This is the 39th report in the Statistical Insights on the Arts series from Hill Strategies Research, Inc., and it examines whether connections exist between Canadians’ cultural activities and their personal well-being.

The data in the report, drawn from Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey of 2010 (an in-depth telephone survey of about 7,500 Canadians age 15 or older), show that there is a strong connection between 18 cultural activities and eight indicators of health and well-being (such as health, mental health, volunteering, feeling stressed, and overall satisfaction with life). Six cultural activities and three social indicators were selected for detailed statistical modeling.

The key findings of the statistical models are that: art gallery visits, theatre attendance, pop music attendance cultural festival attendance, and reading books are all associated with better health, and all except for art gallery visits are associated with a strong satisfaction with life. The statistical models in the report also examine whether cultural participants simply fit the demographic profile of healthy, socially-active citizens, or whether cultural participation might help explain aspects of health and well-being that are beyond demographic analysis.

Hill, K. (2013). The Arts and Individual Well-Being in Canada: Connections between Cultural Activities and Health, Volunteering, Satisfaction with Life, and Other Social Indicators in 2010. Canada:Hill Strategies Research, Inc.