New Report: Virtually All Canadians Participate in Culture

Performers take the stages at the ArtsWells Festival. | Image: Island Mountain Arts.

Hill Strategies has released its 47th issue of Statistical Insights On the Arts, focusing on Canadians’ Arts, Culture, and Heritage Participation in 2016.

The report, which uses data collected by Statistics Canada’s 2016 General Social Survey (Canadians at Work and Home), examines the number and percentage of Canadians 15 or older who, in 2016:

• Made or performed art;

• Attended arts performances or exhibitions;

• Visited cultural heritage sites;

• Read newspapers, magazines, or books;

• Watched movies; and/or

• Listened to recorded music.

The report found that in 2016, virtually all Canadians (15 or older) participated in some type of arts, culture, or heritage activity (100%, or 99.5% if rounded to one decimal place). It also found that arts attendance levels were very high in 2016, with nearly nine in ten Canadians (86%) attending an art gallery, an arts performance, an artistic or cultural or festival, or a movie theatre.

Another key finding from the analysis is that one-half of Canadians 15 or older made or performed art in 2016 (or 14.8 million Canadians). Questions related to respondents’ active participation in making or performing art were asked for the first time in the 2016 General Social Survey.

The Hill Strategies report shows Canadians overwhelmingly participate in arts, culture and heritage. | Image: Hill Strategies.

For more insights, and to read the full report, click here.