Canadians’ Arts Participation, Health, and Well-Being 

The report is part of the Statistical Insights in the Arts series funded in partnership with Canadian Heritage, Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council.

Research goal

This report examines the relationships between participation in different arts and cultural activities and aspects of health and well-being, including:

• Overall health
• Mental health
• Satisfaction with life
• Satisfaction with feeling part of the community (i.e., sense of belonging)

Methods

The analysis is based on Statistics Canada’s 2016 General Social Survey, a representative survey of 9,844 Canadians 15 years of age or older who reside in the ten provinces.

The data analysis for this report includes:

1. A comparative analysis of health and well-being indicators for participants and non-participants in arts, culture, and heritage activities.
2. A correlation of the cultural participation index and measurements of the four aspects of health and well-being.
3. Statistical modelling (via regression analysis) of the association between arts activities, health, and well-being, after taking socio-economic factors into account (e.g. income, age, gender, region, Indigenous identity, racialized groups, etc.).

Outcomes

For each aspect of health and well-being, the analysis shows that:

• There is a strong connection between cultural participation and overall health.
• There is solid evidence of a connection between cultural participation and mental health.

Questions?

Please contact the Research, Measurement and Data Analytics Section at research@canadacouncil.ca.