The data

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Estimates are based on data from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), cycle 3.1. The CCHS covers the household population aged 12 or older in all provinces and territories, except members of the regular Forces and residents of institutions, Indian reserves, Canadian Forces bases, and some remote areas. Data for cycle 3.1 were collected from January to December 2005 from a sample of 132,947 persons. The response rate was 79%. Approximately 3% of this sample were excluded from this analysis because of non-response to the question on community belonging. All estimates were weighted to be representative of the household population aged 12 or older in 2005. Differences between estimates were tested to ensure statistical significance, which was established at the 0.05 level. To account for survey design effects, standard errors and coefficients of variation were estimated using the bootstrap technique.^16-18

To measure sense of community belonging, respondents to the CCHS were asked, "How would you describe your sense of belonging to your local community? Would you say it is: very strong? somewhat strong? somewhat weak? very weak?"

Self-perceived general health was assessed with the question, "In general, would you say your health is:  excellent? very good? good? fair? poor?"

Self-perceived mental health was measured with the question, "In general, would you say your mental health is: excellent? very good? good? fair? poor?"

Household income was based on the number of people in the household and total household income from all sources in the 12 months before the interview. Household income groups were derived by calculating the ratio between the total household income from all sources in the previous 12 months and Statistics Canada's low-income cutoff (LICO) specific to the number of people in the household, the size of the community and the survey year. These adjusted income ratios were grouped into quintiles (five groupings, each containing one-fifth of Canadians).

Home ownership was established by asking respondents if the dwelling in which they lived was owned by a member of the household.

An urban/rural variable was assigned to each record based on the percent urban composition of the health region where the respondent lived. Urban areas were defined as continuously built-up areas having a population concentration of 1,000 or more and a population density of 400 or more per square kilometre based on current census population counts. The percent urban composition was calculated for each health region by dividing the population living in these urban areas by the total population of the health region.

Home language was established by asking respondents, "What language do you speak most often at home?"

To establish cultural or racial group, respondents were asked, "People living in Canada come from many different cultural and racial backgrounds. Are you: …." A check-list of responses was read to respondents.