the first three groupings in my nationwide post, which showed an overall multiple job holding rate of 9.9% in the arts, culture, and heritage in 2025. The second estimate, relying on the broader grouping of arts, culture, and sports workers, is very similar: 10.3% in 2025. The similarity is not surprising, given the predominance of arts, culture, and heritage workers in this broader grouping, but it should provide extra confidence in provincial estimates that are based on the broader grouping. In other words, don’t worry too much about the recreation and sports workers in the broader grouping.
For today’s article, I have created three-year averages to minimize the impact of unusual single year estimates in many provinces. The most recent data point (labelled 2025) represents the average for 2023-2025. The earliest possible data point (labelled 1989) represents the average for 1987-1989.
In some provinces, data for some early years were not reliable. The graph for each province goes back as far as reliable data are available.
Trends in each province between 1989 and 2025
The 10 graphs below show trends over time in the proportion of employed workers in the arts, culture, and sports who hold multiple jobs. I’m offering a very long-term analysis here – all the way back to 1989, where possible.
I provide a cautious interpretation of the key findings in each graph. Off we go!