Insights on Canadian Society
Welcome to the inaugural Special Edition issue of Insights on Canadian Society, an expansion of our flagship social publication, to offer shorter, more policy-relevant articles and custom visuals, with each issue united under a broad theme.
The theme for this issue is social geography—how social phenomena are distributed across Canada, and how that distribution shapes us. It’s more than just putting statistics on a map, of course. Everything happens somewhere, and where it happens matters. Place is a fundamental building block of social statistics, and so social geography cuts across almost every topic, from climate and health to inequality, identity, and language.
This issue tackles some fascinating topics: rethinking the urban–rural divide as a continuum rather than a binary; examining how different communities recover from floods; and investigating how remoteness interacts with education for Indigenous communities, just as a few examples.
We hope you enjoy!
Articles
The intersection of flooding and deprivation: A study of neighbourhoods
by Helen Foran, Maire Sinha and Lauren Pinault
This study uses the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD) and Census neighbourhood-level income data to examine the issues of flood exposure and socioeconomic disparities at a neighbourhood level. More specifically, this study seeks to further explore the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of areas that have been impacted by flooding over the past four years, and whether these flooded areas have experienced changes in levels of socio-economic deprivation between 2016 and 2021.
Far from home: High school completion for First Nations people, Métis, and Inuit in remote communities, 2016 to 2021
Using data from the 2021 Census of Population and Index of Remoteness, this study examines the extent to which the remoteness of one’s community continues to act as a barrier to education compared to 2016, with a focus on First Nations people, Métis and Inuit. This study also examines other potential factors relevant to educational attainment and sheds light on the learning context of First Nations people, Métis, and Inuit.
Beyond urban and rural: Rethinking the social geography of Canada
by Myfanwy Thomson, Maire Sinha, Simon Hemm and Lauren Pinault
By developing a more meaningful geographic classification beyond the traditional ‘urban-rural’ split, greater insight can be gained on key Quality of Life indicators. To better understand this geographic variation, possible classifications were examined alongside well-being data, namely life satisfaction and sense of belonging to local community.
Looking for a happy place to live in Canada? There’s a map for that!
Curious about how your province, city or town ranks in terms of life satisfaction and other measures of happiness and well-being? Zoom in on a new interactive map!
Communities in data
Come along with us on a journey to Twillingate, Newfoundland and Labrador, also known as “the iceberg capital of the world.” Explore the rich landscape of social data for communities across Canada, using Statistics Canada’s geographic tools for visualizing data.
Housing challenges related to affordability, adequacy, condition and discrimination, August 2 to September 15, 2024
This release uses new data from the latest cycle of the Canadian Social Survey, collected from August 2 to September 15, 2024. It examines the prevalence of a wide variety of housing challenges in Canada, as well as the quality of life of people experiencing at least one of these housing challenges.
Visuals
Quality of life indicators by census subdivision
This interactive map brings together data from 13 waves of the Canadian Social Survey to visualize six Quality of Life indicators at four levels of geography: province, census division, census subdivision, and census metropolitan area.
Harvesting and cultural activities among Indigenous children
Using data from the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey, this infographic showcases geographic differences in harvesting and cultural activities among First Nations children living off reserve, Métis children and Inuit children.
Oral health professionals in Canada, 2021
This infographic uses data from the 2016 and 2021 Census of Population to examine the geographic distribution of oral health professionals in Canada.
Audio
Mapping happiness: How where we live impacts our well-being
Whether you live in the downtown core of a major city or a commuter town or a rural community, what impact does this have on your life satisfaction, loneliness and sense of belonging? This episode of the “Eh Sayers” podcast explores how the places we live affect our well-being.
- Date modified: