Graduates · Ontario · 2021 Census
What can you do with a visual and performing arts degree?
What graduates actually work as, from Statistics Canada, beside what Job Bank says about each job: openings, pay, and what it takes.
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What can you do with a visual and performing arts degree in Ontario?
In the 2021 Census, the most common jobs among employed Ontarians aged 25 to 34 with a bachelor's degree or higher in visual and performing arts were graphic designers and illustrators (10.9%), musicians and singers (4.7%) and retail salespersons and visual merchandisers (4.5%). The 12 most common jobs cover only 41.9% of graduates, so visual and performing arts leads to a wide spread of work rather than one career.
What graduates really do
What jobs do visual and performing arts graduates in Ontario actually have?
Ontario is published for the visual and performing arts group, so the lead table is Ontario graduates aged 25 to 34.
| Job | Share of graduates | People | Job Bank outlook | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphic designers and illustratorsOur guide | 10.9% | 3,250 | Very limited | $32.69/hr |
| Musicians and singers | 4.7% | 1,410 | No Job Bank outlook | — |
| Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers | 4.5% | 1,330 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relationsOur guide | 4.1% | 1,210 | Limited | $37.02/hr |
| Interior designers and interior decoratorsOur guide | 3.5% | 1,055 | Limited | $27.40/hr |
| Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations | 2.9% | 850 | Limited | $39.90/hr |
| Advertising, marketing and public relations managers | 2.3% | 675 | Very limited | $57.44/hr |
| Elementary school and kindergarten teachers | 2.1% | 625 | Moderate | $46.15/hr |
| Industrial designers | 2% | 585 | Limited | $37.74/hr |
| Retail and wholesale trade managers | 1.8% | 550 | Moderate | $43.27/hr |
| Other customer and information services representatives | 1.6% | 485 | Very limited | $21.50/hr |
| Painters, sculptors and other visual artists | 1.5% | 440 | No Job Bank outlook | — |
How does it look for other groups?
These are different groups of people, shown separately on purpose: a different place, age group or level of education. Do not read them as one comparison.
| Job | Share of graduates | People | Job Bank outlook | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphic designers and illustratorsOur guide | 13.3% | 3,160 | Very limited | $32.69/hr |
| Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers | 6.6% | 1,575 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Retail and wholesale trade managers | 3.3% | 790 | Moderate | $43.27/hr |
| Other customer and information services representatives | 2.6% | 620 | Very limited | $21.50/hr |
| Interior designers and interior decoratorsOur guide | 2.5% | 595 | Limited | $27.40/hr |
| Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations | 2.4% | 570 | Limited | $39.90/hr |
| Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations | 2.3% | 550 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relationsOur guide | 2.2% | 515 | Limited | $37.02/hr |
| PhotographersOur guide | 1.8% | 420 | Limited | $21.00/hr |
| Store shelf stockers, clerks and order fillers | 1.8% | 420 | Moderate | $17.95/hr |
| Actors, comedians and circus performers | 1.6% | 385 | No Job Bank outlook | — |
| Cashiers | 1.6% | 385 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Job | Share of graduates | People | Job Bank outlook | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphic designers and illustratorsOur guide | 7.4% | 3,265 | Very limited | $32.69/hr |
| Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers | 4.2% | 1,855 | Limited | $17.95/hr |
| Painters, sculptors and other visual artists | 4% | 1,755 | No Job Bank outlook | — |
| Retail and wholesale trade managers | 2.8% | 1,235 | Moderate | $43.27/hr |
| Professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relationsOur guide | 2.6% | 1,175 | Limited | $37.02/hr |
| Administrative officers | 2.1% | 940 | Limited | $29.38/hr |
| Elementary school and kindergarten teachers | 2% | 905 | Moderate | $46.15/hr |
| Administrative assistants | 2% | 900 | Moderate | $26.67/hr |
| Advertising, marketing and public relations managers | 1.9% | 860 | Very limited | $57.44/hr |
| Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations | 1.8% | 795 | Limited | $39.90/hr |
| Secondary school teachersOur guide | 1.7% | 745 | Moderate | $48.08/hr |
| Other customer and information services representatives | 1.3% | 595 | Very limited | $21.50/hr |
Do those jobs have openings?
Which of those jobs are hiring?
None of the 12 most common jobs for these graduates has a good or very good Ontario outlook from Job Bank for 2025 to 2027; the best-rated are listed below. That means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hired. Outlook is a province-wide forecast of openings against job seekers, not a promise for any one town or employer.
- Elementary school and kindergarten teachers: Job Bank outlook moderate, 2.1% of these graduates.
- Retail and wholesale trade managers: Job Bank outlook moderate, 1.8% of these graduates.
When the degree is not enough
What does the degree not lead to on its own?
A visual or performing arts degree does not lead to a regulated profession. Clients and employers mostly judge you on your portfolio, your reel or your performances.
Teaching is the main route that builds on the degree and needs a teacher education program and certification. A short college graduate certificate can add a practical skill such as design software or production.
Routes that need more than the degree
Become an Ontario certified teacher
The Ontario College of Teachers describes a consecutive program as a four-semester program leading to a Bachelor of Education, open to students who have completed an undergraduate degree. Its becoming-a-teacher page lists a postsecondary degree of at least three years plus a four-semester teacher education program, then an application to the College for certification. Ontario College of Teachers: teacher education program providersAdd a college graduate certificate
Ontario Colleges states that graduate certificates require a university degree or a college certificate or diploma for admission, and build on knowledge and experience from earlier postsecondary study. Check each program on ontariocolleges.ca for its own entry requirements. Ontario Colleges: program types
Jobs to look at
Careers worth a closer look
Full guides: what the work is really like, who hates it, what it pays, and the route in.
- Graphic designerMaking things people need to understand look clear and feel right, usually to somebody else's brief and somebody else's deadline.Career guide
- PhotographerMaking images other people will pay for, which is mostly running a small business that happens to involve a camera.Career guide
- Interior designerPlanning how rooms work and feel, from the layout and materials to the lighting, to a client's budget and a building code.Career guide
- TeacherGetting thirty people who did not choose to be there to learn something, five times a day, and marking it afterwards.Career guide
- Event plannerGetting a hundred people, a venue, a caterer and a schedule to all arrive in the right place on the same day, calmly.Career guide
- Marketing specialistGetting the right people to notice something and act on it, then proving with numbers whether it worked.Career guide
Read this before you rely on it
What the numbers do not show
- The Census is from 2021. Jobs and hiring have moved since. Job Bank's outlook is current to 2025 to 2027.
- It counts employed people and what they do, not whether they wanted that job or use their degree in it. A graduate working as a retail supervisor is counted in the data exactly like one working in their field.
- It is a 25% sample, and Statistics Canada rounds every count to a multiple of five. Small groups are noisy.
- For Ontario the Census publishes bachelor's degree or higher together, so those tables include master's and doctoral graduates.
- Each person is counted once, by their highest credential. A person who finished a diploma and then a degree appears under the degree, not the diploma.
- The 12 jobs shown are the most common, not all of them. The rest of the graduates are spread across hundreds of other jobs.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population, tables 98-10-0447-01 and 98-10-0403-01; Job Bank (Employment and Social Development Canada) Ontario outlooks and wages, linked on each job. We join them by occupation code and change neither.
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