Arts, culture and heritage contribute $47.8 billion to the Canadian economy

Thursday, September 11, 2014 - 4:00am

Statistics Canada has released new data on the economic importance and activity of culture, arts, heritage and sport in Canada. Figures from the 2010 Culture Satellite Account (CSA) show arts, culture and heritage contribute $47.8 billion to the Canadian economy.  This represents 3.1% of Canada’s total GDP while contributing over 647,300 jobs across the country. Sport contributes close to $4.5 billion to the Canadian economy and approximately 93,500 jobs across the country.

The CSA is a new accounting framework that captures data detailing the economic importance of culture, arts, heritage and sport in Canada. It is the result of a partnership between Statistics Canada, the Department of Canadian Heritage, all of the provinces and territories, numerous municipalities and several non-governmental organizations including OCAD U.

OCAD U fuels the creative industries in Ontario, and these industries have grown by 40 per cent over the last decade, creating 80,000 new jobs. The arts, culture and heritage industry in Canada was larger than the accommodation and food services industry ($30.6 billion) and twice as big as the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry ($23.9 billion).

The CSA will provide new statistics every year on a range of culture indicators such as GDP, and jobs. The document can be downloaded from Statistics Canada.

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