FEDERAL SPENDING ON ARTS & CULTURE

Ten years of inequitable investment

The text and tables below appear in a report by the Regional Cultural Plan Steering Committee, a group of municipal cultural planners from Greater Vancouver. In December 1999, the Steering Committee released an updated report of federal government spending on arts and culture in British Columbia. The committee based the report on data taken from Statistics Canada’s Government Expenditures on Culture (reported annually).

The following information is available thanks to the Steering Committee’s efforts and research.

"The national distribution of federal spending on culture is significantly disproportionate across the country (see Table 1). In 1997–98, the national average was $76.89 per capita; BC received only $26.43 per capita spending — 34% of the national average. BC ranks ninth out of the ten provinces."

Table 1

Per Capita Federal Government Spending on Culture
1997–98, by Province (current dollars)

    Per capita % of spending....National average....Ranking

PEI....................153.74....................200%.....................1

QC.....................107.60...................140%.....................2

ON......................98.17....................128%.....................3

NS......................81.26.....................106%.....................4

NF......................49.09.......................64%.....................5

MN.....................47.11........................61%....................6

NB.....................42.28........................55%.....................7

SK.....................26.79........................35%.....................8

BC.....................26.43........................34%...................9

AB....................19.98.........................26%....................10

National average 76.89

Canada 81.37

Source: Statistics Canada

"Looking back over the last 11 years, it is clear that this underfunding has been a persistent problem (see … Table 2). BC has consistently received less than half of the national average in federal per capita spending."

Table 2

Per Capita Federal Spending on Culture, 1987–98
BC and National Average Compared (constant 1992$)

Per capita support......BC as % of National average.......National average

 

1987–88...................34.96.........98.09..............35.6%

1988–89...................43.69.........97.87..............44.6%

1989–90...................39.24.........98.57..............39.8%

1990–91...................37.72.........93.45..............40.4%

1991–92...................33.94.........88.17..............38.5%

1992–93...................35.15.........86.98..............40.4%

1993–94...................34.49.........83.48..............41.3%

1994–95...................31.75.........83.22..............38.2%

1995–96...................27.30.........77.00..............35.5%

1996–97...................27.18.........74.79..............36.3%

1997–98...................24.57.........70.79..............34.7%


Source: Statistics Canada

"Every arts discipline, cultural industry, and heritage sector in BC receives below the national average, except one, visual arts and crafts, which is the lowest funded of the arts disciplines and receives just one penny above the (low) national average in BC. Table 3 illustrates the pervasiveness of this underfunding."

Table 3
Per Capita Federal Government Spending to Each Discipline
1997–98, BC and National Average Compared (current dollars)

Per capita support......BC as % of National average.....National average

Broadcasting................9.95...........44.37............................22%

Film and video..............8.61.............9.87...........................87%

Performing arts.............1.87............3.62............................52%

Historic parks & sites.....1.41..........2.34...........................60%

Literary arts..................1.37............1.85............................74%

Multidisciplinary............1.05............1.88...........................56%

Other heritage...............0.72...........3.49............................21%

Visual arts and crafts.....0.50...........0.49...........................103%

Museums......................0.50...........5.71..............................9%

Sound recording.............0.28...........0.31...........................90%

Public archives...............0.16..........1.63.............................10%

Multiculturalism..............0.02..........0.03.............................59%

Libraries........................0.01..........1.05................................1%

Other...........................–0.26................................................0%

Total.........................26.43...........76.89.............................34%

 

National Average: Total federal spending that was allocated by province

Source: Statistics Canada

Interested in reading the entire Steering Committee report? Click here to download a copy of Federal Government Expenditures on Culture in British Columbia, 1987–98 (PDF format) from the City of Vancouver’s Office of Cultural Affairs website.