Heritage Occupations in Saskatchewan
A heritage worker is someone who understands and uses aspects of Living Heritage in their work, to address present day concerns/social issues and supports individual and community development in process.
This report was developed in response to the need for heritage statistics that reflect the concept of Living Heritage based on UNESCO’s 2003 definition of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
As many heritage organizations rely on public domain data to build the case for heritage the search began with cultural statistics reports based on Statistics Canada data that is readily available.
However, the 2011 Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics (CFCS) is limited in what it measures and does not reflect the breadth and depth of heritage activities or the contribution heritage workers make to individual and community development or quality of life in general.
As this report demonstrates, developing a framework to undertake the systematic collection of labour market information specifically related to heritage and heritage workers is urgently needed not only to measure the economic impact but to inform policy development, decision-making and planning processes.
Heritage Saskatchewan would like to thank Doug Elliott for his curiosity about heritage occupations as well as his time and thoughtful reflection in analyzing the data and preparing this report.