Employment in culture occupations increased at a faster rate in Canada than in the United States between 1981 and 2001, according to a new study. As a result, by 2001, Canada's share of the workforce employed in culture occupations had surpassed that of the United States.
In 2001, employment in culture occupations accounted for 1.92% of the total workforce in Canada, up from 1.39% two decades earlier. In the United States, employment in culture occupations represented 1.86% of the total workforce in 2000, up from 1.48% in 1980.
This study explores the distribution of culture occupations across cities and between cities and rural areas in North America to determine whether urban-rural location or population size affect the prevalence of culture employment. In general, cities had higher shares of culture employment than rural areas, with larger cities tending to have the highest. Growth in culture employment in both countries was concentrated in cities, while growth in rural areas was much lower than that of cities. Canada had a larger share of its culture employment in the performing arts, while the United States had a larger share in literary arts.
A common thread between the two countries was that the highest shares of employment in heritage culture occupations were in the national capitals. Overall, the study found that Canada's culture sector has been performing well and that metropolitan areas have played an important role in this.

http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/81-595-MIE/81-595-MIE2007051.htm