Statistics Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Government expenditures on culture

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

The Daily


Monday, November 10, 2008
2004/2005 and 2005/2006 

The federal government spent $3.55 billion on culture in 2005/2006, compared with $3.60 billion in 2004/2005.

Broadcasting continued to account for the biggest share (47.3%), followed by the heritage sector (25.7%), which includes museums, public archives, historic and nature parks, and historic sites.

Federal government grants, contributions and transfers for culture amounted to $702.8 million in 2005/2006, down from $723.7 million in 2004/2005.

Provincial and territorial governments spent $2.43 billion on culture in 2005/2006, compared with $2.27 billion in 2004/2005. Grants, contributions and transfers for culture accounted for 62.9% of the total. Operating and capital expenditures represented the remaining 37.1%.

Municipal governments spent $2.31 billion on culture in 2005.

Excluding inter-governmental transfers, consolidated spending on culture by all three levels of government amounted to $7.84 billion in 2005/2006, compared with $7.60 billion in 2004/2005.

Note: All values are in current dollars. For 2005/2006 data, federal and provincial expenditures are for the period between April 1, 2005 and March 31, 2006. Municipal expenditures cover the period between January 1 and December 31, 2005.

Available on CANSIM: table 505-0003.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey numbers, including related surveys, 3116 and 3117.

More details in free data table publications (87F0001XIE, free), based on data from the Government Expenditures on Culture Survey, will soon be announced in sequential order in The Daily for 2003/2004 (revised), 2004/2005 and 2005/2006.

The CANSIM table 505-0003 now includes revised 2003/2004 data.

Culture sectors included in this release can be found in the Description for the Government Expenditures on Culture Survey.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-800-307-3382; 613-951-5418; fax 613-951-1333; culture@statcan.gc.ca), Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics.

Tables. Table(s).