SK-specific takeaways of Latest Federal Cultural Report

Saskatchewan-specific takeaways from Artworks: The Economic and Social Dividends from Canada’s Arts and Culture Sector, a new report conducted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Business Data Lab.

Commissioned by Business/Arts and Canada Council for the Arts, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Business Data Lab recently released a report discussing the social and economic impacts of arts & culture in Canada. The report has a number of important takeaways, such as the fact that arts & culture contributes $131 billion to the Canadian economy, and that 75% of people feel that attending arts & culture events positively impacts their sense of well-being and belonging in Canada. 

While the scope of the report is national, some of the data is broken down by province, with a brief section dedicated specifically to the prairie provinces. The SAA thought it would be useful for our community to highlight the key points related to Saskatchewan contained in the report. We have presented them below, in bullet format, for the reader’s ease.

• Saskatchewan has the highest proportion of rural arts & culture non-profits, with 70% of Saskatchewan’s arts organizations located in rural communities. New Brunswick is the second highest, with 61%, followed by PEI (54%) and Ontario is the lowest, with only 15% of arts organizations located in rural communities.
  • NB: The report does not provide a definition of what ‘rural’ means exactly. 
• Saskatchewan has the second lowest grants per capita (5,) followed only by Alberta (approximately nearly 4.) Quebec has the highest grants per capita at nearly 11. 
• While higher grants per capita is generally associated with a higher sense of meaning and purpose, Saskatchewan residents rate their sense of meaning and purpose at 7.4, which is the same as the federal average. 
• The report estimates that arts & culture provides 20,000 jobs in Saskatchewan in 2023, ranking in as the province with the 7th highest amount of jobs in the sector (PEI, New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador are the only ones with less jobs.)
  • Governance, funding & professional support is the largest contributor to jobs in the arts & culture sector, providing over 6,000 jobs
• The report estimates that arts & culture contributed $2.2 billion in GDP in 2023, and Saskatchewan is again ranked 7th. 
  • Governance, funding & professional support is the largest contributor to arts & culture overall GDP in Saskatchewan, generating $783 million
• The Prairies represent 13% of Canada’s arts & culture sector
  • Saskatchewan represents 14% of arts & culture jobs in the prairies
  • Saskatchewan contributes 12% of the prairie’s arts & culture GDP
  • Saskatchewan generates 11% of the prairie’s overall tax revenue from arts & culture
• Saskatchewan contributes 1.6% of overall arts & culture GDP on a federal level
• Saskatchewan provides 1.7% of overall arts & culture jobs federally
• Saskatchewan generates 1.3% of overall arts & culture tax revenue
• Artsvest, Business/Arts mentorship & training program has generated $10 million in economic impact for Saskatchewan