Labour Force Survey

According to the Labour Force Survey, employment among performing arts, spectator sports and related industries declined for a third consecutive month in January 2022.

While employment rebounded across the Canadian economy in February, the live performance sector took another dive. Self-employed artists and technicians, who had managed to hold on thanks to emergency support, are most severely impacted.

Employment declined in most industries in December, including the arts sector and in cultural industries in December 2020.

Last week, Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland announced that certain “fiscal guardrails will help [the government] establish when the stimulus will be wound down.” One of these indicators – total hours worked – is particularly fitted to account for under-employment in sectors, such as the arts, t...Read More

New public health restrictions ordered by provincial governments in response to spiking COVID-19 cases impacted many industries in October. Those that were already among the hardest hit reported further job losses.

On September 22nd, nearly 700 venues lit up in red across the country to raise awareness of job losses among live event workers. As a matter of fact, all employment indicators in performing arts and entertainment industries once again fell in September.

While the Canadian economy is slowly recovering, another 6,600 live performance workers lost their job in August.

Nearly all arts, culture and heritage industries showed signs of recovery in July 2020. Employment in performing arts industries is still 23% below pre-COVID levels, but hours worked continued to rebound.

Performing arts companies saw the largest decrease in total hours worked in June 2020: -73,5%.