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Canada's Arts Workers Add Enormous Value But Continue to Struggle

According to a newly-released statistical profile, Canada's arts workers outnumber those directly employed by the Canadian automotive sector (140,000 versus 135,000) but earn much less than the overall labour force despite having more education.

The study reports that, in general, artists are working for near-poverty-level wages, with average annual earnings in 2005 of just $22,731 compared with $36,301 for all Canadian workers - a wage gap of 37 percent.

I think I'm an actor because I have very strong imagination and empathy. I never studied acting, but those two qualities are exactly the qualities that make for an activist.

—Susan Sarandon

Artists' income levels have fallen since 1990, with actors experiencing the sharpest decline in average earnings among artists, dropping 34 percent by 2005.

• Hill Strategies Study
• Globe and Mail Article: "Starving artists? That's not far from the mark"