Creative expressions of the arts, culture and heritage provide a distinct identity for individuals and a region. They provide a climate of creativity, vitality, diversity and inclusion for its citizens. The arts, culture, and heritage are significant economic drivers of tourism and related activities. The arts include performing, written,...

Creative class of work: According to the Niagara Workforce Planning Board Report: Examining Niagara’s Labour force through the creative class lens (2011), the category of creative class workers includes knowledge workers, intellectuals and artists. This class is slightly less prominent in Niagara, making up 23% of occupations, compared to 34%...

Cultural workers and artists: Workers in this sector are referred to as cultural workers or artists The occupational category includes 48 cultural occupations that include 9 arts occupations There were 140,000 artists inCanadawho spent more time at their art than any other occupation (0.8% of the overall labour force (135,000...

Spending on arts and culture:  Consumer spending on culture was 3 times larger than the $9.2 billion government spending on culture (over $27 billion on cultural goods and services – $841 for every Canadian resident). Canadians spending on live performing arts ($1.4 billion) was more than double their spending on...

Cultural activities in Niagara:  The many and varied multi-cultural groups and celebrations, festivals, local theatres, cultural performances and musical opportunities in Niagara cannot all be listed herein. Musically, Niagara is home to the Niagara Symphony Orchestra, Chorus Niagara, Music Niagara and a Niagara Youth Orchestra, to name a few.Niagara has...

Natural cultural assets:  These are in abundance in the Niagara Region. The Niagara Escarpment was given the prestigious and notable designation in 1990 as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. In addition, 10 natural cultural assets were formally identified by the Regional Culture Committee in 2010. A few of the natural...

Cultural heritage sites and designated areas in Niagara:  484 heritage cultural sites were recorded by the Regional Culture Committee in 2010. Heritage sites include historical sites, cultural landscapes, living history sites, heritage districts, designated heritage buildings, archaeological sites, sacred places and aboriginal sites. Sites are often marked by regional, municipal,...

Mapping of Niagara’s cultural assets:  The Niagara Culture Committee engaged in Cultural Asset Mapping beginning in 2007. Cultural assets were systematically recorded including cultural activities, traits, places, events and people. The first report listed Niagara’s cultural assets as: 117 cultural facilities; 171 not-for-profit arts and cultural organizations and educational providers;...

Library use: Public Libraries have a visible physical presence in each municipality as places to meet and access information. Brock University and Niagara College also have libraries. There were over 228,381 active cardholders across all libraries in Niagara in 2008 and a reported 5,471, 250 visits to regional libraries (2,308,600...

Arts, culture and heritage – connections with other sectors: “The cultural sector does not exist on its own, but acts in partnership with economic, social, and ecological sectors. Niagara Region’s Sustainable Niagara plan states there are 4 pillars of sustainability that do not exist alone, but act in partnership in...

In 2010, according to the General Social Survey (GSS) released July 2011, the average time spent, ( in hours and minutes) per day by Canadians on various activities was reported as follows: Passive  leisure – watching TV 2:06 Passive leisure – reading books, magazines, newspapers :20 Passive leisure – other...