Social Policy: research and data toward a healthy city for all

Social planning in Vancouver—working toward a healthy, equitable, socially sustainable city for all—relies on a strong foundation of research and data. We use a number of different data sources to understand how change happens in the city, and how it is experienced by different individuals and groups. We work with community partners to share information, build capacity, and foster ongoing conversations about the future of the city.

Social indicators and trends

We track social, economic, and demographic indicators and identify trends in each of the city’s neighbourhoods.
We've created city-wide and neighbourhood profiles, largely based on the 2016 federal census. This work continues a series of publications on social indicators and trends that we've published since the 1990s. The current social indicators and trends series provides 23 comprehensive profiles for the city as a whole and each of Vancouver’s 22 established local planning areas.

We've engaged with the community, particularly non-profit organizations that we support through grants, throughout the development of these profiles and used their feedback to ensure that they provide useful and accessible information.

We'll continue to update these profiles as new data sources become available, and welcome your feedback, questions, and suggestions. In fall 2020, we have added disaggregated indicators to help understand the systemic inequities experienced by different populations in each neighbourhood. We anticipate the next major update in 2023, after the full release of data from the 2021 census.
Healthy City Strategy monitoring and reporting

We monitor progress on targets and indicators in support of the Healthy City Strategy, Vancouver’s social sustainability plan.
Our Healthy City Strategy is Vancouver’s framework for a socially sustainable city. It includes a vision of A Healthy City for All, and principles, goals, targets, and actions to work toward this vision.

Data and research are central to the Healthy City Strategy. We monitor a number of population targets and indicators for each of the Strategy’s goals, helping understand where Vancouver is making positive change toward health, and where more work is needed. We disaggregate indicators wherever possible to understand health inequities experienced by different populations and areas in the city.

Vancouver is a member of the Partnership for Healthy Cities , a global network of cities taking action on the social determinants of health. The Partnership has supported the development of Vancouver’s Healthy City Dashboard, an interactive tool we are developing to help communities engage with health data.
- Access the Healthy City Dashboard and share your feedback on its development
- Learn more about the Healthy City Strategy’s goals
- We work in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health to access and share data about the health of the population. This includes the My Health My Community survey , which provides neighbourhood-level data on a wide range of health indicators.
Indigenous data

We work toward more decolonized approaches to research and data that support respectful relationships and the self-determination of Indigenous communities in Vancouver.
Vancouver is situated on the unceded homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam) , Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) , and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) . Vancouver is also home to a large and diverse population that identifies with many different Indigenous communities across Canada and beyond. The Metro Vancouver Aboriginal Executive Council (MVAEC) is a united voice on behalf of urban Indigenous organizations and residents in the city and region. As a City of Reconciliation, Vancouver is committed to building and sustaining ongoing relationships that decolonize our systems and institutions. This means centering the rights, assets, strengths, needs, and aspirations of Indigenous communities.

Data and research have complex relationships to this work. Although data on Indigenous communities is important, it is too often collected from Indigenous communities in ways that are harmful, extractive, and that uphold colonial systems and ideologies. We're exploring new research methodologies, processes, and tools to shift this paradigm.

As part of our work with the Partnership for Healthy Cities, we have engaged with Indigenous community members to investigate a community-grounded, asset-based approach to health indicators. We are working to implement the recommendations in this report and integrate them into the Healthy City Dashboard and other tools.
- Healthy City Dashboard – Urban Indigenous Indicators (1.4 MB) (Kāhui Tautoko Consulting Ltd, July 2021)
We have worked with students through the Healthy City Scholars program to understand issues relating to Indigenous research and data:
- Indigenous Wellness Indicators: Including Urban Indigenous Wellness Indicators in the Healthy City Strategy (13 MB) (Kathleen Heggie, 2018)
- Indigenous Equity Data: Substance Use, Mental Health, and Wellness (Rachel Wuttunee, 2019)
- Decolonizing the City of Vancouver’s Research Methodology: Investigating Culturally Safe Ways to Gather Data About Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Peoples (Eryn Braley, 2021)
And we continue to learn from community organizations focused on Indigenous data sovereignty and governance, such as:
- First Nations Information Governance Centre
- British Columbia First Nations’ Data Governance Initiative
Data for equity

We recognize the importance of using different types of data to support equity-denied communities across the city.

Vancouver is a diverse city shaped by the contributions of many different communities. But many of these communities experience disproportionate impacts of systems of oppression and injustice, such as colonialism, racism, sexism, ableism, or classism.

Our Equity Framework (553 KB) commits us to integrating equity lenses into all of our work, including Indigenous rights, racial justice, intersectionality, and a systems orientation. The framework defines equity as both a process and an outcome.

Tools like disaggregated data can be used to measure equitable outcomes, but data must also be conceptualized, collected, analyzed, and presented in an equitable way.

In 2020, the Office of the BC Human Rights Commissioner released a report outlining a framework: disaggregated data is a tool that can be used with a clear purpose toward greater equity through a process of respectful relationships grounded in community governance.

Through partnerships such as the Community Data Program we proactively seek out new disaggregated datasets. We also work interdepartmentally toward equity and decolonization of data across the City organization.
Community engagement

We work to build data knowledge and capacity in the community.
Data is the beginning of a conversation, not the end. Gathering, sharing, and translating knowledge in ways that are accessible and meaningful to the community is a core work area. Transparency and accountability around the data that influences City policy is also an important step to ensure data is used toward equitable processes and outcomes.

We work with community organizations, particularly those funded by the City’s social grants, to help understand trends and issues in their community. We give presentations, respond to questions, and build capacity across the community. The feedback from community helps inform and refine our work.

Examples of presentations
- Neighbourhood Profiles 2016 (2.7 MB) (in-person workshop, May 2018)
- Data to Inform Planning and Service Delivery in a Complex City (8.7 MB) (in-person workshop, June 2019)
- Inequity, Change, Data and a Global Pandemic (7.6 MB) (webinar, October 2020)
- Equity Data in Vancouver’s Neighbourhoods (8.3 MB) (webinar, October 2021)
Responding to public health emergencies

We use data to inform our response to the drug poisoning crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, and to understand which populations are most impacted.
On April 14, 2016, the BC Provincial Health Officer declared a public health emergency in response to increasing overdose deaths. The factors that led to this emergency include an increasingly toxic drug supply, a lack of supports for people using substances, and a lack of action to address the root causes of many health inequities in our community. There continue to be a large number of overdoses and deaths in Vancouver.

Data is an important part of our response to this public health emergency. We monitor first responder data to estimate the number of overdoses that occur within the City of Vancouver, and use this to inform our response. The BC Coroners Service reports monthly on overdose deaths, and the First Nations Health Authority reports the impacts on Indigenous communities. We publish some monthly metrics in VanDashboard.

In March, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was also declared a public health emergency. During the COVID-19 pandemic we created a conceptual framework and conducted research to inform the City’s initial recovery plan, particularly around supporting the non-profit sector and mitigating disproportionate impacts on different populations. We continue to monitor key metrics and access new data sources to understand how the pandemic and public health response impact different communities in the city.
- Vancouver’s Non-Profit Sector: Current State Analysis (5.9 MB) (summer 2020)
- Populations Disproportionately Impacted by COVID-19: Current State Assessment (4.8 MB) (January 2021)
- BC Centre for Disease Control SPEAK Population Health Survey (spring 2020, spring 2021)
Social infrastructure

We map social facilities like childcare centres, social services, and food assets to understand access across the city.

Social infrastructure includes the spaces, programs, services, and relationships that enable people to be healthy, connected, and engaged in their community. Vancouver’s social infrastructure ecosystem is shaped by the non-profit sector, all levels of government and the community as a whole, and understanding the makeup of social infrastructure in Vancouver is a key social policy research area.

In December 2021, Council approved the policy framework for Spaces to Thrive, Vancouver’s first social infrastructure strategy. We are also working toward a childcare strategy and continuing to implement Vancouver’s Food Strategy.

Implementing all of these strategies requires significant research and data work. We track and analyze data from grants, licenses, facilities, and other sources to better understand the ecosystem of social infrastructure in Vancouver.

Other City data

Areas of the city

Vancouver is made up of a number of smaller neighbourhoods and communities.

Data and maps

Analyze and use our open data and maps to do research, discover trends, make informed decisions, and develop apps.

Contact us

socialpolicyresearch
@vancouver.ca

Social Policy: research and data toward a healthy city for all

Social indicators and trends

Healthy City Strategy monitoring and reporting

Indigenous data

Data for equity

Community engagement

Examples of presentations

Responding to public health emergencies

Social infrastructure

Other City data

Areas of the city

Data and maps

Data sources and partnerships

Statistics Canada

Community Data Program

My Health My Community

Human Early Learning Partnership

BC Adolescent Health Survey

Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study

Contact us

Social Policy: research and data toward a healthy city for all

Social indicators and trends

Healthy City Strategy monitoring and reporting

Indigenous data

Data for equity

Community engagement

Responding to public health emergencies

Social infrastructure

Other City data

Data sources and partnerships

Contact us

Contact information, partner agencies, and website policies