This index has been compiled as a quick reference guide to biographies of 9,052 professional and amateur artists active in Canada from the seventeenth century to the present. The artists represent 42 professional categories, from animation to topography. In addition to 8,261 Canadian artists, the Index has 391 British, 300 American, and 100 European artists, all of whom spent part of their careers in Canada.

Each entry provides the artist's name, date and place of birth and death (or years the artist flourished, if birth and death dates are not available), the nationality (if not Canadian), type of artist (major medium media used), and sources in which biographical information may be found. Several hundred cross-references link the various names used by some artists during the course of their careers.