If you were told this province's cultural sector outperformed a number of industries in terms of gross domestic product, would you believe it?

That's what Statistics Canada found between 2010 and 2014.

It's not a surprise for Portage and District Arts Centre Executive Director Paul Legris, who says it provides an essential asset.

"What is the impact on an economic level? Think of it this way. Every program that PDAC develops, all that money -- whatever we make -- goes directly back into the community in terms of the resources that we need to run those programs. We pay a lot of money to instructors, a lot of our money goes to various suppliers, to paying staff -- we have a number of people that supply us the materials we need to run culture, to run arts."

Legris adds the scope of culture is wider than you think.

"Every time you see a new film in the cinema, everything you read about, let's say in a novel, or in architecture that you're sitting in, or in the furniture that you buy, every car that you drive, every shirt that you put on, every tie that you wear, is a reflection of someone's visual sensibility, someone's cultural, visual, artistic sensibilities. And that's the thing. It's so ingrained within our community -- arts and culture -- that we don't even think about it."

Legris feels part of his job is to dispel the elitist perception of culture.

"Arts and culture and communication really go hand in hand. And that's how you break that sense of elitism. People who create art, people who generate culture, live in houses like you and I. They get up every morning, go to work. They strategize their plan on how to generate an income and a livelihood out of it in the same way that an insurance adjustor would, or a banker, or an auto salesman. It's communicating to people that arts and culture, whether you realize it or not, it is part of your life."

Here are the Stats Can information numbers.