Quality of Life Hub

Welcome to Canada's Quality of Life Hub. Learn about Canada's Quality of Life Framework, and find the latest releases, data publications, and reference material on subjective and objective measures of wellbeing.

Canada's Quality of Life Framework

The Quality of Life Framework for Canada brings together data for eighty-four indicators, spread across five domains and two central indicators (as shown in the Quality of Life Framework for Canada infosheet).

The framework also includes two cross-cutting lenses, which are applied across all the domains in the framework:

Quality of life identifier
Description - Quality of life identifier

This image illustrates the Quality of Life Framework for Canada. It is represented as a circular graphic with the term "Quality of Life" in a circle at its centre. The circular graphic is divided into five segments which represent each of the five domains of the framework: Prosperity, Health, Society, Environment, and Good Governance. Each domain is represented by an icon: Prosperity domain by an image of a line graph, Health by a heart and heartbeat (electrocardiogram) line, Society by a group of people, Environment by trees, and Good Governance by a courthouse. The two lenses of the framework, Fairness and Inclusion and Sustainability and Resilience, encircle the image, represented by curved arrows.

Features

Interactive dashboards

Domains and headline indicators

Consult the latest data on the headline indicators below to gain a snapshot of Canada's quality of life. A or indicates a meaningful difference. Select the domain name to learn more about the indicators within it.

Life satisfaction and sense of meaning and purpose

Key indicators for Life satisfaction and sense of meaning and purpose

Life satisfaction

46.8%

reported high life satisfaction in Q3 2024

meaningful increase+6.2 pts
since Q2 2024
meaningful decrease-3.8 pts
since Q3 2023
Canada ranks 16/41 of OECD countries (OECD Better Life Index - Life Satisfaction)
Source: Table 13-10-0843-01

Sense of meaning and purpose

55.6%

reported high sense of meaning and purpose in Q3 2024

meaningful increase+4.5 pts
since Q2 2024
meaningful decrease-2.1 pts
since Q3 2023
Source: Table 13-10-0845-01

Health

Key indicators for Health

Health-adjusted life expectancy

69.7 yrs

expected alive and in good health in 2015 to 2017

meaningful decrease-0.7 years
since 2010 to 2012
Canada ranks 17/41 of OECD countries (OECD Better Life Index - Health)
Source: Table 13-10-0370-01

Self-rated mental health

48.2%

reported good or excellent self-rated mental health in Q3 2024

meaningful increase+3.3 pts
since Q2 2024
+0.9 pts
since Q3 2023
Canada ranks 1/41 of OECD countries (OECD Better Life Index - Health)
Source: Canadian Social Survey (CSS), Table 45-10-0079-01

Prosperity

Key indicators for Prosperity

Household income

$70,500

median after-tax income for economic families and persons not in an economic family in 2022

meaningful decrease-$2,500
since 2021
Canada ranks 13/41 of OECD countries (OECD Better Life Index - Income)
Source: Table 11-10-0190-01

Youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET)

11%

in 2023

0 pts
since 2022
Canada ranks 21/41 of OECD countries (OECD Data - Youth not in employment, education or training (NEET))
Source: Table 37-10-0196-01

Employment rate

60.7%

in September 2024

-0.1 pts
since August 2024
meaningful decrease-1.3 pts
since September 2023
Canada ranks 20/41 of OECD countries (OECD Better Life Index - Jobs)
Source: Table 14-10-0287-02

Poverty

9.9%

in 2022

meaningful increase+2.5 pts
since 2021
Source: Table 11-10-0135-01

Housing needs

71.0%

lived in acceptable housing in 2021

+1.0 pt
since 2018
Canada ranks 17/41 of OECD countries (OECD Better Life Index - Housing)
Source: Table 46-10-0071-01

Environment

Key indicators for Environment

Drinking water

31

long-term drinking water advisories on reserves in 2024

meaningful increase+2
since 2023
Source: Ending long-term drinking water advisories, Indigenous Services Canada

Air quality

85%

living in areas within air quality standards in 2019 to 2021

meaningful increase21 pts
since 2018 to 2020
Canada ranks 8/41 of OECD countries (OECD Better Life Index - Environment)
Source: Population exposure to outdoor air pollutants

Greenhouse gas emissions

708 megatonnes

carbon dioxide equivalent emitted in 2022

meaningful increase+1.3%
since 2021
Source: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Climate change adaptation

58.5%

municipal organizations factored climate change adaption into decision-making in 2020

meaningful increase+7.1 pts
since 2018
Source: The Daily - Canada's Core Public Infrastructure Survey: Solid waste and asset management, 2020

Conserved areas

Terrestrial areas

13.7%

conserved at end of 2023

meaningful increase+0.1 pts
since 2022
Marine areas

14.7%

conserved at end of 2023

+0 pts
since 2022
Source: Canada's Protected and Conserved Areas Database

Society

Key indicators for Society

Sense of belonging to local community

51.9%

reported strong sense of belonging to their local community in Q3 2024

meaningful increase+6.2 pts
since Q2 2024
Source: Table 45-10-0052-01

Someone to count on

73.7%

reported always having people they can depend on when in need in Q3 2024

+0.6 pts
since Q2 2024
Canada ranks 21/41 of OECD countries (OECD Better Life Index - Community)
Source: Table 45-10-0050-01

Time use

Men

73%

spent time on unpaid work per day in 2022 and 2023.

For these men, the average time spent was

3.5 hours per day
Women

85%

spent time on unpaid work per day in 2022 and 2023.

For these women, the average time spent was

4.4 hours per day
Men

meaningful decrease-7.1 pts

meaningful increase+0.4 hours per day
Women

meaningful decrease-4.2 pts

meaningful increase+0.3 hours per day

since 2015

Source: Table 45-10-0014-01, Table 45-10-0104-01

Good governance

Key indicators for Good governance

Personal safety

19.1%

reporting victimization of any kind in 2019

4.3%

reporting violent victimization in 2019

More data coming to measure progress over time

Source: General Social Survey (GSS) - Canadians' Safety (Victimization), 2019

Discrimination and unfair treatment

30.9%

reported discrimination or unfair treatment of any kind in Q3 2024

meaningful decrease-6.0 pts

since Q2 2024
Source: Table 43-10-0061-01

Confidence in institutions

Police

63.5%

Justice

49.2%

School

45.9%

Media

37.8%

Parliament

29.6%

reported high confidence in Q3 2024

Police
+0.6 pts
Justice
meaningful increase+3.8 pts
School
meaningful increase+1.6 pts
Media
meaningful increase+4.5 pts
Parliament
meaningful increase+1.5 pts
since 2023
Source: Table 45-10-0074-01

Related resources

Visit other Statistics Canada subject hubs and portals for related data, analysis and information.

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