National culture indicators, second quarter 2022
Released: 2022-10-11
Second quarter 2022
2.2% 
(quarterly change)
692,986 jobs
Second quarter 2022
3.2%
(quarterly change)
Second quarter 2022
4.9%
(quarterly change)
94,742 jobs
Second quarter 2022
7.2%
(quarterly change)
Employment in the culture and sport sectors grew 3.7% in the second quarter, bringing the joint employment for the two sectors above their pre-pandemic levels (the fourth quarter of 2019) for the first time as few provincial restrictions on business activity remained.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) for the culture and sport sectors in Canada also increased, up 2.5% to $15.6 billion in the second quarter. This followed a 0.7% increase in the first quarter. Growth in culture and sport outpaced the total economy, which saw real GDP rise 0.8% during the second quarter. On a nominal basis, GDP for the overall culture and sport sectors increased 3.3% to $18.0 billion in the quarter.
A number of culture and sport subdomains rely on large in-person events. The elimination of provincial restrictions on attendance, which were put in place in response to the Omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter and heavily affected live performances, sporting events and cultural heritage institutions, coincided with this increase in growth.
Culture jobs above pre-pandemic levels for first time
Jobs in the culture sector increased 3.2% to 692,986 in the second quarter, going above pre-pandemic levels for the first time. All domains had growth, with the largest job increases in audio visual and interactive media (+8,519 jobs or 4.6%), live performance (+5,054 jobs or 8.1%), and visual and applied arts (+3,767 jobs or 2.4%).
Chart 1
Change in jobs by culture domain, second quarter of 2022
At the subdomain level, employment increases were widespread, with two subdomains having small declines. The film and video subdomain was the largest contributor to the growth in culture jobs (+6,606 jobs or +8.0%) in the second quarter, followed by performing arts (+4,755 or +8.2%) and design (+2,134 jobs or +3.4%).
Sport employment bounced back with the end of restrictions on professional sports attendance, but remained below pre-pandemic highs. Sports jobs increased 7.2% to 94,742 in the second quarter, following a 4.3% decline in the first quarter.
Strong growth in culture gross domestic product continues trend of last four quarters
Nominal culture GDP increased 3.0% to $16.3 billion during the second quarter. This represents a continued strong recovery over the last four quarters for the sector following a lull in growth at the start of 2021.
Chart 2
Culture and sport nominal gross domestic product (GDP), quarterly
Despite the recent rising prices economy-wide, high prices are not what have been driving the recovery in nominal GDP in the culture sector in the past year. This was confirmed by the culture sector's real GDP increase of 2.2% in the second quarter and the growth of more than 2% for three of the last four quarters. The culture sector is very services-based, and while prices in services are starting to increase, rising prices have been seen more in the goods sectors of the economy.
Culture nominal GDP increased in all culture domains, led by live performance (+10.4%), heritage and libraries (+7.8%) and visual and applied arts (+3.1%). On the subdomain level, strong gains were seen in areas that rely on attendance-driven revenue, such as cultural heritage, performing arts, and festivals and celebrations, as well as in original visual art and film and video. Household final consumption expenditure on recreation and cultural services was up 12.1% in current prices for the second quarter, corresponding with this growth.
Sport GDP increased by 5.7% to $1.7 billion, driven by a bounce back in the organized sport subdomain, as provincial large-event-capacity restrictions were lifted prior to the start of the second quarter.
Note to readers
The National Culture Indicators are an extension of the Provincial and Territorial Culture Satellite Account and the Provincial and Territorial Culture Indicators.
Data
Data are available for gross domestic product (GDP) in both nominal, basic prices and constant prices (2012 prices).
Data on real GDP (corrected for price changes) are provided to examine economic growth within the culture and sport sectors, as well as comparisons with other sectors.
Unless otherwise stated, GDP in this release refers to nominal GDP, at basic prices.
Growth rates in this release are represented as the percentage change in the series from one quarter to the next.
Data have been seasonally adjusted. All data are based on the product perspective.
Definitions
Culture GDP is the economic value added associated with culture activities. This is the value added related to the production of culture goods and services across the economy, regardless of the producing industry.
Culture jobs are the number of jobs that are related to the production of culture goods and services.
Sport GDP is the economic value added associated with sport activities. This is the value added related to the production of sport goods and services across the economy, regardless of the producing industry.
Sport jobs are the number of jobs that are related to the production of sport goods and services.
Revisions
Alongside the release of the data for the second quarter of 2022, data for the first quarter of 2022 have been revised.
Products
The data visualization product "National Culture Indicators: Interactive tool," which is part of Statistics Canada – Data Visualization Products (71-607-X), is available.
The Economic accounts statistics portal, accessible from the Subjects module of the Statistics Canada website, features an up-to-date portrait of national and provincial economies and their structure.
The Latest Developments in the Canadian Economic Accounts (13-605-X) is available.
The User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-606-G) is available.
The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-607-X) is available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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