[BCMA] (Fwd) Cultural Human Resources Council Report released

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From:	"info at culturalhrc.ca" <info at culturalhrc.ca>
Subject:	Press Release: Cultural Human Resources Council releases Report on the Effect of the Recession on Canada's Culture Sector
Date sent:	Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:05:29 -0500
Send reply to:	"info at culturalhrc.ca" <info at culturalhrc.ca>
Organization:	Cultural Human Resources Council

November 27, 2009

Cultural Human Resources Council releases Report on the Effect of the 
Recession on Canada's Culture Sector

"The global recession is expected to reduce revenues for cultural 
enterprises by approximately $3.1 billion in 2009".

This is one of the findings of "The Effect of the Global Economic Recession 
on Canada's Creative Economy in 2009", a report prepared by The 
Conference Board of Canada for the Cultural Human Resources Council 
(CHRC) that measures the impact of the current recession on the cultural 
sector.

Traditional culture sector revenue streams such as business advertising, 
endowments, and municipal funding have been eroded due to the weak 
economy and the steep decline in stock markets. Cultural industries have 
felt the pinch. For example, the report highlights the fact that written media 
and broadcasting which depend heavily on business advertising are 
expected to see real revenues fall by 6.1 per cent and 4.8 per cent 
respectively. 

In terms of earnings, the report estimates that the global recession will 
reduce average employment earnings of workers in the culture sector by 2.2 
per cent in 2009. The report also notes that the number of self-employed 
workers in creative and artistic production occupations is expected to grow 
while revenues fall. As a result, real employment earnings for workers in 
these occupations (including the self-employed and employees) are 
expected to fall by 3.5 per cent, on average.

The report is sprinkled with current examples of how the global recession is 
compounding the challenges facing the cultural sector. For example, one of 
Canada's largest media companies recently laid-off over 500 workers, and 
filed for creditor protection because of declining advertising revenues and 
reduced operating profits; and cultural organizations are announcing staff 
cuts to counter lower sponsorship dollars, shortfalls at the box office, and 
poor fundraising results. 

The report is the first in a series of three reports that the Conference Board 
is working on for CHRC, the other two being: a Labour Market Information 
report for the cultural sector (to be released in December 2009); and an 
identification and analysis of Human Resource issues and trends in the 
cultural sector (to be released in June 2010).

The report is available on CHRC's website.

The Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC) is committed to 
strengthening the cultural labour force, and strives to be at the centre of 
vision and forward thinking in the area of cultural human resources 
development. CHRC brings together representatives of arts disciplines and 
cultural industries in the cultural sector to address the training and career 
development needs of employers and cultural workers including artists, 
technical staff and managers To become a member of CHRC please visit 
our website.

This project is funded by the Government of Canada's Sector Council 
Program.

Media inquiries: Susan Annis, Executive Director, CHRC, 
sannis at culturalhrc.ca; or Greg Hermus, Associate Director, CBoC, 
hermus at conferenceboard.ca. 

Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC)
201-17 York Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 9J6
Tel. 613-562-1535   Fax 613-562-2982


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