Happiness & Wellbeing

Community Lab

The Happiness & Wellbeing Lab inspires dialogue, shares data, and seeks solutions to some of our communities’ greatest challenges.

At the Happiness and Wellbeing Community Lab, community members, planning professionals, and community leaders can find data to inform the work they do and to guide decisions on what matters in the communities of Southern Vancouver Island.

In addition to providing rich data analysis, the Lab tells the stories hidden in the data, creates evidence-based documents, and hosts productive conversations related to Social Inclusion, Household Prosperity, Health, Climate Equity, and Economic Justice. Ultimately, the Happiness and Wellbeing Community Lab is about just that – making sure that changes to our communities are ones that promote total health, happiness and wellbeing.

Family Day Factsheet: No Family Left Behind 2024

As part of the Happiness and Wellbeing Lab project, the United Way South Vancouver Island and Community Council release an annual family day fact sheet. The fact sheet brings awareness that even though we may all be in the same storm, we are not all in the same boat. As we celebrate this BC Family Day,…

Greater Victoria Living Wage 2023

The Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria (CSPC) in partnership with the United Way Southern Vancouver Island has released the 2023 Living Wage for Greater Victoria, reflecting the hourly wage required for two working parents with two young children to meet their basic expenses. This…

Women’s Day 2023 – the gender wage gap in the CRD

Women in the Capital Regional District continue to earn less than men. The gap is larger for visible minority women and women with diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Women annually earn between 30 and 85 cents for each dollar a white man earns.When compared to previous data, the median income ratio…

Why data matters

Using data to address society’s stickiest challenges allows organizations and governments to make evidence-based decisions and to explore creative solutions.

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Recent News

Family Day Factsheet 2023

Family Day is a day that allows us to be together, celebrate one another and embrace all that is good about those who enrich our lives. But, did you know that 1 in 15 families living in the Greater Victoria Region are living in low-income? As part of the Happiness and Wellbeing Lab project, the United…

Greater Victoria Living Wage 2022

The Living Wage is the hourly wage that two working parents with two young children must each earn to meet their basic expenses (including rent, child care, medical needs, food, and transportation), once government taxes, credits, deductions and subsidies have been taken into account. The Living Wage…

Gender diverse couples in Greater Victoria

Canada is the first country to collect and share data about gender diversity Released on July 14, International Non-Binary Day, the 2021 Census data on gender diversity identifies Greater Victoria as being home to the most gender diverse couples in any Canadian metropolitan area.   Sources…

Income disparity in Greater Victoria

On July 13, 2022 Statistics Canada released data from the 2021 Census that included a portrait of Canada’s families and households, and an income profile of Canadian households. This data update contained both good news and bad news for residents of Greater Victoria. The good news? Incomes are rising…