Capacity reductions, venue closures and other government-imposed COVID-19 measures have catapulted Canada’s performing arts sector into a major financial setback in 2020.
Posted at 5:58 p.m.
In a report released this week, Statistics Canada says efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the first year of the pandemic have driven revenues in this sector to their lowest level since the federal agency began collecting data. these data, in 2014.
Overall, operating revenue for the performing arts industry fell 31% to $1.8 billion from $2.6 billion in 2018, the last year for which these data were available.
The hardest hit were the for-profit businesses in the performing arts group, which saw their operating revenue plummet 39.7% to $942 million, which the agency attributed in part to the disruption of international tourism and restrictions on domestic travel.
Businesses in Quebec were the hardest hit by revenue declines, followed by Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The four provinces together account for nearly 95% of industry revenues.
Nonprofits have also faced financial setbacks, though the report notes that the impact was mitigated by support from government grants.
Their revenues fell by 166.3 million, mainly due to the evaporation of ticket sales at the box office, which fell by 113.7 million. Subscription sales fell by 31 million.
At the same time, these nonprofits became more dependent on grants, donations, corporate sponsorships and fundraising, which provided 62% of operating revenue, compared to 46.1% in 2018, according to data released on Monday.
To mitigate the decline in show ticket sales revenue, some companies have started streaming live events online, or selling passes to view pre-recorded shows, which has helped boost e-commerce sales. , which accounted for nearly 24% of all sales revenue.