Research Methodology

Measuring the vitality of our region

Factual data tells one story of life in our region. People’s perceptions may tell a completely different story. Capturing both the reality and the opinion will give us a broad picture of life in metro Vancouver.

This report, Vancouver Foundation’s Vital Signs for Metro Vancouver, measures the vitality of our region in 12 key areas of life by blending statistics with a public opinion survey. The results give a sense of the region we are, and the region we hope to be.

Part 1. Gauge the public opinion

Environics Research Group conducted an online survey for Vital Signs from July 15 to 23, 2010 using a representative sample of 1,200 metro Vancouver residents age 15 and over.

Survey participants:

1. answered general questions about how they feel about life in our region
2. graded 12 key areas of life in our region as A, B, C, D or F
3. identified their top priorities that need to be addressed over the next year in each key area.

Participants reflect the metro Vancouver population by age, gender and region, and the results have been statistically weighted to match the population according to the 2006 Census.

Part 2. Mine the data

Vancouver Foundation’s Vital Signs for Metro Vancouver sought reliable, relevant data that touches on the core story of life in our region; data that could incite public interest, motivate change, and ultimately measure the vitality of our region.

The research process, which was guided by a committee of knowledgeable professionals called the Expert Resource Group and carried out by research teams at the Social Planning and Research Council of BC and the Regional Vancouver Urban Observatory. Community Foundations of Canada oversees the Vital Signs project at a national level and retained the Centre for the Study of Living Standards to research indicators for 16 Vital Signs projects across Canada in 2010.

Our research team used online searches, phone calls and custom data requests to seek out the most current information available for each of the 12 key areas, and relied as much as possible on data at the regional level. Breakdowns by sub-regions and municipalities and comparisons to other Canadian urban regions were included where possible. In some cases, data was only available for certain cities or for the province as a whole. Unless otherwise indicated, data presented in the report is for metro Vancouver.

We also draw upon comparisons over time, based on the five-year history of the Vital Signs project in our region, and deeper historical trends where relevant.

On this site

This site includes research highlights for each key area; an outline of key trends, challenges and progress; and a PDF with more detailed data and sources for each statistic.

Community input

The direction of the report was also steered by a team of community leaders and executives called the Leadership Advisory Group.