The Montreal Arts Council published a statistical portrait of Montreal artists on Tuesday. Professional artists represent 1.8% of the city's workforce, compared to 0.9% for the Quebec average and 1% for the Canadian average.
According to these data, in Montreal 20,900 people work professionally in an artistic field, or approximately one in every two artists in the artistic community in Quebec.
The entire arts, culture and heritage sector employs 91,000 people in Montreal, or 8% of the active population. This is double the averages in Quebec and Canada.
Although a large number of artists live in Montreal, they nonetheless earn less than other workers, according to this report. Montreal artists had an average career income of $17,400 in 2020, compared to $35,600 for others.
However, income statements should be treated with a degree of caution, as they were taken in the calendar year 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, when the cultural sector was hit hard by lockdowns.
Montreal is notable for the number of artists who have chosen to live and create there
noted in a press release Nathalie Meili, General Director of the Arts Council of Montreal.
However, we still see that artists live in precarious conditions. It is our collective responsibility to better support our artists in order to maximize the positive impacts of their invaluable contribution to our society.
she added.
“Music guru. Incurable web practitioner. Thinker. Lifelong zombie junkie. Tv buff. Typical organizer. Evil beer scholar.”
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