10 Highlights from Toronto Vital Signs Report 2014

As a Toronto call centre, we look forward to the release of the Toronto Vital Signs Report each year as it provides “a consolidated snapshot of the trends and issues affecting the quality of life in our city and each of the interconnected issue areas is critical to the wellbeing of Toronto and its residents.” I have explored how our city (and country) performs on the global stage in posts like the best country to live, the smartest countries, the happiest countries, the  most peaceful countries, the friendliest countries, the most charitable countries, the best countries for quality of life, the best countries for business, the top countries for life expectancy, the best countries for working women, the best country for child well-being, the best countries for higher education, the most popular countries, the least corrupt countries, the countries with the best reputation, the best countries for ease of doing business, the best countries for starting a business, the best country for business, the best country for customer satisfaction, the best countries with the most competitive economies, the best countries for entrepreneurship, the most sustainable countries, the best countries to grow old, the best country brand, the best countries for business, the most sustainable countries, the most charitable countries, the most prosperous countries, the countries with the highest minimum wage, the safest countries, the best countries with the highest average salary, the best countries for social progress, the best countries for working women, the best countries for mothers, the best countries for average life expectancy at birth, the most popular countries, the most gay friendly countries in the world, the most peaceful countries, the best countries for giving back, the best countries for global professionals on the move, the most tax competitive countries, the most innovative countries and the most liveable cities.

I have also previously covered the 2011, 2012 and 2013 editions of this informative report released by the Toronto Community Foundation, an organization that “connects philanthropy with community needs and opportunities in order to make Toronto the best place to live, work, learn and grow.” Ultimately the Toronto Vital Signs Report “aims to inspire civic engagement and provide focus for public debate” and is compiled from current statistics and studies. I have outlined 10 highlights from this informative report below:

1. Overall Health: “The percentage of Toronto residents reporting good health remains relatively stable, but it isn’t improving (4 in 10 don’t report good health).”
2. Housing: “Toronto was downgraded once again on both national and international rankings of housing affordability.”
3. Economic Health: Toronto’s gross domestic product (GDP) continued to experience modest improvement. The value of construction permits in Toronto is back up, even though high-rise construction is down. Toronto is still doing better than any other North American city when it comes to building.
4. Cultural Economy: “Toronto’s creative workforce has grown 34 per cent since 2001, more than twice the rate of the overall labour force. Arts and culture contribute $11.3 billion annually to the city’s GDP; in 2013, film, television, and other screen-based media production spending exceeded $1 billion for the third year in a row.”
5. Work: Though not back to pre-recession levels, the unemployment rates have improved. “Almost one in three (28.91%) of all jobs created in Canada between 2010 and 2013 were in the Toronto Region.”
6. Education: “Our commitment to education is paying dividends. Students are now graduating at a rate higher than ever before. In 2013, 83 per cent of TDSB students completed high school. That’s up 3 per cent from 2012 and 20.3 per cent higher than 2000.”
7. Safety: There is an overall downward trend when it comes to violence which is encouraging although “the number of homicides in the city, which rose in 2012 and 2013 after a four-year decline, was 30% lower at the beginning of September 2014, than at the same time a year ago.”
8. Environment: Toronto has made strides in this category as demonstrated by the steady decline in residential water consumption year after year and “this summer did not have one smog alert day, for the first time in decades. It helps that over 150,000 Torontonians cycle daily.” Also, “for the fourth year in a row, 8 of the city’s 11 beaches were awarded the international Blue Flag designation in 2013.”
9. Neighbourhoods: “Our city is the third-most walkable of Canada’s 10 largest cities, and close to seven in 10 Torontonians, and nearly eight in 10 youth, report a strong sense of belonging to their local community.”
10. Travel & Tourism: “In 2013, new records were set for overseas visitors and hotel room nights sold. The combined spending of these guests brought $6.5 billion to the local economy. This was up from $4.7 billion in 2012.”

Did you know:

• On any given night in Toronto, more than 5,000 people are homeless
• Canada’s 0–4 years age group has been growing at the highest rate in 50 years, according to the 2011 Census. Children under 5 in Toronto numbered 143,925 in 2013.
• 9 in 10 Torontonians aged 12 and over (87.6%) self-report that they are satisfied or very satisfied with life
• Almost half of Torontonians (49%) self-identified as visible minorities in 2011, compared to 19% of the Canadian population
• Of the top 15 languages regularly spoken at home, Mandarin was the fastest growing in Toronto in 2011, spoken by more than 50,000 residents (2.1% of the total population – an increase of 32% since 2006.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including inbound telephone fundraising, outbound telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery fundraising services, donation processing and receipting and direct mail fundraising services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all our business decisions  and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.

For nonprofit, nonprofit fundraising, CSR business and other news, connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Pinterest or subscribe to our RSS feed.