Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec

The mission of the Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec is to produce and disseminate statistical information on the cultural sector in Québec in order to meet the needs of government agencies, of organizations and associations involved in the sector, as well as the needs of researchers and individuals interested in the various fields of culture.

The Observatoire produces statistics on:

• workers and jobs in culture;
• sales of books and music recordings;
• attendance at shows, museums and movie theatres;
• government and municipal spending on culture;
• public libraries, etc.

The Observatoire also carries out statistical studies on various topics such as the economics of culture, the cultural practices of individuals, cultural businesses and organizations, etc.

The Observatoire’s work thus makes it possible to statistically document the importance and the role of culture in Québec society.

Various committees help guide the actions of the Observatoire.

Funding partners committee

Five public organizations have signed an agreement to ensure the operation of the Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec: the Institut de la statistique du Québec, the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles, and Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.

These five financial partners sit together on a committee whose role is to provide an overall vision of the Observatoire’s mandates; to determine the objectives of the three-year plan; to analyze the recommendations submitted to the Institut de la statistique du Québec by the Observatoire’s consultative committee; to propose projects; and finally to approve the Observatoire’s planning and annual review.

Sectoral advisory committees

The sectoral advisory committees make recommendations regarding the Observatoire’s work in their respective cultural fields; the provide advice on the questions to be analyzed, the issues at stake, and the information to be collected.

There are seven sectoral advisory committees:

• the visual arts, crafts and media arts committee;
• the cinema, audiovisual and radio broadcasting committee;
• the sound recording and performing arts committee;
• the books, literature and libraries committee;
• the heritage, museum institutions and archives committee;
• the municipalities and local governments committee; and
• the university research committee.

Consultative committee

The consultative committee provides directions and advises the Institut de la statistique du Québec on the planning and programming of the work of the Observatoire de la culture et des communications. The consultative committee consists of eight members: the chairs of the seven sectoral advisory committees and the director of the Observatoire.

The Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec is part of the Institut de la statistique du Québec, Québec’s official statistical agency. The Observatoire is therefore governed by the Act respecting the Institut de la statistique du Québec, which gives it certain advantages:

• legal authority to conduct surveys,
• access to data produced by other entities, and
• guaranteed confidentiality for survey respondents.

To carry out some of its projects, the Observatoire uses administrative data from Revenu Québec on Québec’s cultural institutions. These data are used to supplement the data collected through surveys in order to produce statistical estimates. In this type of project, as in all of the Observatoire’s projects, only aggregate results are made public. Under no circumstances are the administrative data used by the Observatoire transmitted to other departments or agencies.

The Observatoire has entered into an agreement with Revenu Québec approved by the Commission d’accès à l’information. This agreement provides for the application of strict rules and rigorous mechanisms, such as the destruction of data once a project is completed, to guarantee the strictest confidentiality of the information consulted by the Observatoire.

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