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CONTEXT AND HISTORY OF STUDYING
CULTURE-BASED OCCUPATIONS
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Official reporting on the arts and culture labour force began with a
study carried out in the early 1980s at Statistics Canada which looked at
trends in arts and culture occupations. 2 Its conclusions remain essentially
true to this day; those involved with culture-based occupations
• are growing rapidly in number;
• are characterized by high levels of career-long selfemployment;
• are highly educated; and
• have financial remuneration levels which are often low.
These early statistical reports were followed in the first half of
the 1990s with in-depth statistical and broadly based “sector
studies,” funded by Human Resources Development Canada
(formerly Employment and Immigration Canada). 3 These
resulted in specific studies of half a dozen culture-based
disciplines. As one consequence of these studies, a national
strategy for the sector was developed, and the Cultural
Human Resources Council (CHRC) and subsequently several
provincial sector councils were created.
Within the past few years the human resources in the sector
have received a fresh look. Statistics Canada conducted a
national survey of the culture labour force in the midnineties,
4 an overview of data from multiple sources was
prepared for the Cultural Human
Resources Council in 2000, 5 data on the
sector has been developed from the
monthly Labour Force Survey, 6 and,
data from the 1996 and 2001 Census are
now available to assess recent developments.
7 Finally, a consultative review,
Face of the Future (Mercadex, 2002),
was conducted for the Cultural Human
Resources Council (CHRC) with representatives
from the sector. This research
has been primarily funded by Human
Resources Development Canada as the
lead with support from the Department
of Canadian Heritage, in addition to the
efforts of the sector as lead by CHRC.
This strategy document is the next
phase of this re-appraisal, bringing
together the findings and implications
from these sources.
BUILDING ON SUCCESS — A HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR THE CULTURAL SECTOR — 2004 3