Vital Signs uses local knowledge to measure the vitality of a community and support action towards improving collective quality of life. Local data gathered through the program is used to support evidence-based, locally-relevant solutions to improve the quality of life at the community level. Vital Signs aims to inspire civic engagement, to provide focus for public debate, and to help a range of actors take action and direct resources where they will have the greatest impact.
CFC provides Canadian community foundations access to national data sets, which foundations complement with local surveys, public programming and events that mobilize community knowledge and help identify local priorities. From housing, to transit, to safety, the environment, the arts and gender equality, the reports offer invaluable insights across more than 70 indicators of quality of life at the community level.
Since 2017, CFC and community foundations have also begun to align our national data sets with Agenda 2030, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDG framework allows us as well as community foundations to measure local Canadian data against common global indicators and that of communities around the world.
The National Vital Signs report is an opportunity to examine at a national level themes that are impacting communities across the country and look at data from a national level. Previous reports have focused on topics such as belonging and gender equality.
In 2023, CFC released Reconnecting Communities, a report looking at belonging, engagement and well-being in partnership with research from The Environics Institute. Across the country, people are reconnecting with one another and their communities as we move out of the pandemic. This National Vital Signs Report highlights three core themes: Belonging, Engagement and Well-being, and how these are being felt across Canada. It shows that people who are most in need have the least access to support from family, friends and their community. This holds true across the country, in every region, province, big city or small town.
Get a snapshot of the data from the National Vital Signs Report - Reconnecting Communities to see how belonging, engagement and well-being are being impacted.
Download SnapshotVital Signs is locally led by community foundations and used by residents, businesses, community organizations, universities and colleges and government leaders to learn about community needs, take action and direct resources where they will have the greatest impact.
CFC's national Vital Signs reports shine a spotlight on themes and issues that matter. From belonging, to youth, we use compelling data and stories to dive deep into issues and trends affecting communities across Canada and the world.
Vital Signs is now a global program that has engaged more than 100 communities in Canada and around the world. Nine countries from abroad are currently running Vital Signs programs, mobilizing the power of community knowledge for greater local impact.
Looking for past Vital Signs reports? We have catalogued reports dating back to 2014 in our online archives.
Browse the archives
Engaging your community in Vital Signs is one of the most important pieces of your Vital Signs strategy. It is an important first step, and ongoing engagement can ensure the program is successfully received by your community. This webinar will go over best practices and how you can engage your community through all phases of…
Engaging in the Vital Signs program (through reports and/or Conversations) teaches us a lot about our communities — how do we use that knowledge to affect change and lead to impact? In this webinar, we will discuss the many ways foundations can use their Vital Signs for impact. We will hear from a few experienced…
Since 2015, a growing number of community foundations have aligned their Vital Signs to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the associated targets and indicators. In this webinar we will explore how to align your Vital Signs data collection to the SDGs, looking at indicator selection and identifying new data sources.
This resource shares information about the Vital Signs program for community foundations.
Contact the Vital Signs team at vitalsigns@communityfoundations.ca for additional information about the program and ways you or your foundation can get involved.
