This chart summarizes the material presented in the report
regarding Canada's performance in 13 Government of Canada outcomes in 3 areas of
federal involvement over the past 5 to 10 years (depending on the relevance and
availability of data).
| Legend |
| ▲ |
Improving performance |
| ▬ |
No definitive trend noted at this time (This is due to
either a lack of trend data, relatively stable performance and trends, or
multiple measures with opposing trends.) |
| ▼ |
Declining performance |
| † |
New indicator |
Sustainable Economy
| Government of Canada Outcome |
Trend |
Indicator |
Performance Highlight |
Sustainable
economic growth |
▲ |
Real gross
domestic product
(GDP) |
Real GDP increased by 2.9% in 2004, surpassing the 2.0%
recorded in 2003. Within the G-7, Canada had the second fastest growth in
real GDP per capita between 2000 and 2004.
In 2004, five provinces and territories recorded real GDP
growth that was above the national average, most of them in western
Canada. Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province with a decline in
real GDP. |
| |
▬ |
Cost-
competitiveness† |
Canada's performance in cost competitiveness is mixed.
Despite ranking first in the G-7 for cost competitiveness in 2004,
Canada's cost advantage relative to the U.S. declined from 14.5% in 2002
to 9% in 2004. |
| |
▬ |
Natural resources
sustainability |
In 2004, the status of commercial fish stocks did not
change significantly. Among the 70 stocks assessed, no notable change
occurred as compared with their status in 2001-03. |
| |
▼ |
Climate Change |
Canadian greenhouse gas emissions increased by 3.0%
between 2002 and 2003 and by 24.0% since 1990. Furthermore, secondary
energy use increased by 4.0% between 2002 and 2003 and by 22.0% since
1990. |
| |
▲ |
Green
economic practices† |
ISO 14001 is an international environmental management
standard. The number of Canadian firms with ISO 14001 certification
increased from 100 in 1999 to 1,484 in 2004, moving Canada from 21st to
12th in world rankings. |
| An innovative and knowledge-based economy |
▼ |
Innovation |
Canada's performance in innovation is slightly declining.
Canada's gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) as
a percentage of GDP has decreased from 2.05% in 2001 to 1.89% in 2004. In
terms of other measures of innovation, such as Canada's world share in
triadic patent families and science and engineering article outputs,
Canada is behind the U.S. and other G-7 countries. |
| |
▲ |
Educational attainment |
In the last decade, the proportion of Canadians with a
college or university degree increased. In 2001, 61.0% of all Canadians
aged 25 to 34 had at least some education beyond high school. This is a
marked increase over a decade earlier when only 49.0% of people in that
age category had any post-secondary education. |
| |
▬ |
Literacy |
The 2003 data from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills
Survey indicates that the average literacy score for Canadians has not
changed significantly since 1994. |
| Income security and employment for Canadians |
▲ |
Employment |
The average employment rate (persons 15 and over)
increased from 58.3% in 1996 to 62.7% in 2004. There are, however,
substantial variations in the unemployment rates of the provinces. The
Atlantic provinces and Quebec continue to have substantially higher
unemployment rates than the Canadian average. Nonetheless, comparing the
unemployment rate of April 2004 to April 2005, improvements are seen for
all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador. |
| |
▲ |
Income security |
After declining in the first half of the 1990s, real
disposable income (RDI) per capita has increased at an average rate of
1.7% per year since 1997, reflecting strong employment growth and cuts in
personal taxes. In 2004, RDI per capita rose 1.5% from the 2003 level.
According to the latest data available, the percentage of
Canadians living below the low income cutoffs decreased from 15.7% in 1996
to 11.5% in 2003. |
A fair and secure
marketplace |
▲ |
Barriers to entrepreneurship |
In 2003, Canada had the lowest level of regulatory
barriers to entrepreneurship among G-7 countries, up from the second
lowest in 2002. Canada shared its top position with the United Kingdom.
Between 1998 and 2003, Canada continued to reduce the level of regulatory
barriers to entrepreneurship. |
A clean and
healthy
environment |
▬ |
Air quality |
Levels of several air pollutants have decreased since the
mid- to late 1980s. Fine particulate matter concentrations have shown
incremental increases since 2000. Also, the peak levels of ground-level
ozone have remained relatively stable. |
| |
▬ |
Water use† |
In 2001, average residential water use per person was
335.0 L per day-an increase of 8.0 L from the lowest rate in 1996, though
an improvement over the previous survey results from 1999. |
| |
▼ |
Biodiversity |
As of May 2005, the status of 147 species previously
determined to be at risk had been reassessed. Of these, the status of 42
species worsened (28.6%) whereas 25 species (17%) were determined to be no
longer at risk or placed in a lower risk category. |
Canada's Social Foundations
| Government of Canada Outcome |
Trend |
Indicator |
Performance Highlight |
| Healthy Canadians with access to quality health care |
▲ |
Life
expectancy |
Life expectancy at birth has steadily increased from 77.8
years in 1991 to 79.7 years in 2002 (82.1 years for women and 77.2 years
for men). |
| |
▼ |
Self-rated health status |
The proportion of Canadians describing their health as
excellent or very good declined among both men and women and in every age
group. In 2003, 59.6% of Canadians aged 12 and older reported that they
were in excellent or very good health, down from 62.5% in 2000-01 and
63.3% in 1994-95 (age-standardized data). |
| |
▬ |
Healthy
lifestyles |
In the last decade Canadians' progress toward living
healthy lifestyles has been mixed. Although people are exercising more, a
greater proportion of Canadians are considered overweight or obese. |
| |
▬ |
Waiting times |
In 2003, the self-reported median wait was 4.0 weeks to
consult a specialist (i.e. visits to a specialist for a new illness or
condition), 4.3 weeks for non-emergency surgery, and 3.0 weeks for
diagnostic tests. The comparable self-reported waiting time data at the
provincial level indicate that there was some variation in waiting times
across provinces. |
| |
▬ |
Patient
satisfaction |
Between 2000-01 and 2002-03 the percentage of Canadians
who rated the quality of overall health services as being either excellent
or good stayed relatively stable increasing from 84.4% to 86.6%. |
| An inclusive society that promotes linguistic duality and diversity |
▬ |
Attitudes toward diversity |
Public opinion polls indicate that Canadians' attitudes
toward diversity appear to be mixed. While personal tolerance of others
increased slightly-29.0% of Canadians believed they were more tolerant
toward ethnic groups in 2004, up from 23.0% in 1991-support for
affirmative action declined from 44.0% in 1985 to 28.0% in 2004. |
| |
▼ |
Volunteerism |
In 2000, 27.0% of Canadians volunteered 1.05 billion hours
of work in Canada, representing a decrease of 13.0% from 1997. |
| |
▼ |
Political
participation |
Canadian political participation is in decline. The
proportion of eligible voters who voted in the 2004 federal election was
the lowest in recent Canadian history-60.5% compared to 70.0% in 1993. |
| A vibrant Canadian culture and heritage |
▬ |
Participation in cultural and heritage activities |
From 1992 to 1998, cultural participation cultural and
among the Canadian population aged 15 and over was declining in some areas
and was on the upswing in other areas. For instance, movie-going was up
from 48.6% to 59.1% and concert and performance attendance rose from 30.2%
to 34.6%. Attendance figures decreased, however, at performances of live
theatre (down 4.0%), popular music (down 4.1%), and symphonic music (down 4.0%). |
| Safe and secure communities |
▲ |
Safety |
Safety Canada's crime rate fell 1.0% between 2003 and
2004. Except for an increase in 2003, the crime rate has decreased 12.0% since 1991.
In 2004, 94.0% of Canadians were satisfied that they were
personally safe from becoming a victim. This proportion was up from 86.0%
in 1993 and 91.0% in 1999. |
| |
▲ |
Housing† |
In 1996, 19.0% of households in Canada's census
metropolitan areas (CMA) and 17.9% of all of Canada's households were
labelled as in "core housing need." In 2001, this proportion had
dropped to 16.6% among CMAs and to 15.8% for all of Canada's households. |
Canada's Place in the World
| Government of Canada Outcome |
Trend |
Indicator |
Performance Highlight |
A strong and
mutually beneficial North American partnership |
▲ |
Merchandise
trade† |
Merchandise exports to the U.S. increased from $183.3
billion in 1994 to $348.1 billion in 2004. Merchandise exports to Mexico
totalled $3.0 billion in 2004, up $1.9 billion since 1994.
Merchandise imports from the U.S. increased from $137.3
billion in 1994 to $208.9 billion in 2004. Merchandise imports from Mexico
totalled $13.4 billion in 2004, up $8.9 billion since 1994.
|
| A prosperous global economy that benefits Canadians and
the world |
▲ |
Canada's investment position† |
Since the 1990 level of $98.4 billion, Canadian direct
investment abroad has more than quadrupled, reaching $445.1 billion in
2004- a 10.0% increase from 2003. Since 1990, the level of foreign direct
investment in Canada has almost tripled, from $130.9 billion in 1990, to
$365.7 billion in 2004. |
| A safe and secure world |
▲ |
Armed conflicts† |
The situation is slowly improving. In 2003, there were 36
armed conflicts in 28 countries-down from 37 armed conflicts in 29
countries in 2002. These figures represent a general decline in armed
conflicts since 1995 when the number worldwide was 44, in addition to the
fewest number of states hosting conflicts since 1987. |
| |
▬ |
Perceptions of security |
Although trend data is not available, according to the
2003 Voice of the People international poll, a total of 42.0% of
Canadians thought the country was less safe today than it was 10 years
ago. 43.0% of Canadians thought international security was poor, and only
18.0% rated it as good. |
| Global poverty reduction throught sustainable development |
▼ |
Official development assistance as a percentage of gross
national income |
In 2004, Canada contributed 0.26% of its gross national
income to official development assistance, down approximately 0.16% from
1994. Canada ranked 14th among the OECD's 22 Development Assistance
Committee income (DAC) member countries. |
Aboriginal Peoples
| Government of Canada Outcome |
Trend |
Indicator |
Performance Highlight |
| Improved health of Aboriginal peoples |
▲ |
Life
expectancy |
Between 1990 and 2001, life expectancy for First Nations
men increased from 66.9 years to 70.4 years. In the same period, life
expectancy for First Nations women increased from 74.0 years to 75.5
years. |
| |
▲ |
Infant mortality |
Infant mortality rates for First Nations communities
dropped from 12.3 in 1991 to 6.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000. |
| Maximized participation and success in early learning,
education, training and skills development built on Aboriginal heritage |
▬ |
Educational attainment |
The percentage of Aboriginal people aged 25 to 34 who are
out of school and who have a college or university degree remained
relatively stable for each Aboriginal group from 1996 to 2001. The
percentage of Aboriginal youth aged 20 to 24 whose highest level of
schooling was incomplete secondary school or less declined between 1996
and 2001. |
| Aboriginal people have improved access to suitable,
adequate, affordable housing and related support |
▲ |
Acceptable housing |
The percentage of First Nations people living on-reserve
in inadequate housing (needing major repairs) increased from 35.0% in 1996
to 37.0% in 2001. The percentage of households on-reserve living in
unsuitable dwellings (not enough bedrooms for the size and makeup of the
household) decreased, however, from 27.0% in 1996 to 22.0% in 2001.
In 2001, 24.8% of Aboriginal households off-reserve were
in core housing need (in housing that is either inadequate, unsuitable, or
unaffordable and for which 30.0% or more of the before-tax income would
have to be spent to meet the three standards), down from 31.6% in 1996. |
| Sustainable wealth creation and participation in the
economy |
▲ |
Employment rate |
The percentage of employed Aboriginal people aged 25 to 54
increased from 55.0% in 1996 to 61.0% in 2001. |
| |
▲ |
Median income |
In 2000, the median income of Aboriginal individuals
generally was $13,593, up from $12,010 in 1995. Among Aboriginal groups,
the Métis had the highest median income in 2000 at $16,347, up from
$13,502 in 1995. |
| |
▲ |
Business formation rate |
Between 1996 and 2001, the number of self-employed
Aboriginal people in Canada increased by 30.7% from 20,805 to 27,200-a
rate nine times higher than that of self-employed Canadians (3.3%). |
|
