Data Stories
Data Stories bring together thematic collections and illustrative examples showing how cultural data supports understanding, sustainability, and innovation across Canada's cultural landscape. Each story connects datasets that reflect evolving priorities and perspectives from institutions, communities, and archives, contributing to a richer and more inclusive view of cultural life.
Supporting Seniors' Wellness Programming
An organization is developing an arts-based wellness program for seniors—combining guided art-viewing sessions, creative workshops, and community gatherings to foster connection, support cognitive engagement, and enhance well-being.
To inform the design of this program, the organization might explore:
- Demographic data on senior populations by neighbourhood.
- Health data on social isolation or dementia risk.
- Audience data on accessibility and participation preferences.
- Internal data on collection or exhibition themes that resonate emotionally.
Through the CCDC, the organization could access Statistics Canada demographic datasets mapping senior populations alongside municipal health data, such as the City of Hamilton's Community Health Status Report. These sources can help identify areas where wellness programming may have the greatest impact. The CCDC's catalogue of academic and evaluation studies connecting arts engagement to senior well-being could also strengthen funding applications and demonstrate community value.
Activating Museum Spaces for Performing Arts
Museums and galleries are increasingly exploring ways to activate their spaces through live performance. This approach builds cross-disciplinary connections, attracts new audiences, and creates opportunities for collaboration across cultural sectors.
To plan such initiatives effectively, an organization might explore datasets on:
- Performing arts attendance trends and ticket sales by genre or region.
- Demographic differences between performing and visual arts audiences.
- Visitor satisfaction and engagement from past events.
The CCDC connects users to datasets such as the Arts Tracking Survey by Business/Arts, which provides timely insights into audience engagement across disciplines. Complementary datasets—such as FootFall by Environics Analytics—can reveal visitor movement patterns across venues. By combining these resources, organizations can align programming with audience interests, optimize scheduling, and design data-informed engagement strategies.
Data-Informed Cultural Policy and Community Planning
Consider a project involving a provincial agency tasked with revitalizing a heritage district in a rapidly developing urban area, with the goal to enhance public spaces through contemporary artistic interventions while preserving the district's historical and cultural identity. The agency aimed to ensure that redevelopment efforts reflected local values and engaged the community meaningfully.
To inform its strategy, the agency could use the CCDC to discover and combine relevant datasets, including:
- Cultural participation data to understand community engagement patterns.
- Collections data from local museums and galleries to map existing cultural assets.
- Demographic and mobility data to assess neighbourhood change and population diversity.
- Community-based datasets documenting local histories, artistic practices, and public space use.
With these insights, policymakers could identify areas where cultural and social investment would have the most impact, ensure that redevelopment efforts reflect local values, and strengthen partnerships between artists, planners, and residents. This use case illustrates how access to reliable, curated cultural data can enable governments and policymakers to design more inclusive, relevant, and sustainable community initiatives.
Search across hundreds of datasets from Canada's cultural ecosystem. Use keywords, filters, or browse categories to find data relevant to your project. The search tools allow users to explore by categories or curated collections, offering structured access to cultural data across arts, heritage, education, and well-being sectors.
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