Toronto Artists

There are more artists in Toronto than any other Canadian city.
1.6% of the labour force.

And we have 40% of the artists in Ontario. Our working artist population is mostly actors and producers, followed closely by writers and conductors.

Though the stats probably only include the ones who get paid.

And the artists here earn the most, too. Nothing massive - 34,100$ a year on average, but that's enough to live on. Right? I'd be more excited about the industry growth (35% in TO over the past ten years) if the income increased, too. Half the actors I know who work still have to wait tables.

A little depressing though, since 40% of les artistes have university degrees or diplomas, which is about double that of the rest of the work force (22%).

Montreal and Vancouver are the other artistic hotspots - Montreal has more artists, with the highest average earnings compared to the average city earnings, and Vancouver has the highest percentage of residents in the arts.

Hill Strategies conducted the study for the Canadian Council for the Arts, Department of Canadian Heritage and the Ontario Arts Council.