Released today, the special edition issue of Insights on Canadian Society expands Statistics Canada's flagship social publication to offer policy-relevant articles united across a common theme, which leverage visuals and accessible multimedia formats to allow readers to interactively examine their different facets. Diverse products in addition to analytical articles are featured in this special issue.
This issue focuses on social geography—how social phenomena are distributed across Canada and how our distinct environments, in turn, shape us. It's more than just putting numbers on a map. "Place" is a fundamental building block of social statistics, and social geography cuts across almost every topic, from climate and health to accessibility, identity and well-being.
This first issue of the special edition covers some fascinating topics, such as experiences of living in remote areas, how well-being varies across regions of Canada, and how different neighbourhoods in Canada experience floods.
Where you live can impact your opportunities and daily experiences
Given the immense size of our country, people living in rural and remote areas sometimes face unique challenges in accessing services such as healthcare and education.
In the new study, "Far from home: High school completion for First Nations people, Métis, and Inuit in remote communities, 2016 to 2021," census data were used to understand educational outcomes in remote parts of the country. The study showed that living in an easily accessible area (relative to a very remote area) increased the odds of completing high school for First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in 2021. It also highlighted how high school completion in very remote areas evolved during the 2016-to-2021 period.
Access to healthcare professionals can vary geographically, too. In the infographic, "Oral health professionals in Canada, 2021," data from the census were used to show that health regions with a higher rate of dentists (per 100,000 people) were generally found in densely populated urban areas, such as the regions surrounding the metropolitan areas of Vancouver and Toronto.
Despite challenges in accessing certain services, life in rural areas can present unique opportunities. The infographic, "Harvesting and cultural activities among Indigenous children," used the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey to highlight the participation rates of Indigenous children in harvesting and other cultural activities within different regions of Canada. The survey found that Indigenous children in rural areas and Inuit Nunangat were more likely to participate in these important cultural activities at least once a month.
The cost of living—especially the cost of housing—varies substantially across regions of Canada. Nearly half (45%) of Canadians reported being very concerned about their ability to afford housing from August 2 to September 15, 2024, and many Canadians reported facing challenges related to housing adequacy, housing condition or experiencing discrimination when looking for housing. In the release, "Housing challenges related to affordability, adequacy, condition and discrimination, August 2 to September 15, 2024," housing challenges were measured using the latest wave of the Canadian Social Survey. The survey found that the overall prevalence of housing challenges was highest in Ontario and British Columbia and was lowest in Quebec (note: this survey excluded the territories).
Geography helps us understand the connections between climate change and socioeconomic outcomes
Flooding is the most common and expensive natural disaster in Canada, with the risk of flooding expected to continue to grow in coming decades, largely due to the effects of climate change. Understanding how natural disasters impact communities often requires a geographic approach, in linking one dataset to another. In the new study, "The intersection of flooding and deprivation: A study of neighbourhoods," flood maps from Natural Resources Canada were linked to the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation and census data to understand the impact of floods on neighbourhoods. The study highlights that, although flooded communities generally showed signs of economic improvement in the post-recovery period from 2016 to 2021, some also experienced increases in other areas of vulnerability, specifically residential instability (e.g., proportion of people moving in and out of a neighbourhood).
Mapping happiness helps us understand well-being across different regions of Canada
Sometimes, straightforward mapping of new data can help to understand underlying patterns. In an innovative new study, "Beyond urban and rural: Rethinking the social geography of Canada," a more meaningful classification scale for social statistics was developed, going beyond the traditional urban-rural split. Using this scale, high life satisfaction was found to be more prevalent across rural and remote regions and small population centres (population of 1,000 to 29,999 people) based on pooled data from 2021 to 2024. It was also consistently higher in the province of Quebec. The podcast episode, "Mapping happiness: How where we live impacts our well-being," brings this paper to life and extends the conversation on this fascinating topic by discussing additional findings with one of the analysts from the study.
Contact information
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