Among the ways we can measure the impact of the culture sector is its gross domestic product (GDP) – a measure of economic output and activity in a specific geographic region. Ontario, as a province, contributes $26.4 billion to Canada’s culture GDP – a full 45 per cent!
But how does that $26.4 billion actually happen? It’s generated in communities all across the province – and with Arts Across Ontario, we’re uncovering the data that gives us that full picture.
Initiated by OAC and led by Nordicity, Arts Across Ontario is the first-ever complete economic assessment of the province’s arts sector. It will provide essential data about the Ontario culture sector’s economic output and employment by region. It will also provide insight into how the arts help support other industries like tourism, education, hospitality, and transportation.
Early findings – October 2024
The first step of the study was to analyze the province-wide impact of Ontario’s culture sector, including GDP and jobs, the contribution of OAC-funded arts organizations to the Ontario economy, and related arts and culture tourism spending.
Initial highlights include:
- Organizations supported by OAC contribute $1 billion annually to Ontario’s GDP (based on organization expenditures)
- For every $1 OAC invests, $25 is generated in other sources of revenue
- Ontario’s culture sector added $26.4 billion to provincial GDP in 2022
- More than 270,528 direct jobs were supported by the culture sector across the province – more than the combined jobs in real estate, auto manufacturing, forestry and mining
Next steps
Arts Across Ontario will also include a regional economic model that will break down Ontario’s culture sector GDP and jobs by region – including the impact by region of the organizations that OAC invests in through operating and project grants.
The final report will include case studies that explore the multiple ways in which OAC’s funding is leveraged for economic, social and cultural development across the province. Finally, Arts Across Ontario will also capture how much the organizations we support impact cultural tourism for the province.
Additional details
Data for this study comes from Statistics' Canada’s Culture Satellite Account – an accounting framework created to measure the economic importance of culture, arts, heritage and sport in the Canadian economy. It uses the Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics as the primary guide for defining the industry and occupation codes included in the study. This framework contains six “culture sector” domain categories encompassing a diverse range of industries, occupations and activities related to cultural and creative endeavors.
Additional Resources