Over 8,000 not-for-profit organizations in the arts, heritage, and entertainment in Canada. Total revenues approach $8 billion.

The rural share of organizations might be higher than you think…

Feb 07, 2023

In November, I analyzed data on publicly owned arts and culture spaces, including the rural / urban split of municipally owned spaces. As a reminder, 57% are located in rural areas and 43% in urban areas. The rural proportion varies significantly by type of space, with libraries having the highest proportion of rural locations (63%), followed by museums and archives (58%), performance / presentation spaces (45%), and art galleries (24%).

Rather than publicly owned arts and culture spaces, today’s post provides an analysis of all not-for-profit, non-governmental organizations in the arts, heritage, and entertainment. The post examines the number of organizations, average revenues, average number of employees, and the rural / urban proportions for each indicator.

I believe that this analysis can provide useful insights into the size and structure of the not-for-profit arts and culture sector in Canada, plus some rare insights into the arts and culture in rural areas of the country. Keep reading!

Not-for-profit organizations in Statistics Canada’s Business Register are included in the dataset, whether or not they have charitable status. The only condition is that “they reported either revenues, number of employees, or both for 2019”. (Source: Metadata and User Guide for Rural Canada Non-Profits Database 2019.)

The dataset comprises 131,570 not-for-profit organizations, which garnered $311 billion in revenues and employed 3.6 million people in 2019. The data obviously pre-date the pandemic. It is likely that some organizations have folded since 2019, while others may have been established.

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The more than 8,000 not-for-profit organizations in the arts, heritage, and entertainment have nearly $8 billion in revenues and 150,000 employees

The 8,444 not-for-profit organizations in the arts, heritage, and entertainment generated $7.7 billion in revenues and employed 150,000 people in 2019.

The not-for-profit dataset does not provide a breakdown by type of arts, heritage, and entertainment organization. In general, the grouping of “arts, heritage, and entertainment” (which Statistics Canada refers to as “arts, entertainment, and recreation”) includes performing arts, spectator sports and related industries, heritage institutions, as well as amusement, gambling, and recreation industries.

Arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations represent 6% of all not-for-profit organizations, 2% of revenues, and 4% of employment.

The fact that the proportions of revenues and employment are lower than the share of the number of organizations indicates that …

Arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations tend to be smaller than the average not-for-profit organization. Average revenues are $916,000 for not-for-profit organizations in the arts, heritage, and entertainment, compared with $2.4 million for all not-for-profit organizations.

Similarly, the average number of employees is 18 for not-for-profit organizations in the arts, heritage, and entertainment, compared with 27 people for all not-for-profit organizations. Comparisons of average revenues and average number of employees are provided in the graph below.

As can be seen in the graph, the average number of employees in arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations is closer to the overall average than average revenues (differences of 34% and 61%, respectively).

Bar graphs of Average revenues and employment in not-for-profit organizations: Arts, heritage & entertainment compared with all (2019). Average revenues for Arts, heritage, and entertainment: $916000. Average revenues for All organizations: $2364000. Average employment for Arts, heritage, and entertainment: 18. Average employment for All organizations: 27. Source: Statistics Canada. Rural Canada Non-Profits Database 2019.

Rural areas have a higher percentage of arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations than their population share

Organizations are classified as rural if they are located outside of Census Metropolitan Areas or Census Agglomerations (i.e., regions with core cities that have a population of at least 10,000). “According to the 2021 Census, 84% of Canada's population lives within a CMA or CA.” (Source: Illustrated Glossary: Census metropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomeration (CA).) This means that 16% of the population resides in rural areas.

There are 2,373 arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations located in rural areas, or 28% of all arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations.

The proportion of arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations in rural areas (28%) is almost double the proportion of the population in rural areas (16%). It is also higher than the rural percentage of all not-for-profit organizations (22%), as shown in the following graph.

6,071 arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations (72%) are located in urban areas.

Column graph of Rural percentage of not-for-profit organizations in the arts, heritage & entertainment, all not-for-profit organizations, and the Canadian population (2019). Arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations: 28%. All organizations: 22%. Population: 16%. Source: Statistics Canada. Rural Canada Non-Profits Database 2019.

Rural arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations have much lower average revenues and average employment than urban based arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations.

There 2,373 rural based arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations had total revenues of $597 million in 2019, or 8% of the revenues of all arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations. The proportion of revenues generated by rural arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations (8%) is similar to the rural share of the revenues of all not-for-profit organizations (7%).

Urban arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations had total revenues of $7.1 billion in 2019 (92% of the total for all arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations).

Average revenues are much lower for rural based arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations ($252,000) than urban ones ($1.2 million).

Organizations in the arts, heritage, and entertainment – whether rural or urban – have lower average revenues than other types of not-for-profit organizations, as shown in the following graph.

Bar graphs of Average revenues for rural and urban based not-for-profit organizations in the arts, heritage & entertainment, compared with all organizations (2019). Rural based Arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations: $252000. Rural based, All organizations: $766000. Urban based Arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations: $1176000. Urban based, All organizations: $2827000. All Arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations: $916000. All organizations: $2364000. Source: Statistics Canada. Rural Canada Non-Profits Database 2019.

Employment in rural and urban organizations

Rural arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations employed 18,400 people in 2019, or 12% of all people employed by arts, heritage, and entertainment not-for-profit organizations. The share of employment of rural arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations (12%) is equal to the rural share of employment in all not-for-profit organizations (also 12%).

Urban arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations had total employment of 131,600 in 2019 (88% of total employment in all arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations).

Average staffing levels are 18 people for each arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations. Average employment is much lower for rural organizations (8) than urban ones (22).

As was the case with average revenues, not-for-profit organizations in the arts, heritage, and entertainment – whether rural or urban – have lower average staffing levels than the average for all types of organizations:

Rural: average of 8 employees in arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations, compared with an average of 14 for all organizations.
Urban: average of 22 employees in arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations, compared with an average of 31 for all organizations.

Link to the data source

Statistics Canada. Rural Canada Non-Profits Database 2019. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-20-0004/452000042022002-eng.htm