Federal report highlights B.C. as a champion in culture, arts, heritage and sport

Lisa Beare

BRITISH Columbia ranks highly among Canadian provinces in the strength and growth of its culture, arts, heritage and sport sectors, according to the latest Provincial and Territorial Culture Indicators report from Statistics Canada.

“I’m delighted to see the economic strength of B.C.’s culture, arts and sport sectors demonstrated in this report,” said Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Lisa Beare. “B.C. is a top leader in all of these areas. Our film industry is second to none in the nation. We are in the forefront of sport development, as shown by the spectacular results of our athletes at the recent Olympic Games, and I’m looking forward to seeing how our government’s increased support for the arts in the recent budget will keep the momentum going in arts and culture.”

The newly released Statistics Canada report measures the economic contributions of Canada’s culture, arts, heritage and sport sectors from 2010 to 2016. Highlights of B.C.’s performance include:

 

British Columbia culture

  • British Columbia consistently has the third-largest culture gross domestic product (GDP) and employment in the country, behind Ontario and Quebec.
  • Culture GDP in B.C. totalled $7.2 billion in 2016. This was a 3.9% gain from the previous year and amounted to 2.9% of the total provincial economy.
  • Audio-visual and interactive media, and visual and applied arts, contributed most to the increase in culture GDP, with increases of 5.6% and 6.3%, respectively.
  • In 2016, 98,244 jobs in B.C. were in the culture sector, 7.1% higher than the previous year. This compares with an economy-wide jobs increase of 4.1%.

 

British Columbia sport

  • British Columbia has the second-highest sport GDP and employment in the country, trailing only Ontario.
  • Sport GDP in B.C. rose 4% to $1.2 billion in 2016. This amounted to 0.5% of the total provincial economy, the largest share among all provinces.
  • In 2016, 21,768 jobs in B.C. were in the sport sector, a 10.7% increase from the previous year.

 

Provincial and Territorial Cultural Indicators Report (PTCI) information is derived from the Canadian Culture Satellite Account (CSA), a tool used by Statistics Canada to measure the economic contribution of culture, arts, heritage and sport to the Canadian economy. B.C. contributes approximately $50,000 annually to share in the costs of the CSA.