On Tuesday, October 20, the Community Foundation of Ottawa held Checkup 2009, a public event open to anyone wanting to participate in a community conversation based on the 2009 Ottawa’s Vital Signs report. Taking place in the auditorium of the Ottawa Public Library’s main branch, the two-hour event was moderated by Kathleen Petty (host of CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning), and led by a panel that consisted of Caroline Andrew (University of Ottawa professor and Director of the Centre on Governance), Ken Gray (Ottawa Citizen columnist and Editorial Board member), and Carl Nicholson (Executive Director of the Catholic Immigration Centre of Ottawa).
Attracting a capacity audience of close to 200 people, Checkup 2009 was indeed a lively discussion of Ottawa’s hot topics, as well as a number of issues that were true eye-openers for many people in the room, including the panelists and moderator. In one instance, a woman whose son was incarcerated for a year in the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre awaiting trial tearfully described her own treatment as a visitor to the facility and her struggles to help her mentally ill son receive the medical attention he needed. Other passionately-articulated stories included those describing the ongoing difficulties faced by Ottawa’s physically disabled citizens in accessing public buildings, as well as those grappling with a lack of affordable housing and the growing gap between rich and poor in the city.
“This is what the Ottawa’s Vital Signs program is really all about,” says Barbara McInnes, President & CEO of the Community Foundation of Ottawa. “While the report is full of fascinating stats and data on everything from health and wellness to how people make their way around the city each day, it’s really only the beginning of an important discussion that needs to take place amongst the citizens of Ottawa. Checkup 2009 was a great opening to that conversation – the one about what kind of city we want to live in and how we’re going to make that vision a reality.”
Ken Gray – a highly knowledgeable and prolific writer on municipal affairs – was particularly taken with his experience as a Checkup panelist, later writing in his Ottawa Citizen blog: “Because journalists are, of necessity, a mile wide and an inch deep, I felt rather like a tricycle between two Ferraris trying to keep up with the two other panelists who actually know of what they speak. Nicholson discussed Ottawa sleeping through a revolution what with 22 per cent of the population in the city born in other lands. With the best voice since James Earl Jones and quoting Martin Luther King, Nicholson is very learned and impressive. Andrew has a depth of knowledge of political affairs that a city hall plodder like myself can only envy. She is so nice she can say you are full of beans and you thank her for it.”
“Kathleen and all three panelists deserve a world of thanks for their contributions to this event,” responded Barbara, “and we think Ken’s pretty impressive, himself!”
Checkup 2009 was the first in a series of community conversations planned as part of the Ottawa’s Vital Signs program. Planning for the 2010 report will revolve significantly around ideas and feedback received at Checkup events in the early part of the year, to be followed by a similar reflection on the findings in the resulting report.
“From the beginning, Ottawa’s Vital Signs was designed as a vehicle to engage the entire community on issues of importance, and to stimulate public dialogue on how we can work together to improve the quality of life in our city,” says Barbara. “We expect the Checkup series to bring us even further along the way towards realizing that goal.”
Ken Gray’s Checkup speech was published as his column the day after the event, and can be read here
Read Ken’s blog about his experience as a panelist
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Toronto: a city of “world class” contradictions
Throughout the month of October the Vital Signs Canada blog will feature guest bloggers who are experts on various aspects of community vitality. Today's contributor is Rahul Bhardwaj, President and CEO of the Toronto Community FoundationA message to fellow Torontonians: take pride, our city is right up there at the top.
According to the 2008 MasterCard index of 75 leading global centres of commerce, we’re 13th in liveability and 4th in ease of doing business – in the world.
And when it comes to innovation we stack up even higher reaching second place in North America and among the top 20 cities globally.
Our quality of life, says Mercer in its 2009 Quality of Living Survey, ranks 15th out of 215 global cities for the fourth year in a row.
While we’ve not been spared the affects of the global recession, compared to other Canadian cities we’re doing quite well. Toronto is the second wealthiest city in the country after Vancouver, with an average household net worth of $562,000.
The Toronto Community Foundation’s annual Toronto’s Vital Signs® Report tells us all of this. It compiles volumes of independent pieces of research, both qualitative and quantitative, captures them across issue areas and tracks outcomes and trends.
This year’s Report confirms our current standing. We’re more prosperous. We’re more creative. We’re safer. We’re greener. We’re the full package. We are – without doubt –“world class”.
But when we get beyond the blush of our international stature and we take a closer look, another Toronto emerges.
Our city is rated “seriously unaffordable”, ranking 190th internationally, and 29th in Canada, with median housing prices 4.8 times median household incomes.
Toronto is approaching the same company as Italy and Japan – countries with the world’s oldest populations – when it comes to our Older Dependency Ratio – a measure of the pressure on a community as the population ages.
We are also in a country that ranks last among 14 western nations in spending on early learning, childcare, and kindergarten programs.
We know that too many of us are much worse off than others – some having to choose whether to feed the family or pay the rent.
A family of four on social assistance in Toronto would need to spend 33% of its income on food and 72% on rent – yes, that’s more than they have and leaves nothing for other basic needs. More than 30% of children five and under in Toronto are in families that are below the Low Income Cut-off.
Access to affordable housing is increasingly out of reach. In the mid-1990s there were two low-income families for every one moderate-rent market unit of suitable size. By 2006, there were seven such families for every one unit.
Toronto has the highest proportion of seniors in the GTA and nearly double the Ontario rate of low income seniors. More seniors are living alone, cut off from family and community.
The youth unemployment rate surpassed 20% in June 2009, up 5% in just one year and 4% higher than the national rate. There are almost twice as many youth gangs as in 2000.
What’s even more startling is the sweeping shift in income levels across our neighbourhoods. In 1970, 66% of Toronto neighbourhoods were middle income. In 2005, just 29% were classified as middle income, and by 2025 it is projected to be just 20%, most having slid down the economic ladder.
This is the unvarnished picture of the Toronto of today. What does it tell us about the city of tomorrow?
Young families will choose other cities where the cost of living is lower and affordable housing is available.
Toronto may not be able to count on much needed immigration to support our declining population and workforce because newcomers won’t have a fair chance to succeed.
The number of middle income neighbourhoods will have been significantly eroded, and the widening gap between rich and poor will reduce social cohesion increasing the risk of further disengagement and crime.
We will not be competitive in the knowledge economy because we did not invest in early learning.
Clearly, all this calls for a plan because the fine balance that is Toronto is much better kept than recovered.
At the Toronto Community Foundation we believe in our city. We believe that the knowledge and creativity that rank us so high internationally give us the tools to ensure a different and better future.
Now is the time to put our much praised innovation to use, to harness all our unique advantages and direct them towards finding new solutions to the challenges faced by our city. We need to create a more efficient city that can withstand the inevitable shifts ahead. We must invest more in education and youth, in particular. We must demand our governments lead with policies that go beyond their own narrow electoral horizon. We must move beyond the here and now and invest in the Torontonians of tomorrow. And above all, we must not forget what makes this city “world class” are its people - all of them
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
New times, new tools
In 2009, Vancouver Foundation took part in the Vital Signs initiative, but we tried something different.
Many of the young people involved in our organization were interested in Vital Signs, but felt it didn't accurately represent their perceptions, and their experience of life in Vancouver. They wanted something that had more of a youth perspective. So, for the first time, we supported a Vital Signs that was specifically designed for, and by, young people.
Youth Vital Signs (YVS) was a year-long, youth-driven research and public opinion initiative that gave a fresh voice to Vancouver youth aged 15 to 24.
We captured the experiences of Vancouver youth through a public survey and a separate mobile text survey. We also analyzed census data and gathered youth stories.
The results of YVS were markedly different from the ‘typical’ Vital Signs in some cases, and in others, remarkably similar. One thing that stood out was young people’s enthusiasm at being consulted – 1,700 filled out the on-line survey or a hard copy version, and 3,000 responded to the text survey.
Many of their answers showed that they were far more optimistic about the future than adults in some ways, and in others, far more pessimistic. They brought up different concerns -- especially around personal safety and the environment.
For highlights, or more detail, you can see the whole Youth Vital Signs report at www.youthvitalsigns.ca
We learned many things through this process. We learned that youth have strong opinions, good ideas and a concern for the future of their community. We learned that there are many decision-makers who want to know how youth experience the world, and are willing to provide support and resources to make sure youth are heard.
We also learned that if we want to reach youth, we need to use their tools. Most polling companies don’t include people under 18 in their polls. Even if they did, it might not be effective, as many young people use cell phones rather than land lines. This means that youth are not usually included in the traditional public opinion research that is used to shape policy and investment decisions.
To overcome this, the YVS project contacted a local leader in powering mobile communities and wireless social networking. The company issued a five-question poll by text message to its 15- 24-year-old clients, with dramatic results -- 3,000 replies were received in a single day.
While the results of this kind of poll are not statistically valid (because it’s not a random sample) the response rate was huge and fast. It showed that youth are willing to share their opinions and can be reached very quickly, if you use their preferred communication tools.
At Vancouver Foundation, we learned that, if we are serious about our concern for the world we leave our children, we should ask them what kind of world they want.
Youth Vital Signs survey showed us that -- whether they are part of an ethnic minority; gay or straight; a new immigrant or someone who has lived here their entire life; whether they live with their parents or in foster care – young people all want a roof over their head, safety on the streets, equal opportunities for education, a green and livable city, and a voice on the future of their community.
(* thanks to Lynne Slotek and her blog entry of October 15 for the paraphrased title).
Friday, October 16, 2009
Oct. 16-18: Stand Up and Make Poverty History
My job is rewarding, but I’ll admit, working in the campaign to end poverty can sometimes get a little discouraging. Every time you seem to be making progress, dreadful things happen and it all starts rolling back down the hill.
That’s why for very personal reasons, I am so happy when “STAND UP” comes around. It’s restorative. For four years now, millions of people across this world of ours, come together over three days to "STAND UP AND TAKE ACTION NOW TO END POVERTY”. It’s inspiring. And it’s as if the event is on steroids, it’s growing so rapidly.
The first Stand Up in 2006 attracted 23. 5 million people, the next, 43.7 million and last year, an amazing 116.9 million citizens Stood Up, and took the Stand Up pledge. That is almost 2% of the world’s population! That sent a loud firm message to our political leaders that we want them to live up to the UN Millennium Development Goals and alleviate poverty at home and around the world.
We’ve broken the Guinness Book of Records for the largest human mobilization on record and this year, we expect that during Oct 16th, 17th and 18th, we’ll break it again. We’ve had scores of emails and calls from people in every province in Canada wanting to set up events.
People come together in the most creative ways. This year, STAND UPs will be happening at a Montreal football stadium, at a giant Pumpkin Toss in Edmonton and a Thrift Fair in Fort McMurray. The events involve groups as small as 10 – or 10,000. A lot of students get involved and they find wonderful ways to get the message across. On the day before Stand Up begins in Perth, Ontario every one in 6 students at St John Catholic School will paint a white stripe on his or her face to represent the 1 in 6 people who live in poverty. On Friday, all students will wear white shirts and create a giant white circle around the track to symbolize the Make Poverty History bands.
For Canadians this year, STAND UP has a special mission. Canada is hosting the G8/G20 meetings next June in Huntsville. It’s an opportunity for Canada to show bold leadership leading the fight against global poverty. Remember that discouraging bit I mentioned at the beginning? Right now, real progress that was finally underway reducing hunger, increasing education and creating steady economic growth in Africa has been kneecapped by the twin disasters of a global financial meltdown and climate chaos. Famine, drought and flooding are on a death march through Africa and Asia. Global leaders need to step up to the plate now.
The elimination of poverty at home is a critical part of STAND UP. We’ve joined with the DIGNITY FOR ALL campaign and we are determined to make both federal and provincial governments implement poverty reduction plans. Nothing makes me more shamed as a Canadian than the appalling statistics on the health and living conditions of Aboriginal Canadians.
Without a doubt, STAND UP does raise consciousness about these issues; it gets people mobilizing far beyond the 3 days of action. Our voices raised in unison are heard by the powerful. They are paying attention. Now we must convince them to keep their promises.
Join us on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, Oct 16-18…visit the MAKE POVERTY HISTORY website to find an event near you. You'll be inspired!
(Make Poverty History is part of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).The campaign was launched in Canada in 2005 with the support of a wide cross-section of public interest and faith groups, trade unions, students, academics, literary, artistic and sports leaders. National campaigns are now active in over 100 countries.)
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Spotlight on Income Inequality
Throughout the month of October the Vital Signs Canada blog will feature guest bloggers who are experts on various aspects of community vitality. Today's contributor Lynne Slotek, CEO, Institute of Wellbeing and National Project Director, Canadian Index of WellbeingIn Vital Signs most recent report, ‘total income’ is the indicator used to provide a snapshot on ‘The Gap Between Rich and Poor’. According to Vital Signs, “income inequality in Canada has grown over the past 25 years, through both bad and good economic times… and the current economic challenges run the risk of worsening the trend.”
Recessions are a difficult way to learn a lesson. Still, there’s one thing that the current economic meltdown has taught us, and that is to question the notion that all growth is a sign of progress. The “growth is good” concept is one that has been increasingly reinforced by the dominance of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – a tool that was invented in the Great Depression and has often been misused as a surrogate for quality of life.
New times call for new measures. We need to adopt a new paradigm for the way we measure our wellbeing and think about ourselves and our world. Just as Vital Signs shines a light on the quality of life of communities, the Institute of Wellbeing with its signature product, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW), is designed to do that at the national level.
One of the key goals of the Institute of Wellbeing is to connect the dots between Canadians’ public policy decisions and quality of life (measured by indicators) – to promote a new understanding of wellbeing and the interrelated factors that contribute to it; and to encourage policy makers to make evidence-based decisions that respond to the values and needs of Canadians.
In its First Report, How are Canadians Really doing? the CIW drew attention to the dynamic interactions among income, health and education. People with higher incomes and education tend to live longer, are less likely to have diabetes and other chronic conditions, and are consistently more likely to report excellent or very good health. “The stark reality”, the report says “is that household income continues to be the best predictor of future health status. This is true in all age groups and for both women and men.” For policy shapers and decision makers, it highlights the need to confront disparities in education and health, in addition to income in order to come up with real and sustainable solutions for poverty reduction.
The CIWs First Report’s message also clearly demonstrated that “the poor stayed poor”. The poverty gap – the amount of money by which the average poor family fell short of the poverty line – was the same in 2007 as it was in 1981. At the same time, “the rich got richer”. The after-tax income of the top 20 percent of households rose 38.7 percent from 1981-2007 while the increases for all other income groups were between 21.4 and 25.8 percent.
The recession is not helping. In July 2009, the Institute of Wellbeing, released a Special Report, The Economic Crisis through the Lens of Economic Wellbeing. The report comments that the current recession will erase many of the economic and standard of living gains made since the mid-1990s. Unemployment and poverty will likely continue to rise and stay at high levels for years. The report points out that there has been a great loss of income since the onset of the recession and the hardest hit have been the bottom 20 percent of households. Based on previous recessions, the report predicts that unemployment will likely peak at around 10 percent in 2010 and the poverty rate will rise to 13.2 percent in 2010.
There is a wealth of information on income inequality in this country. About 11.4 percent of the total population, or nearly 3.5 million Canadians, including nearly 880,000 children aged 17 years and under, lived in low-income in 2005 (Statistics Canada 2008b). According to the OECD (2008), both inequality and poverty rates in Canada are now higher than the OECD average. The Senate of Canada, Subcommittee on Cities (2008) reported that “labour force participation is no longer enough to keep Canadians out of poverty.” And Food Banks Canada (2008) report that nearly 15 percent of food bank users in Canada get all their income from work and still aren’t able to care for and feed their family. Despite all of this, in June 2009, Canada rejected the UN Human Rights Council recommendation for the development of a national strategy to eliminate poverty.
So, what does this mean for policy application? The Institute’s Living Standards report links changes in the income inequality of Canadians with specific government public policy decisions. Some policy decisions have been harmful to wellbeing, such as changes to Employment Insurance and the significantly lower Welfare Benefits in 2007 than in 1986. On the other hand, the introduction of the Child Tax Credit and the National Child Benefits Supplement in the mid 90s, has provided additional income to poor working families and has lowered the poverty rate for this group somewhat – a good start towards Canadian wellbeing.
We can learn from these examples of policy decisions. The CIW, Community Foundations of Canada, other partners, and concerned Canadians, are engaging in dialogue to discover new possibilities. Sometimes, confronted with the need for significant and immediate change to complex problems, we fall back on band-aid solutions. To do so, means that we will still be looking at the same challenges or worse, come the next recession. Instead, let’s find innovative and sustainable solutions that confront root problems in integrated ways.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Today’s Globe & Mail features our two-page Canada’s Vital Signs insert which features Vital Signs stories from across the country and the results of CFC’s new public opinion survey about quality of life in our communities, conducted by Environics Research Group.
Download the PDF version of the insert.
Read today’s commentary about the survey results, featured in the online edition of today’s Globe and Mail, written by Monica Patten, CFC’s President and CEO and Michael Adams of Environics, (below)
Download the PDF version of the insert.
Read today’s commentary about the survey results, featured in the online edition of today’s Globe and Mail, written by Monica Patten, CFC’s President and CEO and Michael Adams of Environics, (below)
Quality of life differs based on community size
Throughout the month of October the Vital Signs Canada blog will feature guest bloggers who are experts on various aspects of community vitality. Today's contributor is Michael Adams, Environics Research, and Monica Patten, President and CEO of Community Foundations of Canada. This piece was also published in the Oct. 14 online edition of The Globe and Mail.Toronto Mayor David Miller might be the only prominent figure in history to leave a high-powered job claiming he wants to spend more time with his family—and actually mean it. Explaining his decision not to run for a third term as mayor, Miller discussed in detail the moments of his kids' lives he had missed during his six years at the reins of Canada's largest city, and said that his first post-mayoral gig will be to serve as assistant coach to his 14-year-old daughter's soccer team.
The public might have been forgiven for initially assuming, "I need more time with my family," was code for, "I am tired of trying to run a 21st century city in a 19th century system." Like many societies around the world, Canada has urbanized at a tremendous rate over the last century. According to Statistics Canada, the proportion of the Canadian population living in urban regions was 80 percent in 2006—a dramatic shift from the start of the 20th century, when just 37 percent of us lived in urban regions. Moreover, the demographics of our cities have changed radically: once dominated by people of European heritage, they are now populated by immigrants and the descendants of immigrants from everywhere on the planet, including increasing numbers of Aboriginal peoples.
Many of our systems—political, economic, infrastructural—have had a hard time keeping pace with this massive demographic shift. Mayor Miller was handling not only the ordinary managerial issues that face any municipal leader (a city workers' strike over the summer was one recent hurdle) but also the broader systemic challenge of leading a fast-growing city with one of the most diverse populations on earth, while wielding very little power to generate revenue or fund advances in areas like planning, transit, and infrastructure. Citizens watch in dismay as their mayors implore senior governments for a share of their own tax dollars, like children begging for candy, and wonder who is to blame in this perennial charade.
A recent survey of Canadian public attitudes suggests that people living in Canada's larger cities are less satisfied with local quality of life than people living in smaller towns—a finding that may suggest this country's urbanites are feeling the lag between what their cities need in order to thrive and what existing systems are able to provide.
In August, 2009, Community Foundations of Canada commissioned Environics to survey Canadians about the quality of life they experience in their communities across the country. The survey found that Canadians are generally very pleased with the quality of life they enjoy locally. Nearly nine in ten describe quality of life where they live as at least good, and over a third (36%) describe it as excellent. But there is a notable variation by community size in the quality of life Canadians report. Among those in communities of fewer than 5,000 residents, 43 percent rate local quality of life as excellent, as compared to 32 percent of those in cities of 100,000 people or more.
Life in smaller towns isn't perfect: Canadians in smaller centres report a greater sense of urgency about revitalizing their local economies and obtaining better health care close to home. But overall, residents of smaller towns are not only more satisfied today, they also have more confidence that their local leaders are capable of making the changes necessary to improve life in their communities over time.
When Canadians are asked about their confidence in various forms of leadership, they say they have the greatest faith in the leaders of charities and community organizations to make a positive difference in their communities. Three quarters of Canadians (77%) have at least some confidence in those in the charitable sector, while business leaders (70%), and elected municipal leaders (63%) inspire less—but still majority—confidence. One in two Canadians (50%) sees local religious leaders as likely to improve local quality of life. But here again we find notable differences between big-city residents and people in smaller towns: Canadians in communities of 5,000 people or fewer express higher levels of confidence in every type of local leadership.
Do small-town leaders inspire greater trust because, rooted in smaller communities, they are more likely to know their voters, customers, donors, and spiritual adherents personally? Probably. But it's also likely that small-town leaders really are more equal to the challenges of their local communities because the challenges of small towns have not changed as rapidly as those of big cities, which are more likely to be sites of immigrant integration challenges, transportation conundrums, pandemic threats, organized crime, large-scale waste and energy issues, and other pressing contemporary worries.
Recognizing that the challenges our cities face are immense and urgent, leaders from a range of backgrounds and sectors have begun to tackle urban issues with new seriousness. These leaders recognize that urbanization has caused a seismic change in the way Canadians relate to each other and engage with the state—and that cities can't wait for provincial or federal powers to make the necessary changes.
The Maytree Foundation, for instance, has called for more power and autonomy for Canadian cities, and launched the C5 initiative, which brings together the mayors and civil society leaders of Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal to share information and ideas. Community foundations in Canada are active partners with Maytree, along with a host of other community-based organizations. As well, local community foundations are currently working to advance a range of important projects with other partners, from a city-wide poverty-reduction project in Hamilton to targeted education programs in some of Winnipeg’s poorest neighbourhoods. Some urban solutions are coming from government, but many—as ordinary Canadians seem to have already whiffed—are coming from business and civil-society organizations that are less constrained by jurisdictional boundaries and systemic inertia.
As Canada's big cities continue to grow, and a dwindling oil supply suggests that density may be the only way forward, we will need all the help we can get in finding ways to make our urban centres wonderful places to live, work and participate—for mayors, kids, assistant soccer coaches, and everyone else.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Importance of Aboriginal Education
Throughout the month of October the Vital Signs Canada blog will feature guest bloggers who are experts on various aspects of community vitality. Today's contributor is Dr. Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards.Canada’s Aboriginal population is in crisis. In 2007, the National Council of Welfare concluded that, “To date, no governmental response has made major inroads into the issues” faced by Aboriginal people. Improving the social and economic well-being of the Aboriginal population is not only a moral imperative; it is a sound investment which will pay substantial dividends in the coming decades. Aboriginal education must be a key component in any such effort.
In recognition of the educational challenges facing Canada’s aboriginal population, the Vital Signs initiative led by Community Foundations of Canada this year selected the aboriginal high school completion rate as one of the 10 core indicators to be used in the Vital Signs reports released by 16 community foundations across the county. The objective of this article is to highlight some of this key facts and issues related to aboriginal education, building on research that the Centre for the Study of Living Standards has conducted for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (Sharpe et al, 2007 and Sharpe et al, 2009).
The importance of the Aboriginal population for Canada and the Canadian economy is best exemplified by these key observations:
- In 2006, the Aboriginal identity population made up 4.0 per cent of the Canadian population, with 1,311,200 persons.
- The Aboriginal population is much younger than the average Canadian, with a median age in 2006 of only 26.5 years, compared to 39.5 years for all Canadians.
- Aboriginal Canadians aged 15 and over have a much lower educational attainment than their non-Aboriginal counterparts with 43.7 per cent not holding any certificate, diploma or degree in 2006, compared to 23.1 per cent for other Canadians.
- As a result, the labour market outcomes for Aboriginal Canadians are significantly inferior to the Canadian average. In 2006, Aboriginal Canadians had lower incomes, a higher unemployment rate, a lower participation rate, and a lower employment rate.
- Aboriginal people with a high school diploma or higher had significantly better labour market outcomes, both in absolute terms and relative to non-Aboriginal Canadians than those who did not.
- In 2026, using the medium growth projection for Aboriginal and the General population, the Aboriginal population is projected to make up 4.6 per cent of the Canadian population.
CSLS research has concluded the following.
- Education is by far the most important determinant of labour market outcomes, and also plays a preeminent role improving social outcomes.
- Given the demographic structure of the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, Aboriginal people will undoubtedly play a significant role in shaping the economic future of Canada, and in particular that of the Western provinces.
- As a result, if businesses are to thrive in the environment of limited labour supply that is currently developing in Canada, they will need to integrate an increasing number of Aboriginal people into the labour force. If these individuals do not possess the necessary skills, businesses will suffer.
- In addition, the long-term fiscal impact for governments of better education and better social outcomes for the Aboriginal population are massive. If government want to deal with looming fiscal issues, addressing the pressing needs of Aboriginal today may be part of the solution.
- Finally, increased education can have dynamic effect on the leadership capacity of the Aboriginal community and therefore may underestimate the contribution of increased education of Aboriginal Canadians to future output and productivity growth. Better educated Aboriginal Canadians will be more effective leaders and thereby provide better direction for the economic development of Aboriginal communities.
The key message is clear: investing in Aboriginal education will not only benefit the Aboriginal population itself, but will also benefit Canadian governments and businesses, and, by extension, the entire Canadian population. Increased output will drive up productivity which is the key driver of our standard of living. Furthermore, decreased government cost and increased government revenue will provide Canadian government with the fiscal flexibility needed to cut taxes, increase services or reduce debt.
References
- National Council of Welfare, (2007). “First Nations, Métis and Inuit Children and Youth: Time to Act” available online at http://www.ncwcnbes.net/documents/researchpublications/ResearchProjects/FirstNationsMétisInuitChildrenAndYouth/2007Report-TimeToAct/ReportENG.pdf
- Sharpe, Andrew, Jean-Francois Arsenault and Simon Lapointe (2007) “The Potential Contribution of Aboriginal Canadians to Labour Force, Employment, Productivity and Output Growth in Canada, 2001-2017,” CSLS Research Report No. 2007-6, November. http://www.csls.ca/reports/csls2007-04.PDF
- Sharpe, Andrew, Jean-Francois Arsenault, Simon Lapointe and Fraser Cowan (2009) “The Effect of Increasing Aboriginal Educational Attainment on the Labour Force, Output and the Fiscal Balance, ” CSLS Research Report No. 2009-3, May. http://www.csls.ca/reports/csls2009-3.pdf
Friday, October 9, 2009
Young workers highly vulnerable in our unsettled economy
Collaboration between public and private sectors the key to enhancing youth employment
The recent Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) Vital Signs report on youth unemployment highlights that young workers (ages 15-24) are particularly vulnerable when economic times get tough. According to the report, the youth unemployment rate stands at 16.3% -- a staggering figure which is expected to grow faster than unemployment in the general population. For those youth lucky enough to be employed, the average work hours per week (a meager 23.4) are the lowest in more than 30 years.
Youth have always been some of the most vulnerable workers in our society and often get left behind in policies and programs designed to enhance job skills, training and employment. Last year, Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) published a series of research papers entitled, Pathways for Youth to the Labour Market which examines how young people in Canada navigate from school to the labour market, and the outcomes associated with taking different paths. Our research found that Canadian youth often take a non-linear route to the labour market, taking time off from their studies or switching educational programs – a reality our government and school training and employment-readiness programs do not always accommodate.
CPRN research confirms that graduates of post-secondary education (university, college and trades programs) are more likely to be employed and earn more than those who only have a high school diploma, high school dropouts, and even those who temporarily take a break from high school (but later graduate). This means that the link between education and employment is critical, and that career development programs and services that can increase educational attainment for Canadian youth, and help ready young people for the jobs that match their interests and skills, are paramount.
Unfortunately we found that career development services for youth in Canada are (with some notable exceptions) largely fragmented, inconsistently funded, piecemeal and difficult for young Canadians to access. We also found that much more needs to be done to encourage an emphasis on a vocational curriculum in high schools, and to enable partnerships between schools (secondary and post-secondary) and employers, and to strengthen co-operative and apprenticeship programs in the public and private sectors.
Our research series highlights opportunities for schools and governments to expand and coordinate resources between regions to enhance learning pathways for Canadian youth, and highlights the need for a national career development strategy for youth or national standards for service quality and provision. But governments are not the only players.
CPRN research also highlights the important place of business and the labour movement in career training and guidance. In our Youth Dialogue on learning and work, more than 140 youth from across Canada told us that they feel they did not have the appropriate information about the array of careers open to them. They called for more, and better, information on both employment and educational opportunities, including entrepreneurial paths and the trades. Canada falls well below other developed countries on employer investment in workplace learning – so there is an opportunity here. The private sector in partnership with schools and governments could work together to help accommodate this need and better prepare Canadian youth for the labour market.
Canada will soon experience a significant inter-generational transfer of employees with a large outflow of baby boomers from the labour force; at the same time, Canada will require a highly skilled labour force to compete in today’s global markets. Increasing resources and attention to targeted youth education, training and employment programs will have lasting benefits for the Canadian economy as a whole. If we are to increase our productivity as a country we cannot afford to let this generation drift off. This is not just about their future, but our future as well.
Dr. Sharon Manson Singer is the President of Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN), a leading non-partisan think tank providing socio-economic policy research and engagement to Canadian leaders. Follow CPRN on http://twitter.com/CanadianPolicy.
www.jobquality.ca
To assist youth, and others, to navigate through the labour market, CPRN runs the website JobQuality.ca which is sponsored by governments, labour and the private sector alike, and provides information on the quality of jobs in Canada. Site information includes news articles and reports, interviews and online surveys, as well as job quality indicators on such issues as work-life balance, job security, job design, pay
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Measuring Up: A New Approach to Assessing Aboriginal Learning
As the majority of those reading this will be aware, the connection between lifelong learning and community well-being is a long-established one. This is reflected in the annual Vital Signs Canada report, which evaluates quality of life in 16 Canadian communities by using a measure of 10 domains, from health and housing to safety and the environment. It should come as no surprise that learning has earned a spot on this list.
The 2009 Vital Signs report highlights a fact of Aboriginal education that has been constant for more than a decade; that attendance and completion rates for Aboriginal learners in high school and university are much lower than for non-Aboriginal learners. Although these are important statistics, indicators like high-school completion rates are only part of the larger picture of lifelong learning for Aboriginal people in Canada.
Since its founding in 2004, the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) has identified Aboriginal learning as a key area of learning in need of further research and attention.
In order to better report on the state of Aboriginal learning in Canada, CCL began by asking an important question: How do Aboriginal Peoples view success in learning?
Despite their cultural, historical and geographic diversity, Aboriginal people share a common vision of learning as something that is more than simply an individual pursuit. To the majority of Aboriginal people, learning is a means of nurturing relationships between the individual, the family, the community and the Creator. It is the primary process of transmitting values and identity, the guarantor of cultural continuity—and its value to the individual cannot be separated from its contribution to the collective well-being.
In contemporary terminology, Aboriginal learning strengthens a community’s social capital. This more ‘holistic’ view of learning is all encompassing and demands recognition as an integrated whole.
Historically, conventional indicators of success in learning have failed to reflect Aboriginal Peoples fuller vision of lifelong learning. That’s why in 2007, CCL initiated a partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and organizations across Canada to develop a more appropriate set of tools to measure progress in learning. The initiative, Redefining how Success is Measured in Aboriginal Learning, resulted in the development of three Holistic Lifelong Learning Models which reflect First Nations, Inuit and Métis perspectives on learning.
The models shift the emphasis from an external approach that focused on learning deficits relative to non-Aboriginal standards, to a more expansive, or holistic, approach that recognizes and builds on success in their own terms.
Developed in partnership with Aboriginal learners and educators, the three models helped identify indicators required to measure success, which are illustrated in the interactive versions of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis models.
Since then, CCL has used the models as the frameworks in which to report on learning in Aboriginal communities; whether it’s in the school, the home, the community, at the workplace or on the land. With this data in hand, we’ve been able to draft our first State of Aboriginal Learning in Canada (which is scheduled for a December 2009 release) that we hope will help redefine not only how Aboriginal learning is measured, but how it is understood and perceived by all.
We look forward to working with our many partners in this initiative, including the Community Foundations of Canada, to help integrate this research into their future reports, policies and programs.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Vital Signs Day 2: Local issues in the media spotlight
• Toronto’s immigrants increasingly marginalized despite living in Canada’s most diverse city
• "Every school should have this program." Aboriginal students in Hamilton are completing high school at a rate ten times the national average
• Oakville shows third highest gap between the rich and poor among this year's VS participants
• Oakville shows third highest gap between the rich and poor among this year's VS participants
• The economy in Saint John is doing exceptionally well at handling the economic downturn, however there’s a significant shortage of beds in shelters and nursing homes and health concerns are growing
• In Guelph, the richest 10 per cent of families earn six times more than do the poorest 10 per cent
• Taking early action on poverty is key, especially as the number of poor elderly increases in Waterloo
• Although still a top concern, in Calgary residents gave their city a better mark on housing this year over 2008
• Mental health, particularly among youth is a top concern in Ottawa
• Red Deer’s Vital Signs revealed that law and order is perceived by residents as the number one concern. The same day the city announced plans to address security in the downtown core
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
What's making early headlines across the country
Today Canadians awoke to tv and radio broadcasts announcing major social and health trends affecting Canadians.
Two significant findings – one on low infant birthweights, and the other a surge in youth unemployment were featured on CBC radio and Canada AM respectively.
On the local scene, the following made early news:
* Central Okanagan’s first Vital Signs Report reveals public concerned about two main issues: the gap between rich and poor and housing
* Calgarians feeling safer as crime rate dips below the national average
* Ottawa needs to make health improvements its top priority
* Medicine Hat’s residents are relying more on EI and food banks as a result of the recession
* Red Deer residents rate law & order top concern, despite drop in crime rate
* Toronto is described a city of contradictions, an affluent community where the poor get poorer
* Waterloo is experiencing rapid urbanization and an increase in the number of elderly living in poverty
* Victoria residents give their city high marks though youth surveyed are critical of area’s income disparity
* Wolfville's first report report reveals economic inequality and a high child poverty rate
Watch for more key news coverage tomorrow and follow us on Twitter for the latest news coverage and information about Vital Signs 2009.
Two significant findings – one on low infant birthweights, and the other a surge in youth unemployment were featured on CBC radio and Canada AM respectively.
On the local scene, the following made early news:
* Central Okanagan’s first Vital Signs Report reveals public concerned about two main issues: the gap between rich and poor and housing
* Calgarians feeling safer as crime rate dips below the national average
* Ottawa needs to make health improvements its top priority
* Medicine Hat’s residents are relying more on EI and food banks as a result of the recession
* Red Deer residents rate law & order top concern, despite drop in crime rate
* Toronto is described a city of contradictions, an affluent community where the poor get poorer
* Waterloo is experiencing rapid urbanization and an increase in the number of elderly living in poverty
* Victoria residents give their city high marks though youth surveyed are critical of area’s income disparity
* Wolfville's first report report reveals economic inequality and a high child poverty rate
Watch for more key news coverage tomorrow and follow us on Twitter for the latest news coverage and information about Vital Signs 2009.
Jobless youth, aboriginal education are focus of community foundations report
This article was distributed to print and broadcast media across Canada by The Canadian Press, Canada
The Vital Signs report compiles statistics on subjects that help reflect the health and well-being of people in communities across the country.
This year, the annual report highlights the rise in youth unemployment from 10.7 per cent in January 2008 to more than 16 per cent this past summer in the midst of the economic downturn. It also notes that 19.2 per cent of students looking for summer jobs were out of luck.
"It's really been youth who have become even more vulnerable than they have in the past," said Monica Patten, president and CEO of the organization, which represents 165 community charitable foundations. "The figures for youth trying to find a job tell us that it has been tougher."
She noted that statistics varied across the country, and some communities experienced the downturn more severely than others.
Community charitable foundations are tackling the question about how to respond, Patten said.
She pointed to a Toronto sports leadership development program that provides training and accreditation to young people, allowing those from marginalized communities to develop skills such as lifeguarding that will lead to work.
In this program, Patten noted, about 400 young people from 13 communities have received training, and a very high percentage - three-quarters - have completed programs and found work.
The report also highlights statistics showing that 39.3 per cent of Inuit Canadians 15 and older completed high school, while the rate for aboriginals on reserves was 40.5 per cent. Overall, the high school completion rate for aboriginal Canadians was 56.3 per cent in 2006, compared to 76.9 per cent among non-aboriginals.
"This has huge implications for their future, for their work, for their sense of self-worth, for their productivity. And that has huge implications for the whole country," said Patten.
The 165 foundations provided $169 million to local charities and organizations in 2008. Patten said they received $230 million in new gifts in 2008, whereas in the past, they've received more than $300 million a year.
Investments were way down at one point, but are now reporting a slow but comfortable and steady return, she said. However, it will take several years to get back to where they were a few years ago.
Besides the statistics on young people, the report highlighted several issues dealing with the population at large:
-Violent crime has fallen 12 per cent since 1991.
-Low birth weight increased from 5.7 per cent in 2002 to 6.1 per cent in 2008, in part due to more pre-term births linked to fertility treatments, an increase in maternal age and C-sections.
-Housing has become less affordable. The average home price in Canada
-Ninety-eight per cent of Canadians with access to recycling programs were taking part in the programs.
-The median charitable donation rose from $170 in 1997 to $250 in 2007, but the proportion of Canadians declaring charitable donations dropped from 25.7 per cent to 24 per cent.
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Young Canadians face worst job market in decades, says annual report card
NEWS RELEASE
OTTAWA (Oct. 6, 2009) - Canada's youth jobless rate has soared under the economic pressures of the past year and even the lucrative summer months were a bust, with young people's hours of work hitting 30-year lows, according to Canada's Vital Signs 2009, the annual report card on quality of life from Community Foundations of Canada.
"The report shows us how the impact of the recession has been immediate and severe for vulnerable groups, such as youth," said Monica Patten. "It also shines a light on inequities that pre-date the recession, such as the disturbing high school completion rates among the aboriginal population."
The snapshot of how Canadian communities are faring in 10 key areas also highlights a continuing paradox. Although violent crime was the top concern among Canadians in a recent poll, statistics show that our safety record continues to improve, with significant declines in the most violent crimes such as homicide, sexual offences and child abduction.
- Youth unemployment rose from 10.7 per cent in January 2008 to 16.3 per cent by this summer. As of August 2009 employment among youths is falling faster than in any other age group. Among students looking for summer jobs, 19.2 per cent were unemployed this summer and for those who found work, the average number of work hours, (23.4 per week) was the lowest in more than 30 years.
- Aboriginal students (15 and over) are attending and completing high school at much lower rates than the non-Aboriginal population. The Aboriginal high school completion rate was 56.3 per cent in 2006, as compared to a rate of 76.9 per cent among the non-Aboriginal population. The numbers were even lower among Aboriginal Canadians on reserves (40.5 per cent) and in Nunavut (39.3 per cent).
- Violent crime has fallen 12 per cent since 1991 with the largest declines in the most violent offences, including a 32 per cent drop in homicides, a 36.4 per cent decrease in sexual offences and a 64.5 per cent decline in abductions.
- Low birth weight, which is linked to child health concerns such as learning difficulties, vision and respiratory problems, is on the rise in Canada. Between 2002 and 2008, the incidence of low birth weight increased from 5.7 per cent to 6.1 per cent, in large part due to a rising incidence in pre-term births linked to the increase in maternal age, C-sections and fertility treatments.
Sixteen Local Reports Released Today
Vital Signs is part of a growing nation-wide initiative by Canadian community foundations to measure quality of life and take action to improve it. Today, 16 local Vital Signs report cards are being released by community foundations across Canada. A full list of this year's participants and their local reports can be found at http://www.vitalsignscanada.ca/.
Vital Signs collects data from recognized sources to make connections between key quality of life issues in our country. It is designed to share important research in a reader-friendly way that is accessible to all Canadians. The national Vital Signs project is based on Toronto's Vital Signs,® an extremely successful indicator report developed by Toronto Community Foundation, which was first published in 2001.
"Vital Signs has become a platform for local action among a wide range of community leaders, including governments, not-for-profits, philanthropists, the private sector, and individual citizens," said Patten.
Polling to be released on Oct. 14
This year, for the first time, Community Foundations of Canada has also conducted national polling about the quality of life in our communities. The polling, conducted by Environics Research Group, will be released on Wednesday, Oct. 14 and featured in an insert in The Globe and Mail.
For ongoing updates, follow Canada's Vital Signs on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CFCvitalsigns or visit our blog at http://www.vitalsignscanada.blogspot.com/.
About Community Foundations
Canada's 165 community foundations are local charitable foundations that help Canadians invest in building strong and resilient places to live, work, and play. They are one of the largest supporters of Canadian charities, providing $169 million to local organizations in 2008. Find out more at http://www.cfc-fcc.ca/.
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| Contacts Anne-Marie McElrone Director of Communications and Marketing 902.461.8284 (w) 902.223.0674 (c) | Skana Gee Vital Signs Communications Coordinator 902.466.7191 (w) 902.223.5234 (c) |
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