COVID-19 Survey
The Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property (CAC) and the Canadian Association of Professional Conservators (CAPC) present a summary of the data collected from conservation professionals regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives and careers. Responses were collected using an online survey software between May 4th and June 7th 2020. A follow-up survey will be distributed the last week of September 2020. A one-page summary of the results is available here (LINK).
The first survey received a total of 211 responses. The majority of respondents reside in Ontario and identified themselves as established conservation professionals (> 5 years experience in the field). While some of the survey’s findings were encouraging, notably that 54% of respondents had not experienced a decrease in income as of the end of April 2020; there were a number of concerning results, including the fact that 28% of respondents are considering changing careers in response to the pandemic.
As of May 2020, conservation students were the demographic most impacted by the pandemic. Support for students and emerging conservators was one of the recurring comments when respondents were asked for feedback on how CAC and CAPC might support the conservation community during this difficult time. Comments also included requests for online professional development opportunities, community events, and advocacy. CAC, as an organization, is working on addressing these requests for support and is looking into developing virtual events for their membership as well as financial aid for those members most impacted by the pandemic. You can expect updates on these projects in the following months. Please consider answering the follow-up survey to be distributed in September 2020.
