Quality of life in a Canadian province is similar to Switzerland, says report

If the Canadian provinces and territories were ranked the same as countries where do you think British Columbia land on the list?

The Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) has broken down the data by province and territory to determine which one is the best and which one the worst if they were their own country.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is an internationally recognized measure of socio-economic well-being. It is a composite index composed of three dimensions; life expectancy, education and income. The HDI is used by the United Nations in its annual report to rank countries around the world. Canada falls into ninth place in the international 2014 rankings, but that shows the country as a whole, not individual provinces and territories.

According to the report by the CSLS, Alberta recorded the highest HDI score in 2014 out of the 13 provinces and territories. Nunavut ranked last. Life expectancy is considered the best in British Columbia, and worst in Nunavut. For average educational attainment, Yukon ranked in first while Nunavut again lands in last place.

For expected years of schooling, Quebec ranked at the top and Nunavut came in last. And the best gross national income (GNI) per capita was found in the Northwest Territories and worst in Prince Edward Island.

Using internationally comparable index values for the Canadian provinces and territories, we can then rank the provinces against the index values of other countries.

Of the 188 countries in the most recent HDR rankings, Canada’s provinces and territories ranked between:

• Fourth and 46th place in overall HDI;
• Sixth and 103 rd in life expectancy;
• First and 35th in average educational attainment;
• 14th and 107th in expected years of schooling;
• Third and 34th in GNI per capita.

According to overall HDI, Canadians living in Alberta enjoy a quality of life similar to that of Switzerland or Denmark while Canadians in Nunavut face a quality of life similar to Latvia or Croatia.

All provinces and territories experienced improvements in the HDI over the 2000-2014 period. The two jurisdictions with the greatest improvements were Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador. The rapid HDI growth in Nunavut had no effect on its last place position because its HDI score in 2000 was so far behind the other jurisdictions.

On the other hand, Newfoundland and Labrador’s strong HDI growth boosted it from eleventh to sixth. Three jurisdictions tied for slowest HDI growth are the Northwest Territories, Ontario and British Columbia.