Methodology
This year, 5,820 citizens added their voices to Victoria’s Vital Signs by assigning grades and assessing their experience with various facets of life in each of the 12 key issue areas. They were also asked questions about quality of life, their perceptions and experience with equity and inclusion, and their thoughts on the progress our community has made over the years.
The online survey, conducted by Leger, is based on a “self-selected” respondent population. The survey was open to all interested individuals in Greater Victoria, and survey participants volunteered to take part in the survey. Therefore, the results should be considered as representative of “interested residents of the capital region” and may not be representative of the Greater Victoria population overall.
Citizens participated
Key issue areas
400 surveys were completed via research panel and 5,420 surveys were completed via open link. Since data collection was conducted with nonprobability sampling, a margin of error is not reported. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of n=400 yields a margin of error no greater than ±4.9% (19 times out of 20) for the total panel sample. For the open link, no margin of error can be reported for this data. A full report on the results of the survey and its analysis is available on the Foundation’s website.
An invitation to participate in the open-link survey was
promoted through many websites, social media channels,
online newsletters, posters, media coverage, and more.
Continuing from the 2021 theme of equity and inclusion, there is a segmentation analysis of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) respondents on select questions in the survey results. Best practices for addressing different ethnic groups within the research is still being developed. However, due to the small sample sizes, ethnicities other than Caucasian were aggregated to form the BIPOC category.
Secondary Data
To complement citizen opinion data, the Victoria Foundation curates secondary data on a range of indicators from Statistics Canada and other institutional sources. Through our Vital Community Network, we consult local experts from a range of Greater Victoria organizations who help us identify meaningful indicators. Ultimately, the availability and accessibility of reliable data determines if we can report on a given indicator. Sponsors do not influence the indicator data in any way.
A note about geography: Greater Victoria is an umbrella term that applies to different geographical areas, depending on the indicator. It can refer to the Capital Regional District Census Division, Victoria Census Metropolitan Area, or South Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area. For a full list of indicators, data sources, and geographies used in this report, visit victoriafoundation.ca.
GRADING
Citizen grading of the issue areas is based on a report card scale:
Citizen survey respondent profile
Gender
AGE
Household Income
| Net: <$50k | | 16% |
| Less than $20,000 | | 3% |
| $20,000-$49,999 | | 13% |
| $50,000-$79,000 | | 17% |
| Net: $80K+ | | 52% |
| $80,000-$99,999 | | 12% |
| $100,000-$124,999 | | 13% |
| $125,000-$149,999 | | 9% |
| $150,000 + | | 19% |
ETHNICITY
84% WHITE
16% BIPOC (NET)
5% INDIGENOUS (NET)
3% CHINESE
3% FIRST NATIONS
2% LATIN AMERICAN
2% MÉTIS
2% FILIPINO
1% SOUTH ASIAN
1% BLACK
1% SOUTHEAST ASIAN
1% CENTRAL OR SOUTH AMERICAN INDIGENOUS
1% JAPANESE
1% INUIT / INUK
1% MIDDLE EASTERN / NORTH AFRICAN
<1% KOREAN
<1% WEST ASIAN / CENTRAL ASIAN
5% SELF-DESCRIBE
Employment by Sector
- Retired 79%
- Disability allowance 5%
- Unemployed 5%
- Student 4%
- Unpaid family caregiver 2%
WHERE THEY LIVE
| VICTORIA | 40% |
| SAANICH | 20% |
| LANGFORD | 8% |
| ESQUIMALT | 6% |
| OAK BAY | 5% |
| CENTRAL SAANICH | 4% |
| COLWOOD | 3% |
| VIEW ROYAL | 3% |
| NORTH SAANICH | 2% |
| SOOKE | 2% |
| SIDNEY | 2% |
| METCHOSIN | 1% |
| HIGHLANDS | 1% |
| S. GULF ISLANDS | <1% |
| SALT SPRING ISLAND | <1% |
| JUAN DE FUCA ELECTORAL AREA | <1% |
| OTHER | 2% |
‘Prefer not to answer’ responses are not included. Numbers may not add up to 100%.
Introduction