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Living In Niagara 2008 Full Report

Living in Niagara - 2008 is a description of critical indicators and areas of life in Niagara. It describes the vitality of Niagara as a place to live, learn, work and grow. The document reports on how well we are doing in comparison to provincial and national trends in eleven areas critical to community quality of life. The report is intended to be comprehensive and accessible for the general public to reflect on and to promote future dialogue about planning and actions for improvement. It was funded and conducted by a group of regional community leaders with the assistance of a research team.

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Overview of the Niagara Integrated Social and Community Planning Project

Origin of the NIAGARA INTEGRATED SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY PLANNING PROJECT (NISCPP)

The NISCPP began in 2005 in an evolutionary manner as a result of community members, primarily leaders in Niagara’s “For Social Profit” agencies convening to discuss their concerned about the social future of Niagara’s citizens. The primary concern was the absence of integrated social planning and its missed opportunities. As the concern began to clarify the group realized that we needed a mechanism in Niagara for integrated social and community planning.

A Niagara wide forum was held in April 2006 purposefully to ask the Niagara community two questions. One, did they think that the Niagara Integrated Social and Community Planning Project was a priority and two, if so what would the mechanism look like?

There was broad support for a Niagara-wide approach to integrated social and community planning. There was a strong sense that to be successful the new body would

• Act soon
• Stay flexible and adaptable to handle new challenges and to be able to change as
• Start modestly-not bite off more than it can handle
• Start with research and data collection, to get the “fact-base” established
• Begin with a focus on social and economic issues and expand from there
• Stay focused on Niagara-wide perspective and avoid working in silos and having only a local and municipal perspective.

The community consultation and planning of this mechanism for integrated planning began. The first step was to produce a picture of the social pulse of Niagara. To start to get the “fact base” right from the beginning.

Origin of LIVING IN NIAGARA 2008

This report is a community based perspective on the current state of affairs in 11 different areas of life in Niagara. There are clear descriptions of what are Niagara’s asset based strengths along with the very real challenges that affect and impact living in Niagara. This document will provide the community with the information required to focus on and make informed decisions on what issues can be acted on in a targeted manner to impact individual lives in Niagara.

The goals and objectives of the Living in Niagara Report 2008 are the result of multi-sectorial discussions and community input. The report, by its content, will enable the development of an integrated community based planning approach to:

• Determine key issues and priorities in Niagara
• Reflect the values of Niagara citizens
• Provide research and statistics on key issues
• Validate social service/voluntary sectors (with statistics)
• Create and maintain a community report card
• Measure the well-being of Niagara

The LIVING IN NIAGARA 2008 report will be released in Niagara on November 28th, 2008

Welcome to the description of Niagara as a place to live, 2008

Living in Niagara - 2008 is a description of critical indicators and areas of life in Niagara. It describes the vitality of Niagara as a place to live, learn, work and grow. The document reports on how well we are doing in comparison to provincial and national trends in eleven areas critical to community quality of life. The report is intended to be comprehensive and accessible for the general public to reflect on and to promote future dialogue about planning and actions for improvement.  It was funded and conducted by a group of regional community leaders with the assistance of a research team.

Through consultations with the Steering Committee of the Niagara Social and Community Planning Project and its Research Working Group made up of community leaders and stakeholders, 11 key areas were identified that are affecting the quality of community life in Niagara. Within each area indicators were identified and described along with relevant information, data and research about how we are doing in Niagara. The process was an attempt to measure and reflect on the critical indicators of life in our Region and its vitality now and to plan for the future.

It is our hope that this document will be a relevant and vital tool to be used in the coming years and it is offered in the spirit of community capacity building and collaboration. Living in Niagara, 2008 highlights fundamental trends affecting our community’s quality of life and was compiled by a team of research professionals using available data from numerous reliable and respected sources.

Who was involved in bringing Living in Niagara, 2008 to you?

The group overseeing the production of the report included representatives from the funding agencies, as well as community leaders from across the region. The report was financially supported by a collaboration of Niagara funders, including the Niagara Community Foundation, Ontario Trillium Foundation, the United Way of St. Catharines and District, Opportunities Niagara, Bridges Community Health Center and the Region of Niagara.
                         
Living in Niagara, 2008 provides a status report of the Region of Niagara as a place to live, work and grow.

Hopes, Visions and Intentions

 
It is the hope and intention of the planners that we can celebrate with pride the many aspects of life in Niagara and the progress that has been made in this region. At the same time, it is our intent to identify areas of concern that can be addressed and improved for the future health and sustainability of our region. Collectively, we have the capacity to learn and to work together to make positive changes for our future based on the best information we have available and the best strategies we can utilize to make a positive difference. By mapping indicators of our community’s vitality, we hope to increase awareness and to identify significant trends that provide insights into issues that matter to the residents of Niagara. It can be used as an effective tool to encourage discussion about key areas of importance to our quality of life, now and for the future.

Phases of the Project

A researcher was hired to work with the Research Working Group of the Integrated Social and Community Planning Project to plan and implement the report. The following phases were adopted to complete the report:

• Phase one - Develop areas and indicators: methodology, survey sample, findings, secondary research, areas and indicators.
• Phase two - Prepare report: data collection, review, verification, synthesis and writing.
• Phase three - Publish report: design and publication.
• Phase four-  Disseminate report for grading by a key informant group and members of the general public
• Phase five – Dissemination of report to the general public and presentations for community dialogue,   consultations and action planning.
• Phase six: Prepare for the next Living in Niagara status report.

Overall Process

This initiative grew out of the work of leaders who had a vision to measure the vitality of our region and to make this information available to engage the public in action and community capacity building to continuously improve Niagara. The Integrated Social and Community Planning Steering Committee embarked on a process to design a social and community planning model for Niagara and engaged community leaders in a process, a forum and dialogue. Out of the discussions, the need was identified to conduct a review of life in Niagara now and as an ongoing endeavour.

 
The task was challenging because there are many data sources and varied boundaries for how information is made available. Not all available data was current, compatible or comparable, making the task even more difficult than originally anticipated. Reports and data exist from each of the 12 separate municipalities, from the Region of Niagara, and the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) that includes Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand and Brant. Census data is made available by community profiles broken down by Census Tract Areas, Municipalities, Regions or Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs). Niagara participates in the Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Initiative (OMBI) gathering data with 25 other Canadian Municipalities for comparative purposes and the Federation of Canadian Communities (FCM) Quality of Life Reporting System (QOLRS) with 20 Canadian communities representing 40% of the country’s population.
Community leaders were consulted via an online survey to help identify the most useful indicators for each of the 11 key areas. Through this process, the planners and researchers learned about existing data that was being collected and reported locally by various organizations that would be useful to this report and groups shared their information generously.

Principles of Community Engagement

Principles of community engagement … The principles of community engagement and community capacity building were embedded in the development of the project and its vision for the future. The community was engaged through collecting data, identifying the areas and indicators, responding to surveys, discussing aspects of the data, grading the indicators, planning meetings and a prior community forum to develop a planning model for Niagara and decide on the need for preparing this document. The principles of collaboration, information sharing, consultation, dialogue, shared decision making and communication were part of the engagement process.

Research Methodology, Key Areas and Indicators

An online survey tool was used to contact members who had been part of the Niagara Integrated Social and Community Planning Project (NISCPP) forum and process to get their input on the key areas that would describe life in Niagara and what indicators were relevant to measuring how Niagara was doing in each area. The suggested list was presented to the ISCPP Steering Committee and the Working Group for review and formed the basis of the research. Indicators were selected using the following criteria:
• Relevance to the issue area
• Perceived public interest
• Understandability
• Measurability
• Ease and cost of data collection
• Frequency of collection for future use and comparisons over time
• Based on the Region of Niagara as the scope of the information

Existing research data from Statistics Canada, census data, government reports and research studies were collected, reviewed and analyzed for reliability and validity to be included in this document. Where possible, Niagara data was compared to provincial, national or municipal data or existing standards. When available, trends for Niagara over time were presented. Websites were accessed and data retrieved August, September and October, 2008. It was decided that the data required for the report would be regional in focus at this time. Data by neighbourhoods and municipalities would be presented in the future

Use of the Population Health/ Health Determinants  /Health Indicators Perspectives

While there are 11 separate sections in the report, each of them are connected and are all determinants of health that influence an individual living in Niagara and the health of the entire community. Determinants of health from a population health perspective include housing, transportation, lifestyle, the environment, education, employment, recreation and access to health care in addition to genetic and other psycho-social determinants.

A holistic approach to the health of Niagara’s citizens includes physical, psychological, emotional, social, environmental, occupational and spiritual health.
Source: Statistics Canada, Health Indicators -2008 no. 82-221-X

Main findings of the report …
• Niagara has a high rate of completion of education for high school, trades and college and a low completion rate of university compared to other areas in Canada.
• Our literacy rates are comparable to other cities and regions, but may not be uniform across the region.
• Crime rates are down in Niagara as in other cities and no hate crimes have been reported.
• Niagara has the 4th largest seniors’ population in Canada and this population is growing which will be great for a pool of more volunteers, but this means more services and care will be required for seniors over time.
• Niagara has a present and growing shortage of physicians and nurses.
• The rates of obesity, smoking, heart disease and high blood pressure are of concern.
• Many of Niagara’s families and children live below poverty line. Low income families are suffering and have little money for food and other necessities of life, especially women led lone-parent families.
• The average earnings and incomes are below those in Ontario.
• Over 40% of the Niagara population spend over 30% of their income on shelter.
• The numbers on the waiting list for affordable housing in Niagara are the highest of all Ontario cities and regions and the wait times are long.
• We have a growing number of singles on social assistance.
• A new hospital with increased services for oncology, emergency care, mental health and cardiac care is being planned for location in the city of St. Catharines.
• Niagara has many engaged in employment in arts, culture and heritage and they could be paid better.
• Millions of tourists visit the region, travel mostly by car and attend arts, culture and heritage functions.
• Niagara has a high rate of smog days and deaths after high pollution times in Niagara.
• Niagara’s overall Economic Development Index is one of the lowest of the 24 larger areas in Canada.
• Homelessness is a growing concern in Niagara.
• Transportation across the region for work and to access services is a challenge.
• A low percentage of our citizens use public transit to get to work.
• We have one of the highest unemployment rates and lowest employment rates in Ontario.
• While new employment opportunities are emerging, many of the larger employers in goods producing and manufacturing are shrinking and sales and service sectors are growing.
• Niagara has plenty of leaders and citizen participation in Niagara, but we have some challenges in how to take action collectively at a regional collaborative level.
• Niagara has one of the highest motor vehicle fatality rates in Ontario.

Enjoy reading Living in Niagara - 2008. 
 We hope you decide to get involved to make things even better for the future.

Grading How We Are Doing

It was decided that once the Living in Niagara, 2008 document was complete and key areas were described and quantified, that community citizens would be involved in grading how Niagara was doing. Each area and indicator was graded using the following grading levels:

Level 1.   In dire need of corrective action 
Level 2.   Of concern, needs attention    
Level 3.   Progress is being made    
Level 4.   We’re doing well and headed in the right direction  
Level 5.   We’re doing great – Niagara is a leader   

No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. We must learn  to see the world anew.   Albert Einstein

You must be the change you want to see in the world.   Ghandi

The context of Niagara and key information about its residents

The more we know about our Region and the people we share this community with, at this point in time in history, the better. The context for this report is the Region of Niagara that is made up if 12 unique and distinct municipalities that include the urban and rural areas of: Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Niagara Falls, Welland, Niagara-On-The-Lake, Pelham, St. Catharines, Thorold, Wainfleet, West Lincoln, Grimsby and Lincoln. Niagara residents share space, resources, ideas, talents and time together. They live, shop, work, play and relate. Differences in ages, backgrounds, ethnicities and perspectives make Niagara alive with diversity with a variety of talents, contributions and needs. Identifying relevant trends, patterns and population demographics at this point in time will help Niagara to plan its future.

For statistical data purposes, Niagara is described in different ways and this affects the data collection, trend analyses and possible comparisons with other municipalities. Niagara is described by Census Canada as the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) of St. Catharines-Niagara and as the Regional Municipality of Niagara. Its boundaries and statistics are also gathered as a Census Tract by the clusters of postal codes within the area. Niagara statistics are also summarized as part of the Local Integrated Health Network (LIHN) that includes Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand and Brant.

The population of Niagara

Census 2006 reports a Niagara population of 427,421, up 4.1% from 2001. Ontario’s population increased 6.6% from 2001 and Canada’s rose 5.4%. By 2012, Niagara is projected to have 489,500 residents. The foreign-born population in Niagara was 18% of the population (10.4% recent immigrants from 2001-2006). In 2006, 6,930 people declared they were Aboriginal in Niagara. The median age of Niagara’s population was 41.9 years in 2006, compared to 39.0 years in Ontario and 83.2% of the population of Niagara is over 15 years of age (81.8% in Ontario). A total of 16.8% are 0-14 years of age (17.7% of Canada); 65.8% are 15- 65 years of age (68.6% of Canada); and 17.4% are over 65 (13.7% of Canada). By 2006, 13.6% of Ontario’s population was 65 and older, up from 12.9% in 2001.

Families and households in Niagara

The Regional Municipality of Niagara is home to 73.3% married couple families; 10.3% common-law couple families; 13.1% female, lone parent families; and 3.2% male lone-parent families. A total of 163,334 households are in Niagara.

In Ontario, 86% of individuals live in some form of family unit (married, common-law or lone parent families). The remaining 14% live as unattached individuals (12%) or reside with relatives (2%). From 2001 to 2006, there has been a 9% increase in the number of unattached individuals. The divorced population grew by 13.8%, separated couples by 10.8% and legally married couples by 5.5%.
Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2006 Community Profiles

Feel free to cite this report and its findings in your work and deliberations with an appropriate reference to the report.