Thirty-two Canadian communities released Vital Signs reports Oct. 4, snapshots of various aspects of life, social issues, work and play.
Among them were southern Sask-atchewan, southwestern Alberta, southeastern Alberta and Calgary.
Vital Signs reports are projects of their respective community foundations with each foundation deciding on its own what areas to explore and highlight in the reports.
The national program is designed to inspire civic engagement and public debate and indicate where volunteers or fundraising may be needed. It is co-ordinated by Community Foundations of Canada.
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“We’re all autonomous organizations, foundations,” said Charleen Davidson, executive director of the community foundation in Leth-bridge and southern Alberta.
“I think it’s about identifying the needs in your community and working with those and how you can support those. What might be a need for us won’t be a need in Toronto, necessarily, so that’s why I think it’s really great that the reports aren’t the same.”
The southwestern Alberta report focused on six themes in its 2016 report: community connections, environment, cultural life, living standards, lifelong learning and healthy communities.
Davidson said the foundation committee takes some of its cues from issues in the news, such as domestic violence, food bank use or even bee health.
The South Saskatchewan Community Foundation focused its 2016 report on pursuing reconciliation, welcoming newcomers and building economic inclusion.
In a news release, SSCF executive director Christina Attard said the research indicated gaps and challenges for indigenous people, refugees, newcomers and low income families.
“These are critical areas for discussion with our local community, and sharing data about our status is a way to understand where we are in the process and what we need to do next in order to build communities where each person had the opportunity to belong,” said Attard.
On the national level, this year’s theme was Belonging: Exploring connection to community.
The national group reported that:
- Individuals who consider their religion or faith to be very important are twice as likely to have a strong sense of belonging to Canada.
- Canadians active on social media are more likely to visit their friends in person and volunteer.
The national report also found that:
- More than one-third of Canadians feel a weak sense of community belonging and don’t feel they have a stake in their community.
- Only half of Canadians think that being involved in community events and activities is important to their day-to-day activities.
- More than half of Canadians do not live in the community where they grew up, contributing to social isolation and lack of belonging.
Many of the Vital Signs reports pertain to smaller communities as well as larger centres.
The reports can be found at www.vitalsignscanada.ca.
