Quality of Life Higher in Kelowna Than Vancouver

New data released from Statistics Canada shows which Canadians are satisfied with their lives as a whole, and in BC people are happier in the Interior than they are on the coast.

The information shows that Canadians residing in St. John’s, Trois-Rivières and Saguenay were, on average, most satisfied with their lives. Those who live in Toronto, Windsor and Vancouver were least satisfied. In Kelowna, the average life satisfaction score was eight out of 10, which is around the Canadian average.

Data from between 2009 and 2013 including information from the General Social survey and the Canadian Community Health Survey showed that across the country the life satisfaction was eight on a scale of 10.

The new study examines the life satisfaction of nearly 340,000 Canadians, making it possible to compare results reliably across census metropolitan areas (CMAs). As well, the study covers the population living outside CMAs, distributed across 58 economic regions across the country.

Across CMAs, there was a difference of almost 11 percentage points in the proportion of individuals rating their life satisfaction as nine or 10. The shares were largest in Greater Sudbury, Thunder Bay, St. John's, Saint John and Saguenay, all between 42 per cent and 45 per cent, and smallest in Vancouver, Toronto, Barrie and Edmonton at 34 per cent to 35 per cent. There was a difference of almost 14 percentage points across CMAs in the proportion of individuals rating their life satisfaction as eight or higher.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com

At the other end of the scale, 14 per cent of all Canadians rated their life satisfaction as six or less. This proportion was smallest in Saguenay, Québec and Trois-Rivières at less than 10 per cent, and largest in Windsor, Toronto, Abbotsford–Mission and Peterborough at about 17 per cent.

Many factors may account for community-level differences in life satisfaction, and there is a growing body of international and Canadian research in this domain. This includes work that examines the role played by the physical characteristics of geographic areas, such as urban size and population density, natural endowments, economic opportunity or deprivation, and access to, and quality of, infrastructure, amenities and services.