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.

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

40.4%

reported high life satisfaction in Q2 2024

meaningful decrease-8.2 pts
since Q1 2024
meaningful decrease-11.0 pts
since Q2 2023

Sense of meaning and purpose

51.1%

reported high sense of meaning and purpose in Q2 2024

meaningful decrease-5.8 pts
since Q1 2024
meaningful decrease-7.2 pts
since to Q2 2023

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

Self-rated mental health

44.9%

reported good or excellent mental health in Q2 2024

meaningful decrease-3.0 pts
since Q1 2024
meaningful decrease-3.8 pts
since Q2 2023

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

Employment rate

60.8%

in August 2024

-0.1 pts
since July 2024
meaningful decrease-1.2 pts
since August 2023

Poverty

9.9%

in 2022

meaningful increase+2.5 pts
since 2021

Housing needs

71.0%

lived in acceptable housing in 2021

+1.0 pt
since 2018

Environment

Key indicators for Environment

Drinking water

31

long-term drinking water advisories on reserves in 2024

meaningful increase+2
since 2023

Air quality

85%

living in areas within air quality standards in 2019 to 2021

meaningful increase21 pts
since 2018 to 2020

Greenhouse gas emissions

708 megatonnes

carbon dioxide equivalent emitted in 2022

meaningful increase+1.3%
since 2021

Climate change adaptation

58.5%

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

meaningful increase+7.1 pts
since 2018

Conserved areas

Terrestrial areas

13.6%

conserved at end of 2022

meaningful increase+0.1 pts
since 2021
Marine areas

14.7%

conserved at end of 2022

meaningful increase+0.8 pts
since 2021

Society

Key indicators for Society

Sense of belonging to local community

45.7%

reported strong sense of belonging to their local community in Q2 2024

meaningful decrease-2.1 pts
since Q1 2024
-0.4 pts
since Q2 2023

Someone to count on

73.1%

reported always having people they can depend on when in need in Q2 2024

meaningful decrease-2.7 pts
since Q1 2024
meaningful increase+1.9 pts
since Q2 2023

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

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

Discrimination and unfair treatment

36.9%

reported discrimination or unfair treatment of any kind in Q2 2024

+1.0 pts
since Q1 2024

Confidence in institutions

Police

63.2%

Justice

46.4%

School

46.7%

Media

32.6%

Parliament

30.6%

reported high confidence in 2023

Police
-0.3 pts
Justice
meaningful decrease-1.1 pts
School
meaningful decrease-2.3 pts
Media
meaningful increase+1.4 pts
Parliament
meaningful decrease-2.5 pts
since 2022

Related resources

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

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