Museums, big and small, all contribute to our collective memory and are prized destinations for school groups, parents with young children, and tourists alike. Many museums are also a business. In the first half of 2024, we counted 1,661 museum businesses with and without employees, all doing their part to keep Canada’s past alive.
Economic activity in the heritage and libraries domain, which includes museums, has surpassed $230 million for five consecutive quarters, peaking at $242 million in the second quarter of 2024.
Quebec is home to the most historic and heritage sites
Today, the diversity of museums with employees is illustrated by “other” being the largest category, with 398 “other” museums across the country in the first half of 2024. Other museums range from community or wax museums to planetariums or sports halls of fame.
Non-commercial art museums and galleries ranked second with 245, followed by historic and heritage sites (224) and history and science museums (222).
Quebec was home to the most historic and heritage sites (52) and history and science museums (45) among the provinces, while Ontario had the most non-commercial art museums and galleries (81). Yukon topped the territories with 8 museums with employees.
Nationally, there were 33 museums with 100 or more employees, with 3 topping 500 employees.
There were a further 568 museums across Canada without employees, staffed entirely by volunteers.
Recent flurry in the value of building permits issued for museums and the like
Before you can build in Canada, you generally need a permit. A permit does not necessarily guarantee something is going to be built, it just means the builder has received permission to build within given parameters.
Our building permit data also indicate the type of work being authorized, such as new construction, improvement to an existing structure, or deconversion from a residential to a non-residential building.
Building permits for museums, art galleries, libraries or zoos and so forth have topped $125 million for three straight months, for a cumulative total of $386 million from August to October 2024.
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Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).