Expressing ourselves

Goal

Vancouver has a diverse and thriving cultural ecology that enriches the lives of residents and visitors.

Target

Increase public participation and community engagement in arts and culture by 25%

Overview

Participation in arts and culture is critical to building a vibrant, livable and healthy city.

Arts and cultural events include a wide range in the community, including:

Large scale performances
Art galleries and exhibits
Street festivals and small-scale community art projects

Each type of activity plays a different but important role in improving our individual and collective well-being.

Progress we've made so far

Healthy City Dashboard

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Events

Attendance

Artists & volunteers

Events

Attendance

Artists & volunteers

How we measure change

We use a number of data sources to monitor trends in the health of the city. We monitor progress toward Expressing Ourselves using data from the federal census program, arts and cultural funding and cultural asset mapping.
Arts and culture participation
- In 2016, non-profit organizations delivered 21.7 thousand artistic works and events to an audience of 6.7 million, engaging 19.4 thousand artists and 24.7 thousand volunteers.
  
  Source: City of Vancouver, Cultural Services based on self-reported data from non-profit cultural organizations receiving cash grants from the City of Vancouver
Previously reported numbers have been restated February 2017

Artists and cultural workers
- As of 2016, 2.4% of persons worked as artists, with another 8.3% working in the broader culture sector
  Source: Long-Form Census (Statistics Canada)
Creative places and spaces
- There was a total of 387 cultural assets identified in 2016
  Source: City of Vancouver, Cultural Spaces Map
2015-2018 Priority Actions

Actions are being undertaken through the Vancouver Culture Plan's Strategic Directions.
The five Culture Plan's Strategic Directions for 2014-2018 are to:
1. Foster cultural leadership
2. Increase community participation and engagement
3. Provide sustainable support programs for the arts
4. Optimize the City’s cultural investments (such as City-owned cultural facilities and collections)
5. Invest in Vancouver’s creative economy

Initiatives helping us reach these goals and targets

Arts and culture

We have a vibrant arts and culture scene from public to performance art, and more.

Vancouver Public Library

Meets your lifelong learning, reading, and information needs to create an informed, engaged, and connected city.

Go in-depth

Updates, documents, and background

Get the full details about the Healthy City Strategy.