For nearly 50 years, Orchestras Canada has gathered financial and audience data, culminating in the annual Comparative Report. This vital resource, summarized by budget and region, offers a clear picture of the Canadian orchestra landscape.

After 19 years of dedicated work, long-time statistician Steve Smith retired, prompting a reimagining of the report. With support from the Canada Council for the Arts and tech experts Janette Kwan and Hernan Kina, alongside project leads Blanche Israel and Tim Crouch, Orchestras Canada has officially launched OBOE (Orchestra Benchmarking and Overview Explorer). This innovative system streamlines data collection, processing, and presentation, making analysis easier for orchestras. We are moving from a past of careful data collection, to a future of streamlined, impactful analysis.

Over the past few months, we gratefully accepted data from 71 participating orchestras out of Orchestras Canada’s 146 members, providing a wide range of financial and statistical information. The summaries on this page group this data by budget size and regions, and includes interesting historical data.

Comparative Report Summaries

Click on the buttons below to download this year’s Comparative Report summaries:

 

If you are interested in taking part in the Comparative Report in upcoming years and would like to have access to the full power of the OBOE/HAUTBOIS dashboard, please reach out to the OC team at [email protected], and we will make sure you get the official invitation when the time comes.

 

Snapshots from OBOE

 

General disclaimer

We produce these Reports using straightforward information and commonly accepted definitions, avoiding subjective judgments as much as possible. The accuracy of the Reports are dependent primarily on the accuracy of information provided by the participating orchestras.

Respectfully submitted
The Data Team, Orchestras Canada
March 2025