Wellbeing

There are many systems for assessing quality of life and wellbeing. However, many of these systems were designed for urban areas, or rely on labour-intensive data collection and analysis. Rural communities require easy access to reliable information that is relevant to the rural context.  

ROI has developed a dashboard that displays wellbeing indicators for communities across Ontario. The dashboard was developed in collaboration with project partners, including the Ontario Ministries of Agriculture, Food, and Agribusiness and Rural Affairs, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and EcoCanada. Dashboard development and indicator selection were informed through engagement with a focus group of rural data champions whose involvement was integral to this process. 

ROI’s Community Wellbeing Dashboard improves access to data and evidence for local decision making. The information on the dashboard can help communities: 

• establish baselines  
• identify priorities for change and research 
• share stories and celebrate successes 
• reveal data gaps for decision making 
• monitor progress over time in future reports 

The dashboard currently features over 60 indicators with data from 10 different sources. 

Project information
We have been working on this project since 2022. Click here for a project summary. Our focus for the remainder of Phase 2 is to engage with communities to mobilize knowledge. We plan to publish a report by March 2025 that summarizes the work we’ve completed in Phase 2. Phase 3 of this project begins in April 2025.

During this phase, we will:

• engage with communities
• develop case studies
• update the dashboard with new indicator data
• review indicators
• research new data sources to address gaps

Read the Phase 1 Report for details about the early project work we completed during 2021-2023.