Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Provincial government spending on the arts and culture in Sask. in 2007-2008
Prepared for the Saskatchewan Arts Alliance by Hill Strategies Research May 5, 2010
This report examines provincial government spending on the arts and culture in Saskatchewan, with comparisons to other provinces. The calculations are based on Statistics Canada’s 2007/08 data on Government Expenditures on Culture, available at http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/87f0001x/87f0001x2010001-eng.htm.
Statistics Canada surveyed all provincial “departments, ministries, agencies, commissions, boards, special funds and government business enterprises responsible for the support of arts and culture in Canada”.
The data includes various cultural areas (arts, cultural industries, libraries, heritage and other) and spending categories (operating expenses, capital expenses, operating grants and capital grants). According to Statistics’ Canada’s definitions, tax credits are not included ("Excluded are expenditures not requiring a cash outlay").
After outlining key definitions in Statistics Canada data, the report includes sections on total provincial government spending on culture, spending on the arts and cultural industries, spending on specific cultural line items, grants to the arts and culture, changes since 2003/04, and detailed tables.
To calculate per-capita figures, population figures for July 1, 2007 were used. At that time, the Saskatchewan population was 999,700. The population figures are available from Statistics Canada at http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/demo02a-eng.htm.
Section 1: Definitions
Statistics Canada’s definitions of government spending on culture, especially specific cultural areas, are very particular and should be kept in mind when reading the results.
The grouping of cultural areas in this report is:
a) arts (arts education + performing arts + visual arts and crafts)
b) cultural industries (literary arts/publishing + film and video + broadcasting + sound recording)
c) heritage (museums + public archives + historic parks and sites + nature/provincial parks + other heritage)
d) libraries
e) other (multiculturalism + multidisciplinary + other)
Arts education includes “expenditures associated with the teaching of the arts both at national schools (such as the National Ballet School in Toronto and the National Theatre School in Montreal) and at arts institutions (such as Holland College of Visual Arts, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Ontario College of Art, Kootenay School of Art, Emily Carr College of Art and Design, Mennonite Brethren Bible/Art College and conservatories of music and dramatic arts). Excluded are expenditures associated with the teaching of the arts at educational institutions (elementary and secondary schools, and college and university institutions).”
The performing arts include “theatre, dance, music and opera. Included are expenditures related to creation, production and performance. Also included is the financial support given to performing arts organizations, associations and groups.”
“Activities traditionally labelled ‘visual arts and crafts’ include painting, sculpture, plastic arts, photography, fine and decorative arts, and craft works. Included are expenditures on activities related to the actual creation and production of works of art and crafts. Also included is the financial support given to organizations and institutions for activities related to visual arts and crafts, such as grants to art galleries which hold temporary exhibits or travelling shows of works of art.” Operating grants to most art galleries are not included here but are included with museums.
Provincial government spending on culture includes:
a) direct operating expenditures
+ b) direct capital expenditures
+ c) operating grants, contributions and transfers to other organizations (including funding of arts and culture organizations)
+ d) capital grants, contributions and transfers to other organizations
Direct operating expenditures include wages, salaries, benefits, and purchases of goods and services.
Direct capital expenditures include “expenditures on goods with a normal life of more than one year, expenses associated with the construction and acquisition of land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and expenses associated with extraordinary building repairs.”
Operating grants, contributions and transfers include financial assistance that is not for capital development or acquisition.
Capital grants, contributions and transfers included grants and transfers made to finance the acquisition of capital assets.
For additional definitions used by Statistics Canada, please see http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/87f0001x/2010001/part-partie5-eng.htm
Section 2: Total provincial government spending on culture
Overall Saskatchewan provincial spending on culture was $139.1 million in 2007/08. This figure includes direct spending on the arts, cultural industries, libraries, heritage and other cultural activities.
Saskatchewan’s per capita spending level ($139) ranks 2nd among the provinces, just behind neighbouring Manitoba ($144).
In comparison, federal government spending on culture in Saskatchewan was $49.8 million in 2007/08. On a per capita basis, federal spending equals $50 per Saskatchewanian, ranking 9th among the provinces (ahead of only British Columbia: $48).
In Saskatchewan, municipal governments spent $91.8 million on culture in 2007/08. The large majority of this spending ($70.6 million) was on libraries. On a per capita basis, municipal spending equals $92 per Saskatchewanian, ranking 1st among the provinces.
When all three levels of government are combined, a total of $280.7 million was spent on culture in Saskatchewan in 2007/08, or $281 per capita. This ranks 3rd among the provinces.
Section 3: Provincial government spending on the arts and cultural industries
This section examines direct provincial government spending on two key cultural areas: the arts and cultural industries. In this report, the arts include arts education, performing arts and visual arts and crafts. The cultural industries include film and video, literary arts/publishing, broadcasting, and sound recording.
Overall funding for the arts and cultural industries is relatively high
In Saskatchewan, total provincial spending on the arts and cultural industries was $41.6 million in 2007/08.
On a per capita basis, Saskatchewan provincial funding of the arts and cultural industries – $42 per person – is 2nd among the 10 provinces. Only Quebec has higher provincial per capita funding of the arts and cultural industries ($48).
Relatively low arts spending and high cultural industries spending
In Saskatchewan, spending on the arts is much lower than spending on the cultural industries. Saskatchewan provincial spending on the arts was $8.6 million in 2007/08, compared with $32.9 million in provincial spending on the cultural industries.
On a per capita basis, $9 per person of Saskatchewan government spending goes towards the arts, while $33 is allocated to the cultural industries.
The $9 of provincial per capita arts spending in Saskatchewan ranks 6th among the 10 provinces, behind neighbours Manitoba ($10 per capita) and Alberta ($26 per capita). Saskatchewan’s level is ahead of only New Brunswick ($7), B.C. ($5), Ontario ($5), and PEI ($4).
The provincial governments with the highest per capita spending on the arts are Alberta ($26 per capita), Quebec ($25) and Newfoundland and Labrador ($22).
The average of all 10 provinces is $13 per capita. In order to bring Saskatchewan’s provincial arts funding level up to the average, an additional $4.2 million investment in the arts would be required (a 48% increase from the current $8.6 million).
Regarding the cultural industries, Saskatchewan’s $33 in provincial per capita spending is the highest level in Canada. Quebec ranks second at $23 per person, and PEI ranks third at $12 per capita.
Among the cultural industries “line items”, $22 million was spent on film and video in Saskatchewan. This is the second-largest absolute funding level for film and video among the provinces and is the highest provincial per capita spending for this line item ($22 per capita).
Other combinations of “arts” spending
The above definitions of “arts” and “cultural industries” conform to standard Statistics Canada practice. However, some other categories include artistic components, such as support for art galleries in the museums category (within heritage), authors in the literary arts/publishing category, and filmmakers in the film and video category.
a) If arts and museum spending is grouped together, the Saskatchewan per capita figure is very low ($19), ranking 9th among the provinces, ahead of only PEI ($12).
b) If arts and literary arts/publishing spending is grouped together, the Saskatchewan per capita figure is $10, ranking 6th among the provinces.
c) If spending on both the literary arts/publishing and museums is grouped with the arts, the Saskatchewan per capita figure of $20 would rank 8th among the provinces.
d) If film and video funding is added to arts spending, Saskatchewan would rank quite highly compared with other provinces. Saskatchewan’s spending on the arts, film and video amounts to $31 per person, ranking 3rd among the provinces (slightly behind Alberta and Quebec).
Section 4: Provincial government spending on cultural line items
The question in this section is: For which cultural line items does Saskatchewan have particularly low or high provincial funding?
Readers are cautioned that the interpretation of individual line item data is subject to more potential errors than the previous analysis because of the greater likelihood of respondents not fully understanding the line-item definitions or simply responding incorrectly.
Line items with below-average provincial per capita spending
In Saskatchewan, provincial spending on the performing arts ($3.16 per person) is less than half of the national average ($6.73).
Provincial spending on arts education is low in Saskatchewan ($0.77 per person) compared with the national average of $3.79. Readers should note that the Statistics Canada definition of arts education is very particular and excludes most spending in formal educational settings. “Included are expenditures associated with the teaching of the arts both at national schools (such as the National Ballet School in Toronto and the National Theatre School in Montreal) and at arts institutions (such as Holland College of Visual Arts, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Ontario College of Art, Kootenay School of Art, Emily Carr College of Art and Design, Mennonite Brethren Bible/Art College and conservatories of music and dramatic arts). Excluded are expenditures associated with the teaching of the arts at educational institutions (elementary and secondary schools, and college and university institutions).”
Provincial spending on museums is also relatively low in Saskatchewan ($9.93 per person) compared with the national average of $16.01.
Line items with above-average provincial per capita spending
As noted above, film and video receives $22 per capita, the highest provincial per capita spending for this line item and well above the national average of $4.
Overall heritage spending is high in Saskatchewan ($45 per capita compared with the national average of $26). This is largely due to particularly high spending on nature/provincial parks ($25 per capita in Saskatchewan compared to the national average of just $2).
Provincial spending on libraries is above the national average ($38 in Saskatchewan compared with $30 nationwide).
Section 5: Provincial government grants, transfers and contributions to the arts and culture
This section examines provincial government grants, transfers and contributions to organizations and individuals in the arts and culture. While, in theory, capital grants are included (along with operating and project grants), Saskatchewan provincial capital grants were only $100,000 (to museums) in 2007/08. The figures for all cultural areas (arts + cultural industries + libraries + heritage + other) are followed by a breakdown by cultural area.
Saskatchewan provincial grants to culture totaled $84.2 million in 2007/08.
Saskatchewan’s per capita granting level ($84) ranks 2nd among the provinces, behind only Manitoba ($97) and ahead of Quebec ($71) and Newfoundland and Labrador ($69).
Overall granting for the arts and cultural industries is relatively high
Saskatchewan provincial granting for the arts and cultural industries was $30.7 million in 2007/08.
On a per capita basis, Saskatchewan provincial government grants to the arts and cultural industries – $31 per person – rank 1st among the 10 provinces.
Quebec ranks 2nd in terms of per capita provincial government grants to the arts and cultural industries ($29).
Much lower grants to the arts than to the cultural industries
In Saskatchewan, provincial arts grants were $6.9 million in 2007/08.
On a per capita basis, provincial government grants to the arts were $7 (including arts education, performing arts, and visual arts and crafts).
The $7 per capita in provincial arts granting in Saskatchewan ranks 5th among the 10 provinces, behind Alberta ($16 per capita), Quebec (also $16), Nova Scotia ($12) and Manitoba ($10).
The national average of arts grants is $9 per capita, or $2 higher than the Saskatchewan figure. In order to bring Saskatchewan’s provincial arts grants up to the average of all 10 provinces, an additional $2.1 million in arts grants would be required.
Saskatchewan provincial grants to the cultural industries (including literary arts/publishing, film and video, broadcasting, and sound recording) are nearly three-and-a-half times the value of arts grants. Provincial cultural industries grants were $23.8 million in 2007/08, compared with $6.9 million in arts grants.
On a per capita basis, provincial government grants to the cultural industries were $24, the highest level in Canada (and well ahead of the $13 per capita in second-ranked Quebec).
Almost all of the cultural industries granting went to film and video ($22.0 million, or $22 per capita). This is by far the highest provincial per capita granting for this line item.
Other combinations of “arts” grants
As was the case with the overall spending figures, it is interesting to examine other combinations of arts grants, because other cultural line items include artistic components, such as support for art galleries in the museums category, authors in the literary arts/publishing category, and filmmakers in the film and video category.
a) If arts and museum grants are grouped together, the Saskatchewan per capita figure is $14, ranking 6th among the provinces.
b) If grants for the arts and the literary arts/publishing are grouped together, the Saskatchewan per capita figure is $8, ranking 5th among the provinces.
c) If grants to both the literary arts/publishing and museums are combined with grants to the arts, the Saskatchewan per capita figure of $16 would rank 6th among the provinces.
d) If film and video grants are added to arts grants, Saskatchewan would rank 1st among the provinces. Saskatchewan provincial grants to the arts, film and video amount to $29 per person.
Section 6: Changes since 2003/04
This section examines changes in government spending on the arts and culture between 2003/04 and 2007/08.
Before adjusting for inflation, overall Saskatchewan provincial spending on culture increased from $94.3 million in 2003/04 to $139.1 million in 2007/08, a 47% increase. These figures include direct spending on the arts, cultural industries, libraries, heritage and other cultural activities.
After adjusting for inflation, overall Saskatchewan provincial spending on culture increased by 36% (from $102.3 million in 2003/04 to $139.1 million in 2007/08). This 2003/04 figure was adjusted upwards to be equal to its post-inflation value as of 2007/08.
After adjusting for inflation, Saskatchewan’s per capita spending level increased from $103 in 2003/04 to $139 in 2007/08. Saskatchewan’s ranking among the provinces increased from 3rd to 2nd during this period.
Increase in provincial spending on the arts
Between 2003/04 and 2007/08, provincial government spending on the arts increased substantially but grew by much less than spending on the cultural industries.
Before adjusting for inflation, Saskatchewan provincial spending on the arts rose from $5.7 million in 2003/04 to $8.6 million in 2007/08, a 52% increase. These figures include direct spending on arts education, performing arts and visual arts and crafts.
After adjusting for inflation, overall Saskatchewan provincial spending on the arts increased by 40% (from $6.1 million in 2003/04 to $8.6 million in 2007/08). The 2003/04 figure was adjusted upwards to be equal to its post-inflation value as of 2007/08.
After adjusting for inflation, Saskatchewan’s per capita spending on the arts increased from just over $6 in 2003/04 to just under $9 in 2007/08. Saskatchewan’s ranking among the provinces increased from 7th to 6th during this period.
Substantial increase in spending on the cultural industries, especially film
Before adjusting for inflation, Saskatchewan provincial spending on the cultural industries increased from $19.2 million in 2003/04 to $32.9 million in 2007/08, a 72% increase. These figures include direct spending on film and video, literary arts/publishing, broadcasting, and sound recording.
After adjusting for inflation, overall Saskatchewan provincial spending on the cultural industries increased by 58% (from $20.8 million in 2003/04 to $32.9 million in 2007/08). The 2003/04 figure was adjusted upwards to be equal to its post-inflation value as of 2007/08.
After adjusting for inflation, Saskatchewan’s per capita spending on the cultural industries increased from $21 in 2003/04 to $33 in 2007/08. Saskatchewan’s ranking among the provinces increased from 2nd (behind Quebec) to 1st during this period.
Film and video saw a very large increase in government spending. Between 2003/04 and 2007/08, provincial spending on film and video doubled from $11.0 million to $22.0 million (before adjusting for inflation). After adjusting for inflation, provincial spending on film and video increased by 85% (from $11.9 million in 2003/04 to $22.0 million in 2007/08).
Section 7: Detailed tablesTable 1: Provincial / territorial spending on culture by category (in thousands of dollars)
Province Arts Cultural
industries Libraries Heritage Other Total NL $11,006 $1,499 $26,993 $20,518 $2,965 $62,980 PEI $540 $1,634 $6,783 $5,708 $1,425 $16,090 NS $11,364 $4,945 $30,402 $32,169 $3,772 $82,652 NB $5,576 $3,588 $27,763 $22,584 $5,052 $64,561 QC $192,902 $176,425 $240,902 $180,785 $112,995 $904,008 ON $63,279 $80,833 $271,894 $258,186 $27,558 $701,749 MB $11,638 $5,418 $54,515 $88,691 $11,907 $172,169 SK $8,612 $32,947 $37,881 $44,788 $14,874 $139,101 AB $91,448 $20,937 $107,805 $83,782 $22,256 $326,228 BC $23,283 $17,971 $161,093 $92,761 $33,486 $328,594 YT $751 $712 $2,684 $9,939 $2,994 $17,078 NT n/a $428 $2,124 $6,667 $983 $10,202 NU n/a $153 $1,205 $1,729 $2,299 $5,386 Canada $420,396 $347,491 $972,043 $848,307 $242,563 $2,830,800Table 2: Provincial / territorial per capita spending on culture by category (in thousands of dollars)
Province Arts Cultural
industries Libraries Heritage Other Total NL $22 $3 $53 $41 $6 $124 PEI $4 $12 $49 $41 $10 $117 NS $12 $5 $32 $34 $4 $88 NB $7 $5 $37 $30 $7 $87 QC $25 $23 $31 $24 $15 $118 ON $5 $6 $21 $20 $2 $55 MB $10 $5 $46 $74 $10 $144 SK $9 $33 $38 $45 $15 $139 AB $26 $6 $31 $24 $6 $93 BC $5 $4 $37 $22 $8 $76 YT $23 $22 $82 $305 $92 $524 NT $n/a $10 $49 $153 $23 $235 NU $n/a $5 $38 $55 $73 $172 Canada $13 $11 $30 $26 $7 $86Table 3: Ranking of provincial per capita spending on culture by category
Province Arts Cultural
industries Libraries Heritage Other Total NL 3 9 53 7 10 5 PEI 8 10 49 1 3 4 NS 4 6 32 5 9 9 NB 6 8 37 4 7 6 QC 1 1 31 6 1 1 ON 9 3 21 9 8 10 MB 5 4 46 2 2 2 SK 7 2 38 3 5 3 AB 2 7 31 8 4 8 BC 10 5 37 10 6 7 YT Excluded from the provincial rankings NT NU Canada
