18,000 professional artists in Alberta

In December 2023, Hill Strategies Research Inc. released data on the profile of professional artists in Alberta in their Statistical Insights on the Arts series.

Based on the 2021 census, the post examines the number and incomes of artists in Alberta. The post also provides a brief summary of the situation of cultural workers in Alberta.

How many artists are in Alberta?

There are 18,100 artists in Alberta, representing 9% of the 202,900 professional artists in Canada.

Artists in Alberta represent 0.7% of the 2.4 million workers in the province. One in every 134 Alberta workers is an artist!

Working conditions and education

The post provides three measures of artists’ incomes: employment income, personal income, and household income.

• Employment income shows work-related earnings of artists. In 2020 the median employment income of Alberta artists was $10,700, about a quarter of the median employment income of all Alberta workers ($45,200).
• Personal income includes all sources of income. In 2020, the median personal income of Alberta artists was $28,000, 47% below that of all Alberta workers ($53,200).
• Household income provides a measure of the family situation of artists. In 2020 the median household income of Alberta artists was $100,000, 21% lower than that of all Alberta workers ($126,000).

The median, or midpoint, of the data is used as it provides a better indication of the typical situation of professional artists than the average. It should be noted that income statistics in the 2021 census relate to the 2020 calendar year.

• 72% of Alberta artists are self-employed, nearly five times higher than the percentage of all Alberta workers (16%).
• 40% of Alberta artists have a bachelor’s degree or higher, above the percentage of all Alberta workers (30%).

Demographics

• 62% of Alberta artists are women, higher than the proportions of all Alberta workers (47%).
• 35% of Alberta artists have a child at home, lower than the percentage of all Alberta workers (42%).
• 26% of Alberta artists are 55 years of age or older, somewhat higher than the proportion of all Alberta workers (23%).
• 6% of Alberta artists are Indigenous, equal to the proportion of all Alberta workers (6%).
• 17% of Alberta artists are members of racialized groups, below the percentage of all Alberta workers (27%).
• 18% of Alberta artists are immigrants to Canada, lower than the percentages of all Alberta workers (27%).
• 3.4% are French speakers, similar to the percentage of all Alberta workers (2.9%).
• About two-thirds of Alberta artists (65%) reside in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. While 11% of Alberta artists reside in rural areas, 11% reside in areas with populations between 30,000 and 100,000, and 9% reside in areas with populations under 30,000 (but which are not considered rural).

Artists in Alberta by discipline

Of the 18,100 artists in Alberta, here is how they are broken down by discipline:

• Musicians and singers: 21%
• Photographers: 15%
• Artisans and craftspeople: 13%
• Painters, sculptors, and other visual artists: 12%
• Writers: 12%
• Producers, directors, choreographers, and related occupations: 10%
• Dancers: 8%
• Actors, comedians, and circus performers: 6%
• Other performers: 4%
• Conductors, composers, and arrangers: 1%

Cultural Workers in Alberta

There are 80,600 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in Alberta, representing 3.3% of the province’s overall labour force. One in every 30 workers in Alberta has a cultural occupation.

In 2020, the median employment income of a cultural worker in Alberta was $37,600, 17% less than all Alberta workers ($45,200); the median personal income of a cultural worker in Alberta was $46,000, 14% less than all workers in the province ($53,200); and the median houseold income of a cultural worker in Alberta was $118,000, 6% less than all Alberta workers ($126,000).