[homeles_ot-l] FW: Launch of Canadian Index of Wellbeing - [ACF e-bullet]

Fri Jun 12 11:56:48 EDT 2009

FYI . . . Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)

147 Besserer St., Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7

613-241-7913, ext. 205

HYPERLINK "http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/"www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca

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From: atkinson-news-bounces at emergence.com
[mailto:atkinson-news-bounces at emergence.com] On Behalf Of Barata, Pedro
Sent: June 12, 2009 9:10 AM
To: atkinson-news at emergence.com
Subject: [ACF e-bullet] Launch of Canadian Index of Wellbeing

ACF NEWS:  INSTITUTE OF WELLBEING LAUNCHES CIW

Dear Friends and Colleagues:  

It is with great pleasure that we share with you news about the launch of
the first report of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW).  As you will see
from the following CIW e-bulletin, this Institute of Wellbeing initiative is
already seeding a new dialogue about societal progress that holds great
promise for new understandings about public policy issues.  The Atkinson
Foundation, alongside a growing circle of partners and funders, looks to the
future of this initiative with great anticipation and we hope that you will
take the time to learn more, share the news with your networks, and get
involved in the conversation.  

Sincerely, 

Peter A. Armstrong

President

The Atkinson Charitable Foundation

e-bulletin header

The Institute of Wellbeing and CIW are Official…

Toronto, June 11 – Yesterday morning I had the great honour and privilege of
officially launching the Institute of Wellbeing and its signature product,
the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW). 

The Institute is independent, non-partisan with a newly forming affiliation
with the world-class and highly innovative University of Waterloo. The CIW
is a new and better way of measuring Canadians’ quality of life. Right now
our country lacks a single, national instrument for tracking and reporting
on how Canadians are really doing. The CIW will report on trends and changes
in eight interconnected areas that are vital to Canadians’ quality of life.

I want to thank the many people and organizations whose hard work over the
years made this day possible: the Atkinson Charitable Foundation (ACF) which
provided leadership and financial support throughout our developmental
years; the hundreds of Canadians who, through three rounds of
coast-to-coast-to-coast public consultations, candidly told us what matters
to their quality life and what we should be measuring; the dozens of
nationally and internationally renowned indicator experts who devised the
CIW framework, put together the data with Statistics Canada’s support, wrote
our technical studies and put us through a rigorous validation process to
ensure that our methodology is sound and our data is the best available.

I also want to thank the University Waterloo – with whom the Institute of
Wellbeing is affiliated – its President Dave Johnston and Dr. Frances
Westley. And last, but certainly not least, I want to thank our alliance of
funders who have and are generously supporting the Institute’s work,
including the ACF, RBC Foundation, Province of Ontario, The Lawson
Foundation, The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, and the Canadian Council
on Learning.

To find out more about why Canada needs a broader vision of wellbeing and
how the CIW will promote public policy that is more responsive to the needs
of Canadians, please read my op-ed HYPERLINK
"http://www.thestar.com/article/648141"There’s more to life than GDP and the
Toronto Star editorial HYPERLINK "http://www.thestar.com/article/648167"An
Index of Wellbeing. As more media clips come in, they will appear on our
website at HYPERLINK "http://www.ciw.ca"www.ciw.ca.

Sincerely,

The Honourable Roy J. Romanow

Chair, Institute of Wellbeing Advisory Board 

First Report Released…

The Institute of Wellbeing launched its first report yesterday, HYPERLINK
"http://www.ciw.ca/Libraries/Documents/FirstReportOfTheInstituteOfWellbeing.
sflb.ashx"How are Canadians Really Doing? The report summarizes the key
findings of the first three research studies on Living Standards, Health
Populations and Community Vitality: 

*         Even in good economic times the lion’s share of benefits went to
the wealthy while the poor stayed poor and the shrinking middle class
muddled through.

*         Canadians are living longer but not healthier, the health of young
Canadians is particularly in decline.

*         Crime is down and social relationships in our communities are
stronger. 

*         Cuts or lack of improvements to government programs like welfare,
Employment Insurance and publicly funded medical services are hurting
Canadians. 

You can find the Institute’s first report and the full research studies at
HYPERLINK "http://www.ciw.ca"www.ciw.ca.

Connecting the Dots…

A key goal of the CIW is to connect the dots among the wide variety of
factors that shape our quality of life. The first report found that health
status is strongly determined by income and education. It also found that
the bulk of those who are poor come from five specific groups – lone
parents, unattached individuals aged 45-64, recent immigrants, persons with
work-limiting disabilities, and Aboriginal people living off-reserve – even
though they make up just 25% of Canada’s total population.

The first report focused particularly on how the drop in health among
Canadian youth is connected to the sharp decline in their financial
security. In 1998, over 80% of 12–19-year-olds reported “excellent” or “very
good” health, but by 2005 this had plunged to 67%. Not surprisingly, given
the connection between health and wealth, this was matched by a jump of
almost 14 percentage points in the proportion of youth working in low-paid
jobs.

Check out our new-look website…

To find out more about the Institute, our first report and how you can
become more involved in improving the quality of life for Canadians, please
check out our new-look website at HYPERLINK "http://www.ciw.ca"www.ciw.ca.
Everything produced by the Institute is available free of charge in both
user-friendly and research-rich format.

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