CHRC to Issue Updated Cultural Labour Force Statistics

The following is excerpted from a release issued by the CHRC.

The Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC) has announced that it will receive financial support from Employment and Skills Development Canada (ESDC) to undertake a second Labour Market Information (LMI) Study of the Cultural Labour Force, updating the one it spearheaded in 2010.

The Study will cover Broadcasting; Film and Television; Digital Media; Book and Magazine Publishing; Music Industry; Live Performing Arts; Visual Arts and Crafts; and Heritage (Libraries, Archives, Museums and Built Heritage) – as it did in 2010. CHRC will again work with the Conference Board of Canada and with sector leaders to ensure that the Study reflects the realities of the sector.

The LMI research will include a literature and documentation review and a review of existing Labour Market Information (LMI) data. Through updated analysis of the performance of the sector and various sub-domains (including new or updated research/analytical reports as well as LMI forecasting systems) the LMI will:

• address skills shortages (present and predicted) in the cultural workforce for employers, workers and educators to facilitate hiring and training, career decisions and curriculum adaptations respectively;
• facilitate employers’ human resource planning and management;
• produce information that enables government stakeholders to make sound policy, program and funding decisions to meet labour market needs and to make skills development investments;
• provide informed forecasts of cultural labour supply, demand and gaps; and
• provide informed forecasts of cultural labour supply and demand;
• provide a report on labour market trends facing the Canadian cultural sector; and recommend ways to address those issues.

The updated performance measures and forecasts will be industry-driven and validated through employer surveys and roundtable meetings to solicit stakeholder feedback.

The report will produce both qualitative and quantitative information that will allow potential job seekers, employers, students, educators, and other stakeholders to make sound decisions regarding labour market needs and skills development investments.

The Steering Committee will meet in early August. A larger Advisory Committee with representatives from across the sector will convene in the fall. Focus groups will be held across the country early in 2019. The final report will be released in August 2019.