Business Case for Arts Investment
Calgary Aboriginal Urban Affairs Committee (CAUAC). White Goose Flying Calls to Action. Calgary. 2016.
This report outlines the relevant calls to action for The City of Calgary from the Final Report of
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015).
Calls to action most relate to the Arts:
● #69.iii: support public awareness programming in libraries, museums & archives (working with libraries & museums).
● #82: establish monument / #83: create collaborative art that contributes to reconciliation
Conference Board of Canada, The. Economic and Strategic Impact of Calgary's Creative Industries.
Retrieved 2019, from calgaryartsdevelopment.com. 2019
“Creative products, produced by creative industries, directly supported the employment of just
under 24,000 people in Calgary in 2016, earning $1.6 billion in labour income and directly
contributed over $2.1 billion in local GDP in the same year.”
About 7.3 million volunteer hours by 49,500 people were generated for arts and cultural
organizations in 2017. Equivalent to 3,670 full-time jobs and an economic value of $204 million.
Average labour productivity of the arts sector is considered high, at just over $90,000 of GDP per
job.
Tourists that are attracted by creative industries spent about $71 million on arts and culture goods and services in 2016.
Calgary Economic Development. Creative Industries. Retrieved 2019, from calgaryeconomicdevelopment.com. 2019
Creative Industries are seen as emerging & growth clusters for Calgary’s economy going
forward. Including things such as Film & Television, Interactive Digital Media,
There are currently 4,424 creative industries businesses in Calgary, there are 24,000 people
employed in the creative industries sector in Calgary, and there are 3,200 creative and film
industries post-secondary graduates annually.
Calgary Economic Development. Economic Impact Study: Calgary’s Creative Industries. 2018
In 2016:
● Calgary’s GDP impact from creative industries = $2.1B (2016). $3.8B when including
indirect impact (e.g. supply chain linkages) and through the “re-spending of wages by
workers in both the creative and supply chain industries”.
● Tourists spent about $71 million on “creative industries goods and services”.
Naylor, M., Fraser, P. Community engaged arts practice with seniors: a startup guide. Arts Health
Network Canada. 2016.
Research conducted within our project proves that community-engaged arts programs promote
the health, well-being and social inclusion of older adults (page 2).
At a time when the number of seniors is growing rapidly, and when isolation and marginalization
amongst the elderly is increasing, this model of seniors’ arts programming is of particular social,
cultural and economic value (page 2).
The Arts & Health Project established a partnership with the University of British Columbia
Schools of Nursing, Audiology and Speech Sciences to assess the health and well-being impacts
on seniors participating in the project during its first 3 years. The data collected shows that a
significant number of participants experienced improvement in their health, a reduction in their
experience of chronic pain, and an increased sense of community (page 5).
● Increased social connections and belonging were recurring themes in focus group
discussions and within quantitative measurements.
2019 City of Calgary Citizen Satisfaction Research and Insights Presentation November 12, 2019
Of the total Calgarians surveyed, 80% of respondents say support for arts and culture are important to them
and 85% of them are satisfied with the City's investment in this area with 24% wanting more investment vs
52% believe that the current level of investment is appropriate. (page 19)