Thank you.
Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to present today. I'm honoured to be here with all of you and with my colleagues from the sector, including my fellow CAMDO members, Jean-François Bélisle and Alexandra Badzak.
I will be speaking to you today specifically about the impact of the pandemic on the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and then relating it to some of the broader sectoral needs.
First, I'll give a little background. At 108 years old, the Art Gallery of Hamilton is Ontario's oldest municipal art gallery and the province's third-largest public art collection, with a repository of over 10,000 significant works by regional, indigenous, national and international artists. Of course, we are located in the city of Hamilton, which is one of Ontario's and Canada's fastest-growing cities.
We are indeed part of Ontario's arts, culture and heritage sector representing, before COVID, almost $28 billion or 4.1% of the province's GDP and over 300,000 jobs. In fact, the arts and culture tourist spends more, stays longer and engages in other sectors of the economy, generating almost $4 billion annually in GDP. This of course is in addition to an annual educational value of $3.1 billion across Canada. The AGH's actual economic impact locally is $18 million, and almost $24 million to the provincial economy.
I mention these facts not to justify the arts on economic terms alone but to underline the fact that our cultural institutions must be seen as more than repositories of objects bringing important cultural, educational and social value. We also represent a significant economic driver in and of itself. We provide a variety of direct and indirect economic benefits and serve a crucial intellectual resource that cannot be replaced by other activities or institutions.
Today, like many arts institutions, our institution counts on a tremendous amount of private support. However, the AGH relies on this private support more than most. In fact, close to half of the AGH's operating revenue in 2019 came from individuals and corporations. With the average revenue for an art gallery in Canada being at 33%, we typically double that number. For example, in 2019, prepandemic, we exceeded 70%.
Although the AGH receives government funding, unlike our national, provincial and municipal counterparts, we remain, for our size of collection and building—we're at about 88,000 square feet—one of the least government-funded art galleries in the country.
What has been the impact of COVID? As it has for everyone else, the pandemic has disrupted most of the AGH's activities and our plans for the past two years—and I think probably for the next few years. Our earned revenues have been severely impacted to the tune of several millions. Our sponsorships, donations, memberships and admission have been eroded. However, our ongoing commitment to community engagement remains powerful. We were one of the first galleries to quickly pivot to online programming, supporting a number of the curriculum educational needs with very close relationships with our local school boards.
We're also deeply engaged in supporting wellness through the arts with our award-winning programs. Of course, I think we are all well aware of the much-needed and dramatic increase in terms of mental health needs in our communities. We're deeply grateful for the support of the federal dementia strategic fund, which is supporting us with a national program. We're also very deeply grateful to the government for the ongoing federal programs that have allowed us to maintain much of our staff and to continue to do the programming we do.
Although we're deeply grateful, I would like to draw your attention to some areas of concern in order to see the sector survive. Long-term operating support for the sector has not grown in keeping with the rate of increased expenses. We have seen year over year declines in government support at all levels. Considering the current rate of inflation, this is a concern.
Across Canada as a whole, the 2019 survey of heritage institutions indicated that 43.6% of our Canadian cultural organizations have aging infrastructure—fair, poor, or requiring attention. This will be an ongoing concern. Certainly, the last few years have only made all of these concerns much deeper.
We remain confident that with your government's renewed commitment to the sector, you'll recognize and support the essential role that institutions like the AGH play in bringing art collections to the public so that we can help build a strong, vibrant economy in years to come, a sense of well-being and identity, and a place for all of our citizens.
Thank you for the opportunity to present today.