Alberta's cultural economy took the worst hit of any province as the pandemic got underway in 2020, says Hill Strategies Research, an Ontario company that studies trends in the cultural sector.
Alberta was the only province or territory with a double-digit decrease in cultural GDP. It was down 10 per cent from the previous year, the company noted in a recent report. Nationally, the the cultural economy shrank by six per cent.
Culture jobs in Alberta fell by 13 per cent, compared to the national average of 11 per cent, over the same time period.
Hill Research's report is based on data from Statistics Canada’s Provincial and Territorial Culture Indicators, 2020.
Statistics Canada defines cultural GDP as added economic value associated with cultural activities – the production of cultural goods and services, regardless of the industry. Culture jobs are the number of jobs related to this production.
Two other provinces experienced above average decreases in cultural sector GDP in 2020 – Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.
On the jobs front, Yukon’s cultural economy experienced the largest decrease at 14 per cent, followed by Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador, both at 13 per cent. Five other provinces – Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Prince Edward Island – saw double-digit decreases in cultural jobs.
Source: Hill Strategies Research