Vancouver's Vital Signs
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Vancouver's Vital Signs
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Our Sense of Place
A City Within a Region
When we say and think “Vancouver”, what are we really talking about?
Vancouver’s Vital Signs provides a snapshot of a city that is part of a larger geographic reality; a city situated within a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), incorporating other municipalities.
Vancouver is also a member of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD), made up of 21 member
municipalities and one electoral area. As a result, Vancouver cannot be treated as an entity unto itself; we need to look at it within a regional context. For instance:
- Transit and transportation issues are often regional in nature; many of us live in one municipality and work, live and learn within another.
- Crime statistics for the City of Vancouver reflect “the core city phenomenon” – that is, certain types of crimes within a regional area, like the GVRD, tend to concentrate within the core city.
- Where we go to school, borrow library books, attend cultural events and sporting events all happen across a large metropolitan area.
- Vancouver’s environmental practices such as garbage collection and water management are connected to others across the region.
- With any significant change to a population in a relatively short period of time, there are accompanying social impacts, both positive and negative. Our increasingly diverse population has a profound impact on both the city and the region.
Increasingly, the issues of Vancouver are the issues of the region surrounding it – and vice versa. While Vancouver’s Vital Signs is an assessment of where we stand in 12 Key Areas that influence our city’s wellness, they need to be seen and understood within the context of this region – and beyond.
Geographic Reference
In this report, the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver CMA are referred to frequently in indicator findings.
To interpret the findings, it is important to understand geographic references. The map below identifies the boundaries of the City and those of the larger census region known as the Vancouver CMA.
Our Research Methodology
Vancouver Foundation has been diligent in its approach to compiling this first “check-up” on Vancouver’s quality of life. We have engaged academic, business, civic and expert leaders, who have provided input, data and commentary on the Key Areas reviewed in this report.
A Multi-faceted Approach
The Vancouver’s Vital Signs project combined intelligence gathered from people, public opinion, expert commentary and hard data to create a living picture of Vancouver. The Vancouver’s Vital Signs team and Ipsos Reid, the research group retained to undertake research and grading, worked collaboratively with an impressive array of volunteer expert resources to produce this multi-faceted snapshot of Vancouver today.
Vancouver Foundation’s Board, Advisory Committees and staff participated in the development of this report. Advisory groups formed especially for this project helped set direction, support and guide indicator selection, provide access to data, review findings, and leverage awareness and engagement.
The project’s Expert Resource Group was particularly active, helping the project team and Ipsos Reid researchers assemble approximately 90 indicators under 12 Key Areas that relate directly to understanding quality of life. Ten of these Key Areas are being used by all five Vital Signs projects across Canada in 2006. Two are specific to Vancouver: Livable City and Diversity as a Way of Life.
Primary Research
Primary research is information that comes directly from the source and is usually collected specifically for the particular needs of the research or purpose at hand. Primary research involves gathering information through interaction with other people and can be gathered through one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and surveys.
“Quality of Life” Omnibus Survey
A telephone survey with a randomly-selected sample of 240 residents of the City of Vancouver, age 18 years or older, using Ipsos Reid’s BC Reid Express omnibus survey.
“Pulse of Canada”
An online survey conducted by Ipsos Reid and CanWest Global with a randomly selected sample of 8,431 Canadians (including 597 residents of the Vancouver CMA) age 18 years or older.
Personal Interviews
Personal interviews with members of the Vancouver’s Vital Signs Expert Resource Group, along with other individuals and organizations, were invaluable in providing customized data on a variety of topics.
Key Informant Grading & Priority Setting
The final element of our research was an online grading exercise, involving nearly 200 individuals with knowledge of Vancouver issues. They were asked to assign a grade in response to the question, “How well are we doing?” in each Key Area and then invited to identify two priorities they felt required action in each Key Area. To arrive at the Citizen Grade, Ipsos Reid used the mode for each Key Area.
While the facts – or indicator results – speak for themselves, these grades and priorities offer additional context. They show how engaged and well-informed citizens believe we are doing in each area and what they think we need to do as a community to address the challenges that lie ahead. Interestingly, these perceptions don’t always reflect statistical evidence gained through secondary research, resulting in food for thought, debate, discussion and dialogue.
Secondary Research
Secondary research examines data that has been collected for a different purpose, usually by a different organization. Secondary research was used extensively for Vancouver’s Vital Signs, and involved library, custom-run data, phone calls, and online searches.
Some of the challenges faced in collecting such data included finding up-to-date information, data that has not yet been collected, or data that is not available in a usable format, as well as public accessibility issues.
We have drawn on available data that is most current and relevant to each Key Area indicator. We have also made a point of distinguishing between the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD), the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) and the City of Vancouver: these are important distinctions for our research, given the differences in geography, population and socio-economic factors.
Key sources of data can be found in hyperlinks throughout the Key Findings.
The End Result
Vancouver’s Vital Signs offers a topical blend of facts and perceptions. We hope Vital Signs serves as a tool for information, discussion, debate and dialogue for those who are committed to community
wellness, and to advancing the interests of all who live here.