Waterloo Region Community Wellbeing Survey 2019

Table of Contents
About the Survey

The Waterloo Region Community Wellbeing Survey is an important new resource designed to gather citizen perceptions on a variety of aspects linked to each of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing’s (CIW) eight interconnected domains of wellbeing.

Over 5,000 residents across the Region completed the survey.

The survey asked residents how various factors related to wellbeing influence their overall health. It gathered perceptions on the CIW’s eight interconnected domains of wellbeing: 

  1. Community vitality
  2. Healthy populations
  3. Democratic engagement
  4. The environment
  5. Leisure and culture
  6. Education
  7. Living standards
  8. Time use
Survey Background

In 2018, a group of 16 community organizations in Waterloo Region asked the important question: In today’s complex and interconnected world how do we improve the wellbeing of the community so that no one is left behind and everyone thrives? 

These organizations wanted to find out how Waterloo Region residents felt about their wellbeing and quality of life in this community.  They also wanted to know what they could do collectively to make transformational change.

The group recognized that it would take a coordinated response to find solutions that have an impact on something as complex and interconnected as wellbeing.

They decided to collaborate on a community-wide wellbeing survey, funded by:

  • All the area municipalities
  • Region of Waterloo
  • Local Health Integration Network
  • Community health centers
  • Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation
  • United Way
  • Police
  • Crime Prevention Council
Survey Methods

The following methods were used to encourage people 16 years and older living in Waterloo Region to take the survey:

  1. An online survey was advertised through a variety of traditional and social media channels.
  2. A personalized letter was sent to 40,000 randomly selected households across the Waterloo Region.
  3. A targeted outreach was performed to specific populations that were identified as needing extra supports to complete the survey.
    • e.g. people living on a low income, immigrants/refugees, people living with physical or mental health challenges, the Mennonite community, youth, older adults, people who are experiencing trouble with the law, people with mental health or addiction issues, etc.
Document 1: Full Report

Read the full report of our survey results: Wellbeing in Waterloo Region: A Summary of Results from the CIW Community Wellbeing Survey (PDF)

Document 2: Addendum – Residents of Waterloo Region Comments About Wellbeing

Read about survey participants’ suggestions to improve wellbeing: Residents of Waterloo Region Comments about Wellbeing: An Addendum to the Waterloo Region Community Wellbeing Survey

At the end of the survey, participants were provided with an opportunity to offer further input by responding to an open-ended question: “Do you have any other comments or suggestions to improve wellbeing in Waterloo Region?”

This addendum includes residents’ comments to this question, providing a rich array of ideas, experiences, suggestions, and concerns that add depth to our understanding of the results presented in the full report (above).

Document 3: Prompt for Discussion

Use our prompt for discussion: Waterloo Region Community Wellbeing Survey: A prompt for discussion (PDF)

This document highlights some of the findings from the Waterloo Region Community Wellbeing Survey (see full report of results above). It includes comparisons of survey findings to other data sources, including a similar survey conducted in the region in 2013. Census statistical data was also used in order to compare health outcomes to citizen perceptions.

This report is intended as a prompt for discussion to encourage further conversations with diverse voices to generate the most impactful solutions that improve wellbeing in Waterloo Region.

Document 4: “Waterloo Region Community Wellbeing Survey” PowerPoint Presentation

View the PowerPoint presentation: Waterloo Region Community Wellbeing Survey PowerPoint (PPT)

The Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) hopes this slide deck provides the WWR partners with plenty of flexibility to use — either in its entirety, or with whatever sections serve most useful for targeted presentations or reports.

The CIW has provided notes on most of the slides to help with the consistency of messaging and interpretation of results. The slides can also be used to inform other reports, or to support grant applications.

If you wish to have a physical report, you can print the “Notes Pages” in PowerPoint to produce a report that includes each slide and the corresponding notes.

There is an abundance of information for everyone to dig into and use, and the potential to do much more with the data. It will be exciting to watch and see how the data is used to facilitate action and change! 

There are 166 slides in total, divided into the following sections:

  • General slides about the survey
  • 2018 CIW Community Wellbeing Survey
  • Overall Wellbeing in Waterloo Region
  • Demographics and Wellbeing
  • Wellbeing by CIW Domains
    • Living Standards
    • Healthy Populations
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Democratic Engagement
    • Community Vitality
    • Leisure and Culture
    • Time Use
  • Which Domains are most critical to Quality of Life?
  • A Closer Look: Connectivity between domains
    • Social Isolation
    • Mental Health
    • Housing Affordability
    • Children at Home
  • Summary
Document 5: Profile of Survey Respondents

Read the Profile of Survey Respondents: Profile of Survey Respondents – Waterloo Region Community Wellbeing Survey

Document 6: “Factors that can Reduce the Impact of Social Isolation on Overall Wellbeing in Waterloo Region” PowerPoint Presentation

View the PowerPoint presentation: Factors that can Reduce the Impact of Social Isolation on Overall Wellbeing in Waterloo Region (PPT)

This Canadian Index of Wellbeing PowerPoint presentation with notes focuses on three groups of interest to Wellbeing Waterloo Region: (1) low income residents – those residents with annual incomes under $30,000; (2) younger residents – those aged 16 to 29 years; and (3) residents living with a disability or chronic illness that limits their ability to participate in community.

The Canadian Index of Wellbeing tested many factors in order to see, first, which are most critical to each group’s overall wellbeing, and then second, to see which factors are best at reducing the negative impact of social isolation on overall wellbeing.

If you wish to have a physical report, you can print the “Notes Pages” in PowerPoint to produce a report that includes each slide and the corresponding notes.

Document 7: “Factors that can Reduce the Impact of Social Isolation on the Overall Wellbeing of Older Residents in Waterloo Region” PowerPoint Presentation

View the PowerPoint Presentation: Factors that can Reduce the Impact of Social Isolation on the Overall Wellbeing of Older Residents in Waterloo Region.

The Canadian Index of Wellbeing has created a presentation on the factors that can reduce the impact of Social Isolation on the Overall Wellbeing of Older Adults in Waterloo Region. The report uses the CIW community wellbeing survey data and looks at three different age groups of older adults (55 to 64, 65 to 74 and 75+).

For each older adult age group, three questions are addressed:

  • Which factors within critical domains are most strongly related to overall wellbeing?
  • How does each group compare to other residents on various aspects of sense of community?
  • What factors within critical domains help to reduce the impact of social isolation?

If you wish to have a physical report, you can print the “Notes Pages” in PowerPoint to produce a report that includes each slide and the corresponding notes.

Document 8: Immigration in Waterloo Region Primer

Read the primer: Immigration in Waterloo Region

This Immigration in Waterloo Region Primer was prepared by the Immigration Partnership and includes some additional analysis of the 2019 Community Wellbeing Survey data (for recent immigrants, established immigrants, and non-immigrants). It also includes data from a variety of other data sources including the Immigration Matters Survey, public perceptions survey, census data and custom data requests from Statistics Canada, IRCC, etc.

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