National culture indicators, fourth quarter 2022
Released: 2023-04-14
Fourth quarter 2022
0.2% 
(quarterly change)
714,177 jobs
Fourth quarter 2022
0.5%
(quarterly change)
Fourth quarter 2022
2.9%
(quarterly change)
100,909 jobs
Fourth quarter 2022
3.0%
(quarterly change)
Real gross domestic product (GDP) for the culture and sports sectors in Canada rose 0.4% to $15.7 billion in the fourth quarter, a slowdown from the 1.2% increase in the prior quarter. GDP growth in culture and sport continued to outpace the growth in GDP for the total economy, which was flat in the fourth quarter. On a nominal basis, GDP for the culture and sports sectors was up 1.7% in the fourth quarter.
Employment attributable to culture and sport grew 0.8% in the fourth quarter, continuing its growth for a third consecutive quarter and bringing total jobs for the two sectors to 815,086.
Sport gross domestic product growing faster than culture in fourth quarter
Nominal GDP for the culture sector increased 1.5% to $16.8 billion in the fourth quarter, following a 2.0% increase in the third quarter. This increase was led by the heritage and libraries domain (+4.6%) and the governance, funding and professional support domain (+2.7%).
In the fourth quarter, nominal GDP in the sport sector grew faster than in culture, up 3.5%. This growth was due primarily to the organized sport subdomain, which saw 8.2% growth as the NHL and NBA seasons kicked off.
Chart 1
Culture and sport nominal gross domestic product (GDP), quarterly
Employment increases continue in most domains, pace slowing
Employment in the culture sector grew 0.5% in the fourth quarter to 714,177 jobs. This was a slowdown in growth from the previous two quarters, as employment in the sector in the fourth quarter was 5.2% above pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. However, most domains recorded gains, with the exception of live performance (-1,386 or -1.9%), written and published works (-975 jobs or -1.1%), and education and training (-175 jobs or -0.3%).
Sport employment continued its growth in the fourth quarter, exceeding 100,000 jobs and increasing 3.0% from the previous quarter. This increase came almost entirely from the organized sport subdomain, which represents 45% of sport employment and which grew by 2,731 jobs (+6.4%) in the fourth quarter.
Chart 2
Change in jobs by culture domain, fourth quarter of 2022
Strong recovery for culture and sport continued in 2022
Over the 2022 calendar year nominal GDP for the culture and sport sectors increased 10.5%, while real GDP for these sectors was up 7.1%. This difference reflects the role of price increases in nominal growth. However, the implicit price index increase of 3.1% attributable to the culture and sport sectors remained well below the total economy GDP implicit price, which increased 7.4%. Job growth for the combined sectors was similarly strong, increasing 10.0% compared with 2021.
Nominal GDP for the culture sector increased 10.3% in 2022. Live performance was the fastest growing domain (+27.2%), followed by heritage and libraries (+15.7%). These domains saw increased activity as COVID-19-related attendance restrictions, previously in place, were phased out over the course of 2022.
These same two domains, alongside the audio-visual and interactive media domain, led job growth for the culture sector, which added 58,773 jobs (+9.2%) in 2022.
The sport sector also saw significant growth, with nominal GDP increasing 11.9% in 2022 compared with 2021. Meanwhile, employment in sport increased 16.4% to 95,551 jobs. The organized sport domain added 9,702 jobs in the year, up 31.1% as attendance at sporting venues returned to pre-pandemic levels.
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.
Revisions
Alongside the release of the fourth quarter of 2022, data for the first, second and third quarters of 2022 have been revised.
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 to make 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 unless otherwise stated.
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.
Information about which products are incorporated into each subdomain is available in the Canadian Culture Satellite Account methodology.
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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