National culture indicators, third quarter 2021
Released: 2022-01-14
Real gross domestic product (GDP) for the culture and sport sectors in Canada increased 2.9% to $13.5 billion in the third quarter, marking five consecutive quarterly increases, nearing pre-pandemic levels. By comparison, real GDP for the total economy rose 1.3% during the same period. Household spending on recreational and culture services was up again in the third quarter, which helped bolster growth in GDP for the culture and sport sectors.
On a nominal basis, GDP for the overall culture and sport sectors increased 3.7% to $15.4 billion. The current growth in nominal GDP is driven by higher than normal price increases, most notably in the broadcasting subdomain. Real and nominal GDP both increased for five consecutive quarters. The total number of jobs supporting culture and sport increased 5.0% to over 716,800 in the third quarter.
Culture and sport nominal GDP in Canada increases for the fifth consecutive quarter
Nominal GDP for the culture sector exclusively increased 3.5% to $14.0 billion in the third quarter, largely driven by increases in the live performance domain (+29.1%), marking the largest growth on record—but still below pre-pandemic levels. This domain fared quite well during the third quarter in comparison to the same quarter in 2020, as a majority of provinces loosened or entirely removed restrictions on indoor and outdoor gatherings, thus allowing live performances such as concerts, music festivals and live theatre to occur. This is in stark contrast to the height of the pandemic when such events were either reduced or cancelled.
The heritage and libraries domain was also up (+12.5%) during the third quarter, namely in culture heritage and natural heritage, as attendance during the quarter increased for attractions such as zoos and museums.
Sound recording was the only domain to post a decrease (-1.1%), albeit slight. Overall, this domain has been the least impacted by COVID-19-related restrictions. According to the Financial impacts of the pandemic on the culture, arts, entertainment and recreation industries in 2020, increased access to mobile platforms and online streaming services allowed for modest growth in this domain during the pandemic.
Nominal GDP for the sport sector was up 5.9% (or +$79.9 million) to $1.4 billion, with most of the increase seen in the informal sport and organized sport subdomains, as the lifting of some COVID-19 restrictions allowed for increased activity in the sector during the quarter.
Chart 1
Culture and sport nominal gross domestic product (GDP), quarterly
Employment in Canada's culture and sport sectors up in the third quarter
During the third quarter, culture jobs increased 4.2% to 632,310 with employment up in all nine culture domains. Driving growth was an increase in jobs in the live performance domain (+24.6% or +8,989), as restrictions loosened. As well, the heritage and libraries domain posted a 6.7% job increase, as the increased attendance during the quarter resulted in increased labour needs in the culture and natural heritage subdomains.
Sport jobs increased 11.2% to 84,507 in the third quarter, led primarily by increases in the organized sport (+23.3% or +5,804) and informal sport (+24.8% or +1,160) subdomains. Similar to live performances, growth in the informal and organized sports subdomains can be explained by the loosening of restrictions in indoor and outdoor gatherings. The relaxed pandemic measures during the quarter allowed the Toronto Blue Jays to begin hosting games in the Rogers Centre for the first time in nearly two years. Major League Soccer games were also able to be played in Canadian stadiums in the third quarter.
Chart 2
Change in jobs by culture domain, third quarter of 2021
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 prices changes) are provided as a means to examine economic growth within culture and sport, 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
Data for the third quarter of 2021 have been released, along with revised data for the first and second quarters of 2021.
Products
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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