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Know Your Craft Statistics

The craft sector is a broad, diverse, and active contributor to the cultural economy in Canada. Available statistics on this topic are limited, but the Canadian Crafts Federation has pulled together details from across Statistics Canada, Canadian Heritage, and our research with CCF/FCMA partners to publish our current funding brief: The Craft Sector Impact. This easy to digest report will provide you with basic craft sector facts to refer to whenever you need numbers at the ready.

The new facts included in the brief are:

  • In 2019, Craft Councils sold $14,024,577 in Canadian craft through their galleries, shops and festivals alone. $12,471,937 of this went directly to the artists.
  • In April 2020, Craft Alliance Atlantic reported an expected loss of over $56 million for craft producers and retailers due to COVID-19 closures – that’s in Atlantic Canada alone. The sector will be hit hard by the pandemic in every region across Canada.


We also share facts from Canadian Heritage studies released in 2019 that capture the larger picture of the craft sector:

  • In 2016, the craft sector at large accounted for 2.2 billion of the culture GDP.
  • In 2016, the craft sector reached over $250 million in tourism spending.


Read the full Craft Sector Impact brief (just two pages long) to connect with the source materials from the Canadian Heritage and Statistics Canada data, and to read further details from the CCF/FCMA’s Craft Council retail survey, as well as the Craft Alliance Atlantic COVID-19 impact survey.

Though there are many more layers of context that the CCF/FCMA we would like to provide, these basics allow craft artists, institutions and organizations to frame the conversation about the economic benefits of craft. We will continue our work to gather more statistical information, to encourage the improvement and clarification of federal information through Statistics Canada, and to partner with governments and sector researchers across the country to provide more in-depth detail on craft and its impact on the Canadian economy. And we will keep you informed as these adaptations and updates are released.