The culture sector labour force

Job growth in the culture sector outpaced that of the overall labour market from 1991 to 2002, according to a new study analysing employment patterns in the sector. However, the boom may have ended in the new millennium for Canada's culture workers.

The 1980s saw a rapid expansion of the culture workforce to meet increased demand for culture goods and services. This period of growth paused with the 1990/91 recession, when jobs, earnings and revenues all fell off. With the end of the recession, the labour market rebounded, and culture workers rode the high employment wave throughout the remainder of the decade.

While the total labour force increased about 20% from 1991 to 2002, the growth in employment in the culture sector was a significantly higher 31%. However, most of the gains in the culture sector occurred before 1999. In fact, between 2000 and 2002, the sector's workforce hardly increased.

The culture workforce peaked at almost 578,000 in 2001 and then declined slightly the following year. In total, just over 577,000 people worked in the culture sector in 2002, representing 3.7% of Canada's total labour force.

About 30% of these individuals worked in culture occupations, such as creative and artistic production, and heritage collection and preservation. In addition, almost four out of every five jobs in culture occupations were full-time.

Self-employment is a striking feature of the culture sector workforce. The number of self-employed workers in the culture sector increased 57% from 1991 to 2002, to reach almost 148,000. Indeed, one in four workers in the culture sector were self-employed in 2002, notably higher than the 15% for the entire workforce.

Public sector policies and programs, levels of business and private investment, consumer demand, and levels of imports and exports all affect the growth of the culture labour force. With only modest growth in Canadians' spending on culture activities throughout the 1990s, much of the increase in culture employment can be attributed to increases in government grants and contributions and the healthy performance of the sector in the export market.

All levels of government have fostered growth of the culture sector, using a variety of measures, including tax incentives for companies and financial support for artists. In particular, federal and provincial government assistance for export activities has assisted Canadian film and television, publishing and sound recording companies to penetrate foreign markets.

Given the weak domestic market for culture products in the 1990s, combined with the public sector's limited ability to increase funding, future growth in culture employment may depend on opportunities offered by the international marketplace and new technologies.

Focus on Culture, Vol. 14, no. 3 (87-004-XIE, $8/$22; 87-004-XPB, $10/$29) is now available. The preview article from this publication, "The culture sector labour force: Has the 1990s boom turned to bust?", is available online free of charge.

This issue of Focus on Culture also contains an article titled "My money, my choice: Exploring consumer spending on entertainment services," a profile of Canada's culture trade with Italy, provincial data on radio listening and data on the sound recording industry.

For information on Focus on Culture, contact Client Services (1-800-307-3382; fax: 613-951-9040; cult.tourstats@statcan.gc.ca) or Alice Peters (613-951-4086; fax: 613-951-1333; alice.peters@statcan.gc.ca).

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Michel Durand (613-951-1566; michel.durand@statcan.gc.ca), Culture Statistics Program.