The number of Canadians who earned most of their income from the arts topped 140,000 in Canada in 2006, according to a report based on statistics from the 2006 census.

That made artists more numerous than auto workers — about 135,000 Canadians worked in the auto sector in 2006 — according to a report from Hill Strategies in Hamilton, Ont., created for the Ontario Arts Council, Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Canadian artists remain among the most impoverished of the working poor, earning an average annual income of $22,700, about 37 per cent less than the rest of the Canadian workforce.

And not all of that income is earned in the arts — the census doesn't ask how much artists might make as waitresses and busboys, says Kelly Hill, president of Hill Strategies.

"Those earnings are included in the statistics. It's even more depressing from that standpoint," he told CBC News.

Artists not only earned very little, their average incomes were in steep decline in the five years leading up to the census. From 2000 to 2005, there was a 14 per cent decrease in average earnings for artists, adjusted for inflation.

Every arts occupation counted by the census — actors, choreographers, craftspeople, composers, conductors, dancers, directors, musicians, producers, singers and visual artists — saw income fall.

"All these numbers support what parents are saying to their kids. ' You don't want to go into the arts,'" he said.

Not what you would choose

"If you were just looking at the money aspect, obviously this was not what you would choose. But if you're looking at being an artist as part of your identify, of who you are, then there still people expressing their creativity this way."

In fact, the number of Canadians attracted to the arts continues to grow faster than the overall labour force. There were 3½ times as many artists in 2006 as in 1971, while the overall labour force doubled in the same period.

Among those attracted to arts professions in large numbers are women and visible minorities. Women comprised only 40 per cent of arts workers in 1971, but now account for 53 per cent.

"Many more women are coming into the arts labour force and became artists in the past 35 years," Hill said.

"I think with the self-employment there is some flexibility. I think that can be appealing for many women. I think … also art is an area that women have decided to focus on."

Artists from visible minority groups more than doubled between 1991 and 2006, but visible minority artists earned an average of $18,800, 38 per cent less than the average earnings of all visible minority workers in Canada.

Women artists earned an average of $19,200, less than their male counterparts.

"It's difficult for anybody to make a living in the arts; if you're a woman or if you're aboriginal or if you're a visible minority, it's doubly hard," Hill said.

He said the current recession would likely depress earnings in the arts still further, though there are no statistics yet to be seen.

"I would speculate that the situation couldn't be improving in the recession because there is less money to go around. If a theatre company is cutting the number of performances it puts on, that affects artists' earnings, because they hire fewer directors, fewer actors, fewer behind-the-scenes people."