B.C. earns a ‘B’ on society report card

Poverty and gender inequality are holding the province of B.C. back, according to recent findings.

British Columbia recently received a "B" grade and placed 12th among 26 other jurisdictions in The Conference Board of Canada's first society report card, which compares the social performance of Canada, the provinces and 15 peer countries.

"B.C. has respectable performance on a number of social indicators. But, there are some key areas for improvement, including the province's high levels of income inequality and poverty relative to other provinces and international peers," said Craig Alexander, senior VP with The Conference Board of Canada.

On income inequality and poverty, B.C. scores "C" grades. The province gets its lowest grade, a "D," on gender wage gap.

B.C. earns "A"s on social network support and life satisfaction. New Brunswick is the top-ranked province on the report card, earning a "B" and placing 10th among the 26 regions.

Although income inequality is no longer rising in B.C., the level is higher than in many provinces and international peer countries. The share of income going to the richest B.C. residents is 10 times higher than the share going to poorest ones.

The province has one of the highest poverty rates in Canada. This is significant as poverty can lead to higher crime rates, illness, substance abuse and poor educational outcomes which, can affect the economy through lost productivity.

British Columbia has the second-highest three-year average burglary rate among the province, earning a “B.” The province also gets a "B" on the homicides indicator, with an average rate of 1.9 deaths per 100,000 population, slightly higher than the national average of 1.5 homicides.

British Columbia received its worst grade for the gender pay gap, which is more than 22 per cent between men and women in the province. B.C. scores a "D" on this indicator and places ahead of only Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador and one peer country, Japan.

B.C. is also a poor performer when it comes to income of people with disabilities. The disposable income of people with disabilities in British Columbia is 70.7 per cent that of people without disabilities, the third lowest rate among Canadian provinces.

British Columbia's standout, "A" grade performances are on social network support and life satisfaction. The province gets a "B" grade on jobless youth, as 13.6% of youth 20 to 24 are neither in school nor working, slightly better than the national average of 14.8%.