1. How sustainable are Canadian communities as a whole?
2. How are individual communities measuring their sustainability?

The sustainability of Canadian communities as a whole is difficult to measure because social, economic, and environmental conditions vary widely from one place to the next.

On average, Canadian communities have a high standard of services such as water supply, waste management and green space, provided at relatively low cost. However, these cannot be taken for granted. The costs of local services are being questioned as many municipalities struggle with budget choices. Green spaces around towns and cities are being converted to developments.

Canada’s "social safety net" (welfare, old age security and universal health care) is vulnerable and maintaining it will require considerable effort. A similar effort will be needed to maintain Canada's environmental safety net.

Measuring the sustainability of Canadian communities means counting both traditional socio-economic measures of quality of life, and measures of environmental quality and quantity.

There have been only limited attempts at providing a comprehensive overview of community sustainability in Canada, and most of these do not integrate both the socio-economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. By drawing on elements of various reporting systems, we can start to piece together a comprehensive overview of community sustainability in Canada.

A Framework for Assessing Community Sustainability at the National Level

Using the pressure-state-response framework that is used elsewhere in this report, we can select indicators that show the connections between human activities and environmental conditions at the community level. This framework is a work in progress and will continue to expand as new information becomes available.

Overviews of Community Sustainability in Canada

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has developed the Quality of Life Reporting System, which includes eight indicators of community well-being in Canada. The FCM reporting system provides an excellent overview of the socio-economic aspects of sustainability for Canadian communities.

Environment Canada tracks recent changes in Canada's urban environment as part of its national State of the Environment Reporting. The most recent report was completed in 1996 and includes a chapter on the practical progress that is being made towards the goal of urban sustainability in Canada. As Environment Canada is employing traditional SOE reporting methods, its focus is on the natural environment, and therefore provides a good overview of the environmental aspects of sustainable development.

• Hamilton-Wentworth (Vision 2020)
• Toronto Quality of Life - includes subgroups such as teens and the handicapped
• Toronto Vital Signs - full report out Spring 2000
  

Tools and Resources for Communities in the Great Lakes Basin

• Ontario Healthy Community Coalition - Signs of Progress, Signs of Caution: How to Prepare a Healthy, Sustainable Community Progress Report Card
• Ontario Social Development Council - Quality of Life Index, a measurement tool used in communities across the province to evaluate four key sectors (Economic, Environmental, Health, and Social) with three indicators each.
• Central West Ontario Health Network - a listing of sources of information for state of the environment reporting specifically for the Central West Ontario region.

Reporting Systems

• The Fraser Basin Council - The Fraser Basin Council is a not-for-profit, charitable organization established in 1997 to ensure the sustainability of the Fraser Basin in British Columbia. The Council works to facilitate problem solving by bringing together the people necessary to make decisions that balance social, economic and environmental values. The Council is developing 15 to 20 indicators relating to the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. A preliminary list of these indicators will be presented in fall 2000.
• Lower Fraser Basin Eco-Research Project - the Sustainable Development Research Institute and the Institute for Resources and the Environment at UBC have completed a comprehensive study on sustainability in the lower Fraser River valley.
• Quality of Life Indicators for the City of Winnipeg - IISD has developed a Quality of Life Reporting System for the City of Winnipeg that considers the inter-generational aspect of sustainable development
• Sustainable Calgary - compiles 24 indicators covering the following Economy, Community, Natural Environment, Resource Use, and Health and Education.

Sustainable Communities - Introduction