Health of Canadians 2017 Indicators for belonging and engagement Sandra Zagon

About Indicators Lots of activity in the past decade to gather data to track progress on “belonging” and “engagement”. Significant work has been done by Institute of Wellbeing, Canadian Policy Research Networks, Public Health Agency of Canada, Community Foundations of Canada, Statistics Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics, the Council of Europe/OECD and others 2

About Indicators Citizen input into ultimate selection is key. Regular validation with citizens is important. What was important to citizens 5 years ago may not be relevant today –E.g. impact of social networking and media for sense of belonging – still not on radar as possible indicators of belonging 3

Belonging and Engagement “Canada is a country where we participate in and influence the decisions that affect our personal and collective health and well-being”. (Health Goals for Canada, approved by Health Ministers in December 2005) 4

Democratic Engagement Democratic Engagement is the state of being involved in advancing democracy through political institutions, organizations and activities. (Institute of Wellbeing, Canadian Index of Wellbeing, Report issued on ) High degree means –citizens participate in political activities, express political views, and foster political knowledge 5

Democratic Engagement –governments build relationships, trust, shared responsibility and participation opportunities with citizens, and –democratic values are sustained by citizens, government and civil society at a local, national and global level. Engagement on three levels: individual, government, global More than participation in elections 6

Democratic Engagement – Eight Indicators 1.Voter turnout 2.Volunteer rate for political activities 3.Policy impact perceptions 4.Representation of women in Parliament 5.Net official development assistance as percentage of gross national income 6.Ratio of registered to eligible voters 7.Satisfaction with democracy 8.Interest in politics 7

Democracy, Personal Well- Being, Community, Government Five Indicators , CPRN, Quality of Life in Canada Indicators Project Developed prototype set of 40 indicators with nine themes/elements/domains, reflecting citizen values Democracy, personal well-being, community, government = four themes/domains and five indicators pertaining to belonging and engagement 8

Democratic Rights and Participation (Democracy) Two indicators: –Exercising democratic rights (voter turnout for general elections) –Tolerance of diversity (perceived discrimination against racial or cultural groups) 9

Personal Wellbeing One relevant indicator (of three selected for this domain) –Degree of social interaction, intimate connections, and social isolation (access to social supports, friendships and family networks) 10

Community One relevant indicator (of four selected for this domain) –Level of civic involvement (donation and volunteer rates) 11

Government One relevant indicator (of three selected for this domain) –Level of public trust (trust in federal government) 12

Belonging and leadership Three Indicators Vital Signs reports from the Community Foundations of Canada –2009 indicator - charitable donations –2008 indicator – voter turnout –2007 indicator – unpaid volunteer work 13

Challenges Belonging and engagement are concepts which are not uniformly understood by researchers, policy makers, indicator experts or citizens – no consensus on definition or meaning. Data may not exist for matters important to citizens in –Need to measure disconnect between civil society and government, to monitor democracy and for change to happen 14

Challenges How then to select indicators which will be universal, relevant and important? How many indicators are appropriate? … 15

Some References (Canadian Institute of Wellbeing) (Canadian Policy Research Networks) (Vital Signs, Community Foundations of Canada) (Statistics Canada) (Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency) (Canadian Council on Learning) 16

Contact/information Project manager for CPRN’s Quality of Life Indictors Project, Former member of Steering Committee for Canadian Index for Wellbeing Co-founder of Canadian Community for Dialogue and Deliberation (C2D2, 17

Contact details 18