The Economic Impact of Culture
in Prince Edward Island
and in the Charlottetown Region
SUMMARY REPORT
January 2006
Prepared for:
City of Charlottetown
PEI Community & Cultural Affairs
PEI Business Development Inc.
Prepared by:
The IRIS Group
Wendy MacDonald & Associates
JP Consulting
Key Findings
• The economic impact on Prince Edward Island of the major arts, heritage, and culture sectors measured in this study was over $100 million in gross output in 2000. Those sectors include publishing, film and motion pictures, broadcasting, the performing arts, heritage, and the applied arts such as architecture and graphic design.
• This economic impact by the culture sector is similar in scale to the lobster harvest, or to tourism spending on accommodations, and only slightly less than the combined value of the livestock industries in PEI.
• The indirect and induced economic impacts (the “spin-offs”) of the culture sector mean that every $10 million increase in its gross output results in a $21.7 million expansion in the total economy.
• The culture sectors examined in the study employ 2,000 Islanders – of whom 1,200 or 60% work in the Charlottetown region. The culture sector accounts for 5% of the jobs in the Charlottetown region, and 3% province-wide.
• Although economic impact data was not available below the provincial level, Charlottetown’s number of jobs, and its relatively higher share of year-round jobs, suggests that at least 60%, or $60 million, of the culture sector’s gross output is in the Charlottetown region.
• When one takes into account additional culture sectors for which separate economic impact data was not available to this study – including government, libraries, crafts, festivals, photography, sound recording, and arts education – the economic impacts increase by tens of millions more dollars.
• The culture sector is extremely important to the tourism industry, with arts, culture, and heritage activities accounting for over half of the top 15 activities named by visitors. Those visitors naming Charlottetown as their main destination rank culture and heritage even more highly than visitors to the rest of the province.
• Volunteers play a major role in the arts and culture sectors, accounting for the equivalent of up to 200 jobs, equivalent to a $6 million payroll.
