Canada issues an Canadian Index of Wellbeing

The Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) is the signature product of the Institute of Wellbeing. The CIW is a new way of measuring wellbeing that goes beyond narrow economic measures like GDP. It will provide unique insights into the quality of life of Canadians – overall, and in specific areas that matter: our standard of living, our health, the quality of our environment, our education and skill levels, the way we use our time, the vitality of our communities, our participation in the democratic process, and the state of our arts, culture and recreation. In short, the CIW is the only national index that measures wellbeing in Canada across a wide spectrum of domains.

The CIW goes beyond conventional silos and shines a spotlight on the interconnections among these important areas: for example, how changes in income and education are linked to changes in health.

The CIW is a robust information tool, one that policy shapers, decision makers, media, community organizations and the person on the street will be able to use to get the latest trend information in an easily understandable format.

The CIW currently provides:

• Three detailed research reports on different, but interconnected, categories of wellbeing: Living Standards, Healthy Populations, and Community Vitality.
• A first report (PDF 4MB) that connects the dots in the first three research reports and includes highlights and summaries of these reports.

Going forward, the CIW will provide:

• A special report connecting the main CIW findings to other current reports and research.
• Detailed research reports on findings on the remaining categories of wellbeing: Education, Civic Engagement, Arts, Culture & Recreation, Time Use, and Environment. These reports will be released when they are completed.
• Periodic reports on the wellbeing of specific population sub-groups, e.g. women, children.
• And, once the CIW framework has been fully developed, it will also include a composite index – with a single number that moves up or down like the TSX or Dow Jones Industrial, giving a quick snapshot of whether the overall quality of life of Canadians is getting better or worse.

The following articles report on the launch.

• Experts develop measure that looks beyond GDP to gage quality of life and spur policy change.
• Editorial – An Index of wellbeing.
• Article by Roy Romanow, Chair of the Institute of Wellbeing, which is developing the CIW.

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