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The Impact of the Arts

Colourful swirls in a pattern.

Let鈥檚 tell the arts impact story together.

Whether you’re a leader in the arts, an artist, or arts fan, you know the arts matter to Canadians. You might want to communicate this to decision makers, community leaders, and your audiences. But where to begin?

Key impacts of the arts

To get you started, we’ve put together some key impacts of the arts on the economy, society, and health and wellbeing, below. Use these points in a way that makes sense to you—adding details about the impact of the arts in your community.

The arts make a vital contribution to the economy

  • The culture sector contributes nearly $60 billion towards Canada鈥檚 Gross Domestic Product (GDP).1
  • Almost 850,000 people work in cultural jobs in Canada. This is similar to the workforce in hospitals and more than two times larger than that on farms.2
  • Arts and culture tourism has triple the economic impact of other types of tourism.3

The arts strengthen society

  • Arts and culture participation boosts civic engagement, democracy, and social cohesion.4
  • People who participate in arts and culture feel a stronger sense of belonging in Canada.5
  • Arts and culture education improves students’ academic performance.6

The arts improve health and wellbeing

  • The World Health Organization found the arts play a major role in preventing, managing, and treating illnesses, as well as promoting health and wellbeing.7
  • The arts can significantly reduce stress—after spending as little as 30 minutes with art.8
  • The overall health of Canadians is strongly linked to their participation in arts, culture, and heritage activities.9

You can find some facts on the Canada Council for the Arts’ impact by the numbers here.

1 Statistics Canada, Provincial and Territorial Cultural Indicators, 2022.

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3

4 European Commission: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture and Hammonds, W., Culture and democracy, the evidence – How citizens’ participation in cultural activities enhances civic engagement, democracy and social cohesion – Lessons from international research, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023, .

5 Nanos Research (Nanos for Business / Arts and the NAC), Culture track : Canada, 2024 .

6 UNESCO. Arts education: an investment in quality learning. UNESCO Publishing, 2023. .

7 .

8 Grossi, E., Blessi, G. T., & Sacco, P. L. , 2019.

9 Hill Strategies Research inc., Canadians’ Arts Participation, Health, and Well-Being, 2021.