News

Monday, November 28, 2016

A Nation's Well-Being Is More Than Just How Rich It Is (The Huffington Post)

By David Morley, President and CEO, UNICEF Canada

For nearly a century, the global consensus around what makes life worthwhile was thought to be measured by a country's gross domestic product (GDP). Increased economic activity meant new jobs and, in the post-war era, offered a greater chance for peace. It's no wonder countries around the world clung to their economies -- and any signs of economic progress -- for hope.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Making arts experiences accessible to all is more important than ever (The Globe and Mail)

Women admire Canadian studio pottery at the True Nordic exhibition at the Gardiner Museum

By Kate Taylor

Esme Gotz and Lorraine Levinson admire Canadian studio pottery at the True Nordic exhibition at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto on October 24, 2016. (JENNIFER ROBERTS For The Globe and Mail)

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Canadians' Quality Of Life Not Keeping Up With Economic Growth: Study

By Daniel Tencer

A growing economy is supposed to raise people’s standards of living, but a new study suggests this effect is breaking down in Canada.

An index of wellbeing published by the University of Waterloo found that Canada’s economy grew by 38 per cent per person between 1994 and 2014, but wellbeing, as measured by the study, only grew by 9.9 per cent.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Canadians' well-being trails economic growth, study finds (CBC News)

The gap between the country's economic health and Canadians' well-being has widened over a two-decade period, according to a report released Tuesday.

Over the period studied in the report -- 1994 through 2014 -- Canadian gross domestic product grew by 38 per cent, said Bryan Smale, a professor at the University of Waterloo and the director of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing.

"But our well-being has only grown by about just under 10 per cent, and that gap between our well-being and economic progress is growing," Smale told CBC News.

Not socializing as much

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Canadians’ well-being lags economic growth (Radio Canada International)

By Lynn Desjardins

A national study reports that the Canadian economy recovered after 2008 recession, but the well-being of Canadians took “a significant step backwards, and has only begun to recover.”

Citing data from almost 200 sources and government statistics, The Canadian Index of Wellbeing found that the Canadian economy grew 38 per cent between 19945 and 2014. At the same time improvements in well-being grew only 9.9 per cent.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Pursuit of economic growth leaving millions of Canadians behind (Toronto Star)

Edvard Munch's "The Sun" at the AGO's Mystic Landscapes exhibition

The results of the latest Canadian Index of Wellbeing shows the 2008 recession stole our living standards, our leisure and volunteer time, even our sleep — and we never got them back.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Canadians' wellbeing lagging far behind economic recovery, new report shows (MarketWired)

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - November 22, 2016) - Although Canada's economy has recovered from the 2008 recession, our wellbeing has not, according to a new report from the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW), based at the University of Waterloo.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Opinion: Gap between GDP and wellbeing should threaten Canada’s complacency (Vancouver Sun)

By Charles Ungerleider

Complacency about social conditions in Canada may lead some Canadians to believe that this country is immune to the factors — anger, disfranchisement, poor quality of life — that contributed to the recent election of Donald Trump, but they would be wrong. There is a growing gap between what Canadians care about — their health, living standards, leisure time, education, and the quality of the environment — and Canada’s gross domestic product. Ignoring that gap risks a reaction similar to the one evident during the U.S. campaign.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016