B.C. has the largest percentage of working artists in its  labour force  of any province in  Canada, according to the  B.C. Arts Council's recently released 2009-2013 strategic plan.

The 25,600 working artists comprise 1.08 percent of the population.  B.C. is the only province with more than one percent of the population defining themselves as working artists.

On average, B.C. working artists earned $21,069 in 2006, which was significantly lower than the average income of $36,000 for the entire labour force.

Between 1991 and 2005, B.C. artists  suffered a five-percent drop in income when adjusted for inflation. The strategic plan noted that this  was a greater net decrease than  the rest of the labour force experienced over the same period.

The B.C. Arts Council isn't predicting that the average artist's financial situation will get any better over the next four years.

"The current economic landscape suggest a difficult few years ahead for artists and cultural organizations," the strategic plan states. "It might reasonably take the entire term of this strategic plan  for corporations and households to rebuild their balance sheets. Consequently, private donations may well be lower years  while, at the same time, the public sector will be facing budgetary challenges."  

To read the entire strategic plan, go here.