A Hamilton-based researcher has found that about 30 percent of B.C.’s 39,700 artists are Indigenous or racialized. Hill Strategies founder Kelly Hill drew this conclusion from customized data obtained through Statistics Canada’s long-form census.
Of those39,700 artists, 1,800 are Indigenous and 10,000 are racialized, Hill noted in his company’s Statistical Insights on the Arts Substack page.
He also found that in 2020, the median personal income of Indigenous artists in B.C. from all sources was $25,600. That was 14 percent lower than the median personal income of $29,600 for non-Indigenous artists in B.C. in 2020.
The median personal income for racialized artists in B.C. that year was $26,600. That fell 13 percent short of the median personal income of $30,600 for non-racialized artists in B.C.
“Median incomes provide a better indication of the situation of a typical worker than the average (i.e., the ‘mean’), which is more strongly affected by a few individuals with very high incomes,” Hill emphasized.
He found similar income discrepancies in connection with arts leaders in B.C.
For example, Indigenous arts leaders’ median personal income in B.C. was $49,200 in the 2021 census, whereas the median personal income for non-Indigenous B.C. arts leaders was $58,400.
Hill also revealed that racialized B.C. arts leaders’ median personal income that year was $49,600, compared to $60,800 for non-racialized B.C. arts leaders.
Indigenous and racialized artists remain underrepresented
Moreover, the arts researcher discovered that there are lower percentages of Indigenous and racialized people working in arts compared to their presence in B.C.’s overall labour force.
“For example, Indigenous Peoples represent 5% of the province’s labour force, 4% of workers in cultural occupations, 4% of artists, and 3% of arts leaders,” he wrote. “Racialized workers represent 35% of the province’s labour force, 30% of workers in cultural occupations, 25% of artists, and 21% of arts leaders.”
Hill has already reported that B.C. has the highest proportion of artists in its labour force of any province.
He pointed out in his new article that census data was collected in May of 2021 and income data was from 2020. The World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 was a pandemic on March 15, 2020, which had a devastating impact on the performing arts.
The article for Statistical Insights on the Arts was prepared with support from the B.C. Arts Council and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. For more information, visit the Statistical Insights on the Arts Substack page.
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