Vital Signs report presented to council on community well-being

'I think that the best outcome would be if the community gets quite involved working collectively to improve what this city is like.'

Representatives from the Kawartha Community Foundation (KCF) presented council with a “report card” on community well-being during a Feb. 10 committee of the whole meeting, outlining early findings from the Vital Signs initiative and its aim to encourage broader community involvement.

Laurie Dillon-Schalk, executive director of KCF, which oversees the initiative, and Jim Armstrong, past chair of Kawartha Works Community Co-op (KWCC), which helped lead the research process, provided an overview of the data-driven project, which is examining quality-of-life trends in Kawartha Lakes. The Lindsay Advocate first covered some of this research here.

Vital Signs evaluates community health across 11 key indicators, including housing, education, health care, food security, employment and the environment. The initiative combines quantitative data with input from residents and local experts to identify challenges and opportunities at the local level.

By focusing on community-specific data, the initiative is intended to help council and other decision-makers direct funding and resources more effectively than broader tools such as national censuses.

“Vital Signs is going to be a multiyear effort, and the city has been very generous in investing in this effort, but to keep it going we really want the community to get involved and support our efforts,” Dillon-Schalk told the Advocate before the meeting.

Armstrong also said he hopes the data will result in initiatives that bring people together to help make Kawartha Lakes stronger.

“I think that the best outcome would be if the community gets quite involved working collectively to improve what this city is like,” he said.

Vital Signs is Canada’s largest community-driven data initiative, led nationally by Community Foundations of Canada and delivered by local foundations. Grounded in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, it functions as a comprehensive “report card” on community well-being.

As a multiyear project, the initiative is intended to serve as a road map for informed decision-making by identifying urgent needs and guiding charitable giving, public policy and strategic investments.

More than 80 community foundations across Canada and internationally are using Vital Signs to measure community well-being, Dillon-Schalk said.

Among the key findings highlighted during the presentation were:

– Kawartha Lakes’ population increased by 12 per cent between 2019 and 2024, while experiencing outward migration among residents aged 15 to 24 and 45 to 60

– 80 per cent of jobs in the municipality are filled by local residents

– Housing costs remain lower than the Ontario average, although home prices have increased at twice the national rate over the past decade

– 11 per cent of residents have no educational certificate, diploma or degree

– 20 per cent of households are experiencing food insecurity, representing more than 2,000 additional people since the COVID-19 pandemic

Following the presentation, council members shared their reactions.

“There is some very useful, important, sobering and encouraging information (that has been) provided,” Ward 5 Coun. Mark Doble said. “My first reaction is that we need our young people to stay here and we need more young people to move here, so what can we do as a community to facilitate that?”

Ward 3 Coun. Mike Perry commended KCF for undertaking the initiative but raised concerns about the lack of truth and reconciliation data related to the city’s estimated Indigenous population of more than 1,000.

“I would ask about the inclusion of our Indigenous population here in Kawartha Lakes,” he said.

Dillon-Schalk said she agreed.

“What we really need to do is have consultations; it is something we are aware of … we know that that’s a gap,” she said.

Mayor Doug Elmslie also praised the foundation’s work.

“I am very pleased that council voted to support the Community Foundation when it did, and I think that the numbers that you’ve shown today show that (the) investment is paying off,” he said.