Canada’s Live Music Industry Provides over $10.9B to Economy

Canada’s live music scene has proven to be a major economic driver, contributing C$10.92 billion annually to the country’s GDP and supporting over 100,000 jobs.

These findings come from a new report by the Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA), titled Here and Now: Understanding the Economic Power and Potential of Canada’s Live Music Industry, with economic analysis conducted by Nordicity.

CLMA president and CEO Erin Benjamin emphasized the scope of the industry’s impact.

“This study is a benchmark, the numbers in it have been achieved largely in the absence of any dedicated fiscal policy frameworks aimed at incentivising growth,” Benjamin said.

The report further revealed that the combined operations of live music companies and the tourism they stimulate produced C$3.73 billion in tax revenue and C$5.84 billion in labor income.

“The findings in Here and Now make it clear that protecting and growing Canada’s live music infrastructure directly results in more jobs, major economic impact for cities and towns, and more performance opportunities for Canadian artists,” Tarun Nayar, CLMA board chair, said in a statement. “It means more fans choosing Canada when deciding where to spend their music tourism dollars.”

Nayar also highlighted the ripple effects of a thriving live music industry, noting that “it means sold-out hotels, fully booked flights, bustling shops, and restaurants.”

“It means togetherness and social cohesion. It means better mental health,” Navar said. “It means thriving downtowns. It means attracting and retaining other industries and talent to our cities. It means more revenue for artists and musicians. It means more music and memories with family and friends that change our lives.”