A newly released Statistics Canada report measuring the economic importance of arts, culture, heritage and sport shows that British Columbia compares very well with other Canadian jurisdictions, Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Coralee Oakes said today. 

According to the“2010 Provincial and Territorial Culture Satellite Account” (CSA):

• B.C. registered Canada’s highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (0.5%) of sport as a share of provincial/territorial economy - and the highest sport jobs as a share of provincial/territorial economy (0.9%) from a product perspective in 2010.
• B.C. recorded the third-highest GDP (3%) of culture as a share of provincial/territorial economy - and tied for third in culture jobs as a share of provincial/territorial economy (3.8%) from a product perspective in 2010.

CSA revealed that from a product perspective, culture GDP in B.C. was $5.7 billion in 2010, representing 3% of the economy. This accounted for 12% of culture GDP in Canada. The number of culture jobs in the province was 87,996 or 3.8% of total jobs in British Columbia.

CSA reported that sport GDP in B.C. was $900 million or 0.5% of total provincial GDP in 2010, from a product perspective. Total sport jobs (20,398) accounted for 0.9% of total jobs in the province.

The scope of CSA is similar to the Canadian Cultural Satellite Account, a national study released in September 2014, only extended to include the provinces and territories.

Quotes:

Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Coralee Oakes -

“It is quite gratifying to see the economic strength of B.C.’s arts, culture and sport sectors reflected in this report from Statistics Canada. British Columbia’s sport and culture sectors continue to shine today. There are good reasons to be optimistic about the future too, including British Columbia’s dynamic artists and dedicated athletes; B.C.’s strong track record and commitment to hosting successful cultural and sports events; and the B.C. government’s continued funding for arts, culture and sport.”

Quick Facts:

• Nationally, CSA showed that from a product perspective:
  • Culture GDP at basic prices equalled $47.7 billion, contributing 3% to Canada’s GDP in 2010.
  • Culture’s percentage of GDP varied considerably across the provinces and territories, from 1.4% in Newfoundland and Labrador to 3.7% Ontario (3% in B.C.)
  • Culture accounted for 642,486 jobs in 2010, contributing 3.7% to total employment in Canada.
  • Sport GDP equalled $4.9 billion in 2010, contributing 0.3% to Canada’s economy.
  • Sport contributed 101,863 jobs (0.6%) to total employment in Canada.
• The CSA reports from two perspectives: product and industry.
  • The product perspective measures output, GDP and jobs resulting from the production of culture or sports products regardless of whether they were made by establishments in culture or non-culture industries.
  • The industry perspective is the presentation of culture or sport activity by the culture or sport industry and includes all of the output produced by establishments in these industries including non-culture or non-sport products.
• CSA is a comprehensive and reliable data source that presents the economic importance of culture, arts, heritage and sport in Canada.
• CSA figures are the result of a methodologically rigorous and transparent approach to measuring the economic importance of culture, arts, heritage and sport in Canadian provinces and territories and are the most precise and reliable data available.
• CSA was successfully developed through a joint effort of the Government of Canada, all provinces and territories, numerous municipalities and a number of non-governmental organizations.

Learn More:

Statistics Canada - 2010 Provincial and Territorial Culture Satellite Account: http://ow.ly/O5JDC

Check out the provincial government’s role in supporting communities, sport, arts and culture through the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development at: www.gov.bc.ca/cscd

Media Contacts:

Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
250 356-6334