Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics

The Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics (CFCS) 2011 was developed by Statistics Canada in consultation with the Department of Canadian Heritage and other culture stakeholders.1 The framework consists of two elements. The first, articulated in Conceptual Framework for Culture Statistics 2011 publications, provides standard concepts, definitions and classifications for consistent and comparable statistics on culture. The second is detailed in the publications titled Classification Guide for the Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics 2011 and are a supporting guide which maps the classification systems used in Statistics Canada (e.g. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), North American Product Classification System (NAPCS), and National Occupational Classification- Statistics (NOC-S)) to the framework.


Culture can be very broadly defined and include for example, religious and spiritual practices and political ideologies and processes. However, these notions of culture are too broad for establishing boundaries when defining culture for statistical purposes. In Canada, culture is defined as “creative, artistic activity and the goods and services produced by it, and the preservation of heritage.”2 Another useful conceptual construct from the CFCS is the notion of the “creative chain” (see Figure 1 below) which is defined as the “series of steps by which a culture good or service is created, developed, perhaps manufactured, and distributed or made available to end-users.”3


Figure 1:   Basic creative chain for culture goods and services

Description for Figure 1

Figure 1 shows the distinct steps of the “creative chain”. There are two rows of boxes. On the first row, there are three arrows between four boxes; from creation to production, then production to dissemination and dissemination to use. On the second row there is one arrow between two boxes; from supply to demand.


Taken together, the definition of culture activity and the creative chain for culture goods and services imply a range of activities and related transactions reflected both implicitly and explicitly already in the CSMA. In this context, these activities translate into production of certain products taking place in certain industries and sectors of the economy. For instance, an author engages in creative, artistic activity by writing a manuscript of a novel on contract to a book publisher, who in turn purchases design services for a cover from a graphics design firm. Further activities involve the publisher transforming the manuscript into a book, managing copyright and licensed materials and producing copies including already copyrighted or licensed materials, for distribution through wholesalers to retailers (dissemination, in Figure 1). Retailers in turn sell the book to consumers (final demand or use). This example illustrates that while not all of the activities included in the chain are creative (e.g., dissemination), all of them add value to the culture product as it goes through the various stages of production.


The CFCS uses its own unique categories for conceptual and measurement purposes. These categories are referred to as domains and sub-domains. The product perspective is a construct that presents culture and sports estimates from the perspective of the creative chain. It is the re-grouping of products similar in purpose even though these products may be dispersed across various NAICS. Hence the written and published works domain would include all the economic activities from the creation to the final product available to consumers. There are six culture domains in total. A sub-domain is a subset of a domain and can be used to identify a number of related industries, products and occupations. For example, ‘books’ is a sub-domain within the Written and Published Works domain.


According to the CFCS, sub-domains are further disaggregated into: Core culture and Ancillary culture. Core culture sub-domains produce goods and services that are the result of creative artistic activity (e.g., books, works of art and crafts) and whose main purpose is the transmission of an intellectual or cultural concept, whereas ancillary culture sub-domains produce goods and services that are the result of creative artistic activity (e.g., designs, architectural plans), but whose primary purpose is not the transmission of an intellectual or cultural concept.


The CFCS also provides two transversal domains: Education and Training4 as well as Governance, Funding and Professional Support.5 Generally, a transversal domain supports all culture domains, including each of their sub-domains and allows for movement along the creative chain. For example, this would include training or educational programs for culture professionals or funding for cultural or sport programs. Industries and products within transversal domains are not fundamentally culture but they are an integral part of culture since culture domains could not exist without them. As such, the Framework recommends the inclusion of transversal domains in the measurement of culture. The transversal domains produce goods and services that support all core and ancillary culture sub-domains and are often referred to as “crosscutting domains”. Education and Training, and Governance, Funding and Professional Support are both examples of CFCS transversal domains.6


In the CSA, a third transversal domain has been added for practical reasons - called the Multi-domain. This transversal domain includes five industries where each industry contains some culture content that affects more than one main culture domain. Currently in the CFCS, several culture industries are not associated with any culture domains and sub-domains: the culture portion of convention and trade show organizers; internet publishing and broadcasting and web search portal industries. These culture industries all affect more than one culture domain but cannot be easily allocated to a single domain, so they have been aggregated together into the “Multi-domain.”7


The CFCS also includes two Infrastructure domains: the Mediating products and Physical infrastructure domains. For example, the Mediating products domain includes products such as software, computers, MP3 players and eBook Readers which, although not considered culture products, help users experience and consume culture. The Physical infrastructure domain covers physical venues such as concert halls or buildings, recording or film studios and training centres that enable the creation or use of the culture products. These domains have been excluded from the CSA as they are not directly related in the creation of culture products but support the production and consumption of culture output.

Notes.

This section presents a quick overview of the Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics, for more detailed discussion, concept and definitions see Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics 2011.

1. For more information see Acknowledgements page in the CFCS 2011.
2. CFCS 2011.
3. For more information on creative chain, more examples see the Conceptual framework for Cultural Statistics 2011, Statistics Canada catalogue 87-542 no.2.
4. Education includes the culture portion of expenditures by government in colleges, CEGEPs, universities, trade schools and fine arts schools.
5. The support domain includes among others the culture portion of consolidated government expenditures. For example, federal funding for libraries, art galleries and museums as well broadcasting.
6. Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics (CFCS) 2011.
7. Table 1.1, Classification guide, Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics 2011, Catalogue 87-542 no.002.

Report a problem on this page

Is something not working? Is there information outdated? Can't find what you're looking for?

Please contact us and let us know how we can help you.

Privacy notice

Date modified: