A new study, released by Statistics Canada, and reviewed by Hill Strategies Inc., underlines the direct and significant impact of arts and culture in Canada. The Culture Satellite Account (CSA) is a landmark dataset compiled by Statistics Canada, based on figures from 2010. It measures national, provincial and territorial economic and employment impacts, and was released in June, 2015.
The study illustrates that culture industries contributed $53.4 billion to Canada’s Gross Domestic Production. Nationally, the GDP of culture industries is much larger than that of utilities ($35 billion), accommodation and food services ($32 billion), and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting ($23 billion).
The GDP of the culture sector, representing 3.4 per cent of Canada’s GDP, is ten times larger than sports, which generates $5.2 billion.
The largest contributors to the GDP of culture industries in B.C. in 2010 were visual and applied arts ($1.6 billion). Other major contributors included audio-visual and interactive media (also $1.6 billion). Written and published works and live performance were also key contributors. In 2010, there were 707,000 jobs directly related to culture industries, or 4.1% of total employment.
Of course it’s no surprise to islanders about the importance of arts and culture to our local economy. As a community recognized for its creative assets, culture industries are valued on these shores. The Bowen Island Arts Council, as part of the review of the Cultural Master Plan, will again be gathering statistics on the population of artists who call Bowen home. We look forward to comparing this data to the provincial and national findings, which is so helpful in broadening an understanding and appreciation of the need for continuing support of this important sector.
For more information, download the special issue of the Arts Research Monitor published by Hill Strategies Inc. in July. It can be found at hillstrategies.com.
The Statistics Canada report is available at statcan.gc.ca.
Jacqueline Massey
Bowen Island Arts Council
