2004 State of The City Report

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Sustanabe agary

oo( State o Our ty Report

Sustanabe agary takes u responsbty or the anayss and presentaton o the normaton n ths report.

Project Team

Nark Browne
Natt Hebert
Brenda Kenny
Noe Keough
Russe Koeher
Bea NcNaughton
lndsey Nukns
Nonca Pohmann
lvan Robnson
athy Tayor

Writers and Layout

lndsey Nukns Prncpa Author
Noe Keough ontrbutng Author
Joyce Hdebrand Edtor
Rchard Burton layout
Patrck Sweet Graphcs

Donors

See nsde backcover

Community Researchers

hrs Dovey
Derek Norre
Geo Ghtter
Georgna vork
Greg Sket
Heen Nayes
lsrae Dunmade
J.P. Jepp
Jacqu Thompson
Janet lerguson
Je Shewchuk
Key learned
Kerstn rosthwate
Ktt hanthaboune
Kye vhte
Nark Browne
Narsha Nahabr
Natt Hebert
Nchae Nagnan
Patrck Sweet
Patrck vetter
Rob ves
Sarah Boye
Sarah lvngstone
Tsa Strohschen
Tom Paak

Resource People

Amanda oe, lngewood Brd Sanctuary
agary Poce Servce
ndy Easton, lteracy Aberta
Dan Hodgson, Aberta learnng lnormaton Servce
Davd Patman, ty o agary
Decker Sheds, ty o agary
Dane Noser, agary Heath Regon
Enrque Garca, Aberta entre or Actve lvng
Gerad vheatey, agary Doars
James NcAra, agary lnter-lath lood Bank Socety
Janne Ross, Aberta Envronment
Judth Rempe, ty o agary
Karone Sandhurst, agary lnter-lath lood Bank Socety
Nacom logan, ty o agary
Nartha Parker, Vounteer agary
Nke Saey, ty o agary
Nancy Staker, ty o agary
Ncoe Jensen, ty o agary
Penny vkes, Aberta Agrcuture
Ron Tchr, Aberta Envronment
Rosann Semchuk, Vounteer agary
Rose Petrovc, agary Pubc lbrary
Ruth Anne Rudack, agary Hortcutura Socety
Sharon Strock, ty o agary
Shedon Sper, agary Heath Regon
Smon vkns, ty o agary
Tm Johnson, ty o agary
Toursm agary

Acknowledgements
Sustanabe agary


Summary

How to reach us

Address

Sustanabe agary
o+ +a Kensngton Road Nv
agary, Aberta TN P8

Phone

(o-;o-o;;;

Email

noQsustanabecagary.ca

Website

www.sustanabecagary.ca
Ths s the thrd Sustanabe agary State o Our ty report snce +,,8.
Ater seven years we are begnnng to get a better understandng o our
coectve achevements and chaenges. To be sure, or some aspects o
our communty, t s hard to dscern whether we are movng toward sus-
tanabty normaton gaps st exst. But n many areas o our commu-
nty we can now show steady gans and n others we are ceary staed or
aterng.
ve contnue to move toward sustanabty n many o our communty
sector ndcators and n our care or our natura envronment. However,
whe our heath and educaton systems are st strong and dever hgh
quaty servce, we see worryng sgns n ndcators reated to these areas,
and we cannot say wth certanty that current trends are sustanabe. ve
have not made sgncant gans n reducng resource consumpton our
per capta use o resources remans unsustanaby hgh. Snce the oo+
report, our economc ndcators have moved away rom sustanabty.
Nany peope see the current perod n agarys hstory and ndeed, o the
provnce, as a tme o unprecedented opportunty. At the same tme, the
ast

bust

remans n our coectve memory and we are concerned that we
not

bow t ths tme

. At Sustanabe agary, we beeve that we cannot
reaze a cear drectona change toward sustanabty n ths pace and at
ths tme, then no cty can. ln other words, ew paces on earth match the
abundant soca, natura, and nanca capta that we have at our dsposa
to make the transormaton to a vbrant, heathy cty.
ln ths report we are cang upon agarans to dream bg, to embrace the
chaenges o oca and goba ctzenshp, and to take bod decsve steps
that w put us on a cear path toward sustanabty. An assessment o
the ndcators presents us wth two key chaenges. The most crtca
chaenge we ace s how to create an economy where not ony the aver-
age agaran, but every agaran, has the opportunty to prosper and
share n our ctys good ortune. A second chaenge s how to sht to
more socay, ecoogcay, and economcay sustanabe orms o com-
munty desgn, and use, mobty, and nrastructure provson what
some ca Smart Growth.
Over the past eght years we have seen the growth o a crtca mass o
ctzens, panners, potcans, and cvc organzatons who recognze the
need to thnk ong term about the uture o our communty. As a oow-
up to the oo( report, Sustanabe agary w be nvtng ctzens to ds-
cuss and debate what changes we need, what poces we need to make
those changes happen, and what actons we need to take now n short, a
tzens Agenda or the Transormaton to a Sustanabe ommunty.
A new eature o ths years report s the tzens Daogue. ve have
nvted a group o promnent agarans to comment on the oo( report.
ve hope these commentares, aong wth the assessment o the ndca-
tors, w spur debate, daogue, and the enthusasm to create a tzens
Agenda or agary.
( Sustanabe agary


Sustainability Trends

Sustanabty trend normaton or each ndcator s ocated n the upper
rght-hand corner o the ndcator pages. There are three derent trend
desgnatons.
vhen desgnatng the trend, severa crtera were taken nto account. ls
the ndcator currenty at a sustanabe eve' ls the ndcator movng
toward or away rom sustanabty' ls the pace o change o the ndcator
such that t w reach a sustanabe eve n a reasonabe tme' The
answers to these questons are necessary subjectve. The ndcator
project team has revewed each ndcator thoroughy and debated what
the normaton s teng us beore reachng agreement on what we
beeve the trend to be. Ater readng the report, you may or may not
agree wth our assessments. ve hope you w agree that the report s an
eectve ca to daogue and acton on our common uture.

Trend s sustanabe or s movng toward sustanabty.

Trend s ar rom sustanabe or s movng away rom
sustanabty.

There s no dscernbe trend.
Sustanabe agary


List of Indicators

Introduction to Community Sustainability 6

ls agary Sustanabe' ................................................................................... ,
A a to Acton................................................................................................++
Our Process ..................................................................................................... +
tzens Daogue ........................................................................................... +

Community Indicators 21

rme Rate 8 Rate o Vctmzaton .........................................................

lesure Actvty...........................................................................................

Nembershp n ommunty Assocatons ............................................... (

Number o and Attendance at Pubc lestvas.......................................

Sense o ommunty.................................................................................

Vaung utura Dversty.........................................................................;

Vounteersm............................................................................................. 8

Economic Indicators 29

Economc Dverscaton O and Gas Reance................................... o

lood Bank Usage ....................................................................................... +

Hours Requred to Neet Basc Needs at Nnmum vage.....................

Housng Aordabty................................................................................

lncome Equty: Gap between Rch and Poor...........................................(

Unempoyment Rate .................................................................................

Education Indicators 36

Adut lteracy............................................................................................. ;

Daycare vorker Saares and Turnover ...................................................8

Grade Three Achevement Scores.............................................................,

lbrary Use................................................................................................. (o

Average cass sze....................................................................................... (+

Natural Environment Indicators 42

Ar Ouaty...................................................................................................(

Brd Popuaton Surveys ........................................................................... ((

lood Grown locay.................................................................................. (

Pestcde Use.............................................................................................. (

Surace vater Ouaty.............................................................................. (;

vater onsumpton ................................................................................. (8

Resource Use Indicators 49

Domestc vaste ........................................................................................ o

Ecoogca lootprnt................................................................................... +

Energy Use..................................................................................................
Popuaton Densty ....................................................................................
Transt Usage or vork Trps................................................................... (
Transportaton lnrastructure Spendng..................................................
Wellness Indicators 56
Access to Prmary and Aternatve Heath Resources............................. ;
hdhood Asthma Hosptazaton Rate................................................. 8
Heathy Brth veght Babes....................................................................,
Se Rated Heath ...................................................................................... o
Support or the most vunerabe .............................................................. +
Youth veness..........................................................................................
SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
Introduction to Community Sustainability
ve stand at a crtca moment n
Earths hstory, a tme when
humanty must choose ts
uture,... ve must jon together
to brng orth a sustanabe goba
socety ounded on respect or
nature, unversa human rghts,
economc justce, and a cuture o
peace. Towards ths end, t s
mperatve that we, the peopes
o Earth, decare our responsb-
ty to one another, to the greater
communty o e and to uture
generatons. (The Earth harter)
l a cty measures success soey
n tradtona terms ke job
growth, housng starts and new
road constructon, t may nter-
pret growth n these numbers as a
rosy pcture o a vta pace to ve
n but end up wth spraw, ar po-
uton and a dyng downtown.
(Redenng Progress, Sustanabe
Seatte. +,,;).
vhen one tugs at a snge thng
n nature, you nd t attached to
the rest o the word. (John Nur,
onservatonst [+88-+,+(])
ln +,,, the argest gatherng o goba eaders n the hstory o the word
took pace at the Earth Summt n Ro de Janero, Braz. Preparatons or
ths event consumed tens o thousands o peope rom a over the panet
or two years. The ocus o the meetngs was to dscuss an agenda or
change. The Earth Summt was motvated by wordwde concerns about
the twn scourges o poverty and envronmenta destructon and the
desre to reshape our economes to eradcate both. Ths new vson o how
the peopes o the word mght ve together wthn the mts o nature
was caed sustanabe deveopment.
As a rst step toward the goa o sustanabe deveopment, the words
peopes and natons sgned treates, conventons, charters, and decara-
tons that commt us to acton. These oundatona documents ncude
Agenda + Goba Programme o Acton on Sustanabe Deveopment,
and varous conventons to protect boogca dversty, to combat desert-
caton and to take acton on cmate change. Not ony were the govern-
ment o anada and anadans sgnatores to these documents, but
ndvdua anadans, and our government, payed a pvota roe n creat-
ng them.
Through these nternatona agreements we have accepted certan obga-
tons as our part n creatng a sustanabe word. ln +,, a group o agar-
ans took up the chaenge o ung these obgatons ocay, n our
own sma way, through Sustanabe agary.
Community Indicators project
At the Earth Summt, word eaders and reguar ctzens ake recognzed
that to acheve the goas we had set, we needed to measure our progress.
Snce +,,, many communtes have earned that the conventona ways
o measurng progress, whch rey on a narrow set o economc ndcators,
are not adequate. Sustanabty reportng moves beyond these conven-
tona economc ndcators and ocuses on the need to brng a broad range
o soca, ecoogca, and economc ndcators nto our decson-makng
processes wthout reducng everythng to doars and cents. Around the
word hundreds o communty ndcator projects are underway n paces
as dverse as Seatte, Austn, Boston, Vence, Nebourne, Toronto, and
Edmonton. Nany are desgned, researched, and coordnated by commu-
nty members themseves.
What Is a Sustainability Indicator?
An ndcator heps us understand where we are, whch way we are gong
and how ar we are rom where we want to be. A good ndcator s an
eary warnng o an emergng probem and heps us recognze what needs
to be done to x t.
vhat dstngushes a sustanabty ndcator s ts abty to umnate the
nterconnectons among systems. Each o the ndcator descrptons n ths
report ncudes a secton on lnkages. A nkage s a drect or ndrect rea-
tonshp between two or more systems, where changes n one aect the
status o another.
SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT ;
Principles of Community Sustainability
A Sustanabe ommunty:
+. Nantans or enhances ecoogca ntegrty. A sustanabe communty
ves n harmony wth the natura word. lt protects the ar, water, so,
ora, auna and ecosystems that t depends upon or ts survva. These
are the e support systems or a human communtes.
. Promotes soca equty. ln a sustanabe communty each and every ct-
zen s aorded access to the benets and opportuntes that a commu-
nty has to oer wthout soca or economc dscrmnaton.
. Provdes the opportunty or meanngu work and vehood or a ct-
zens. A strong, resent and dynamc oca economy s essenta or
communty sustanabty. A sustanabe economy provdes the oppor-
tunty or meanngu work and vehood or each and every ctzen.
(. Encourages democratc partcpaton o a ctzens. ve ve n a democ-
racy. The bedrock o a democracy s ctzen partcpaton n the unc-
tonng, pannng and decson-makng o socety. ln a sustanabe
communty, partcpaton s both a rght and a responsbty and
shoud be avaabe to every ctzen.
What Do We Want to Sustain?
To be successu, we must understand the ends we want to acheve and
the means we choose to acheve those ends. The goa o a sustanabe
communty s to acheve a hgh quaty o e. The quates we seek to
acheve ncude ove, comort, heath, educaton, physca sustenance,
adequate sheter, meanngu work, carng reatonshps, sprtua mean-
ng and a sense o beongng, dverse natura areas, and cean ar, water,
and so. ln a sustanabe communty, the means to attan these quates s
through the most ecent and wse use o tme, eort, and resources.
lor a ong tme now, economc growth has been the means we have cho-
sen to acheve good quaty o e. Sustanabty reportng heps us exam-
ne whether economc growth s the approprate means through whch to
acheve our desred ends. Perhaps a more ttng mode, one that reects
the natura word, s a state o dynamc equbrum where change, nno-
vaton, and deveopment are possbe and desrabe, but are not depen-
dent on constant growth.
Key to sustanabty s the reatonshp between estye and quaty o
e. Nost agarans enjoy a hgh quaty o e. Hgh eves o resource
consumpton characterze the partcuar estye that supports our quaty
o e. Sustanabty reportng chaenges the communty to examne
whether ths estye s sustanabe or the ong term and, not, what
changes can be made to create a sustanabe estye that can dever an
equa or greater quaty o e or our chdren, grandchdren, and uture
generatons.
8 SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
What Would a Sustainable Community Look Like?
A sustanabe communty woud be resent, se-reant, creatve, and
resourceu. A sustanabe communty understands that there are mts n
a nte word and ves wthn ts economc, soca, and ecoogca means.
A sustanabe communty osters ethca behavour and stewardshp o the
natura envronment, and takes serousy ts rghts and responsbtes. ln
a gobazng word, a human communtes are becomng more and more
nterconnected. A sustanabe communty seeks to acheve baance and
arness n ts reatons wth a other communtes, wherever they may be.
SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT ,
Is Calgary Sustainable?
The ndcators o communty sustanabty provde a dverse pcture o
the state o our communty. On the whoe, agarans are budng a
strong, dverse, creatve communty n a cean natura envronment, and
we are reatvey we educated and heathy but our use o natura
resources s wasteu and costy, and the nequtes n our communty are
makng e dcut or growng numbers o us.
Our research suggests that current trends n our communty sector ndca-
tors and our natura envronment ndcators are sustanabe. The commu-
nty sector ndcators are among the most promsng, wth some
quacatons. The number and dversty o estvas n our cty contnues
to grow, as does our partcpaton n those estvas. agary boasts the
hghest vounteersm rate n anada, and our survey o Nembershp n
ommunty Assocatons suggests an ncrease n communty partcpaton
snce oo+. The ncdence o crme n our cty contnues ts ong-term
decne n statstca terms, and agarans are generay eeng saer. le-
sure and work ndcators conrm our se-mage as a communty that
works hard and pays hard, but the combnaton s resutng n greater ev-
es o stress and negect n other areas o our ves. There seems to be a
growng reazaton o the dversty o our communty and the benets
that dversty brngs, but ths has yet to transate nto a representatve
dversty among our potcans, meda personates, and communty and
busness eaders.
Over the past decade we seem to have turned the corner toward a more
sustanabe natura envronment. Surace water quaty has been steady
mprovng and the cty has receved hgh marks or ts water treatment
system and ts wetands conservaton program. Nore ocay-grown ood
s reachng the cty through a growng number o communty gardens and
armers markets. Our water consumpton remans reatvey hgh but has
decreased sgncanty, and our attenton to the ssue promses sustan-
abe eves o consumpton n the oreseeabe uture. ve have reduced
the ntensty o pestcde appcaton, but overa, amounts apped wthn
our cty are ncreasng and there are ony two pestcde-ree parks n a-
gary. Ar quaty s generay very good but mprovement seems to have
staed. Reatvey heathy brd popuatons attest to what s, a n a, a
trend toward a sustanabe oca natura envronment.
Based on our research, we cannot say wth any certanty that current
trends w resut n a sustanabe heath and educaton system. Vgance
and contnued mprovement are the watchwords. The educaton sector s
generay n good shape. leong earnng contnues to be an mportant
aspect o e n agary, wth ctzens makng more and more use o our
brares. Grade three achevement scores contnue to ndcate a strong
start to our chdrens academc ves. ass szes are st generay too bg,
athough there are sgns the system s respondng to ths probem. Adut
teracy statstcs are too nrequenty coected to gve us a cear pcture
o how we are dong n ths vta area. Saares or daycare workers have
seen some mprovement n the past three years but wth turnover rates o
( percent, we above the natona average, we have a ong way to go n
provdng sustanabe eary chdhood educaton.
+o SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
vhe agarans generay enjoy good heath and ongevty, there are
worryng sgns n terms o access and equty n the system. Our ndcators
suggest potenta probems or our youth and the most vunerabe n our
communty. Asthma rates are st very hgh and asthma remans the num-
ber one reason or schoo absenteesm. As many as ;,ooo chdren n a-
gary coud be suerng rom asthma. Obesty n younger chdren and a
decreased sense o purpose among oder youth are causng concern that
they may not enjoy the reatvey heathy ves o ther parents. Despte a
unversa recognton o the mportance o preventve heath care, the
proporton o resources we devote to t has been decreasng. Se-rated
heath responses have remaned reatvey stabe over the past eght
years, but ow-ncome and ess educated agarans contnue to rate ther
heath n ess postve terms.
Our economc and resource use ndcators suggest that we have not made
sgncant progress n these areas over the past decade and we are mov-
ng away rom sustanabty. Two o our bggest chaenges are the sgn-
cant nequtes n our communty and the unsustanabe rates o resource
consumpton.
vhe we have perormed admraby n keepng our ar and water cean,
we have not addressed our costy resource consumpton. Our energy con-
sumpton s among the hghest n the word and growng. The number o
agarans usng transt to get to work has staed. ve have not made a
decsve sht n undng toward a transt-, bcyce-, and pedestran-or-
ented transportaton system. Our cty contnues to spraw. vhe we are
makng progress on domestc waste, we contnue to put more matera
nto our ands every year.
Our economc ndcators present us wth an nterestng paradox. The eco-
nomc ndcators n our report hghght most ceary the derence
between a sustanabe economy and busness as usua. The conventona
anayss s that our economy s strong and rng on a cynders. Our eco-
nomc ndcators, however, pont out that there s more to our economy
than average ncomes, ow taxes, hgh persona consumpton, and corpo-
rate prots. Nore peope are usng ood banks, vng on the streets,
struggng to nd aordabe housng, and earnng ncomes or recevng
soca supports that do not even come cose to provdng basc needs.
Empoyment s strong, saares are rsng, and our provnce s debt-ree
but s t' Our ndcators suggest that the economc restructurng o the
past decade has et us wth a soca debt to the most vunerabe n our
socety. They have pad deary n order to baance the books o our prov-
nce and our cty. Through our unsustanabe consumpton o natura
resources, we have aso ncurred a debt to the ecoogca support systems
that utmatey a human communtes depend on. vth a provnca and
cty economy that s burstng at the seams, growng nequtes are a back
eye on our communty. ve have the capacty to change ths, but we have
not made a conscous decson, as a communty, to do so.
SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT ++
A Call to Action
agarans have made ther mark around the word as entrepreneurs and
traders. Now s the tme to make our mark as ctzens o the word. Do we
want to be the best conventona cty or do we want to ead the transor-
maton toward sustanabe ctes' At a househod eve, we make decsons
to renovate when the resources are there and the tme s rght. As a cty,
now s the tme or that bg renovaton. Our amy s growng and our
bank account may never agan be as heathy as t s currenty.
Recognzng the need to act decsvey, Sustanabe agary has embarked
upon a new project A tzens Agenda or the Transormaton to a Sus-
tanabe agary. ln the comng months, as a oow-up to the oo(
report, Sustanabe agary w nvte ctzens to dscuss and debate what
changes we need, what poces we need to make those changes happen,
and what actons we need to take now so that n years to come we w
have a sae, vbrant, and heathy communty or ourseves, our chdren,
and our grandchdren.
Sustanabe agary has aso convened a tzens lorum to brng a broad
cross-secton o communty organzatons together to work toward a
truy sustanabe cty. The rst ocus o the tzens lorum w be Smart
Growth. As the cty grows, we need to ensure that we can create an ncu-
sve communty where a ctzens enjoy ts benets. By growng smarter,
we can reduce our energy and water consumpton and suburban spraw,
we can create a more ecent transportaton system, and we can put nto
pace nrastructure that w be ecent and exbe as the cty evoves n
ways we cannot predct.
agary has a rch and coouru hstory. lrst Natons ved near the con-
uence o the Bow and Ebow Rvers or thousands o years. European
settement began n the +8;os wth whskey traders, mssonares, and
Northwest Nounted Poce. lor most o ts + years, agary has been an
ndsputaby brash, hard-nosed ronter town. ln the past o years that
mage has begun to change, especay wth respect to the arts, our rea-
tonshp to the envronment, and our economy. agary s maturng.
Human creatvty, ngenuty, and passon are openng new doors to tech-
noogy, to a more cooperatve reatonshp wth the natura word, and to
a renewed desre or carng and nurturng communtes.
ve nvte you to read ths report, to share t wth rends, to dscuss and
debate t wth neghbours and work coeagues, and to jon us n makng
good on the promse o a sustanabe agary or the +st century.
+ SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
Our Process
vhe producng ths report was an mportant goa, the process o deve-
opng ths too s equay vauabe. Experence wth sustanabty report-
ng suggests that the way to attan a set o ndcators that s truy
meanngu, useu, and representatve o our cty s to nvove a broad
cross-secton o ctzens n the ndcator seecton process. Ths heps
deveop new understandngs o ssues and new nsghts nto potenta
soutons. The sma busnessperson begns to understand the ecoogca
mpacts o packagng choces, whe the soca worker sees new nkages
between jobs, poverty, and habtat preservaton.
Over ooo agarans partcpated n the creaton o the rst two State o
Our ty reports. Our project team coordnated dozens o presentatons
and workshops across the cty among groups as dverse as Rotary ubs,
ty ounc, the Deveopmenta Dsabtes Resources entre, and var-
ous communty assocatons.
ln a tremendous vounteer eort, ctzens ed the way n choosng ndca-
tors, researchng the data or each ndcator, and wrtng the State o Our
ty reports. ln the na anayss, the ndcators documented n ths
report were chosen n a democratc process open to a who had partc-
pated n the project.
Through ther partcpaton, ctzens connected wth cty panners and
transportaton engneers, soca panners, and adermen. They earned the
nner workngs o the cty and the compexty o the ssues we ace. They
came to a greater understandng and apprecaton o the concept o sus-
tanabty, and they ormed new rendshps and supportve networks.
ln the rst two reports we estabshed a set o ndcators. The ocus o
the vounteer partcpaton n ths years report was the o+ vounteer
researchers who gave generousy o ther tme to update each o the nd-
cators. The enthusasm they showed or the project and the research they
devered to the project coordnator was exempary.
vth ths report, Sustanabe agary contnues to be a catayst or com-
munty-based ndcator research. The Sense o ommunty ndcator nt-
ated by Sustanabe agary contnues to be rened, wth the ty o
agary takng the ead on ths ntatve. Ths year Sustanabe agary
vounteers once agan conducted orgna research to coect data on Vau-
ng utura Dversty, Nembershp n ommunty Assocatons, Atten-
dance and Partcpaton at Pubc lestvas, and lood Grown locay.
Indicator Selection Criteria
+. ls the ndcator consstent wth
our Sustanabty prncpes'
. Does the ndcator nk eco-
nomc, soca and/or ecoogca
actors'
. v peope understand and
care about ths ndcator'
(. v ths ndcator trgger
acton'
. ls ths ndcator responsve to
nterventons'
. ls there a way to accuratey
measure ths ndcator'
;. ls the data or ths ndcator
cost eectve to coect'
8. ls ths ndcator comparabe to
other reerence ponts and
standards'
SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT +
Citizens Dialogue
Dscussng sustanabty s crt-
ca to the uture o our cty. Ths
ndependent communty perspec-
tve on agarys sustanabty
compements our eorts under-
way through the lmagneagary
ntatve. (Dave Bronconner
Nayor, ty o agary)
To generate debate and dscusson around sustanabty ssues n agary
we nvted a group o promnent agarans and experts n the ed o
urban sustanabty to comment on the oo( State o Our ty Report.
ommentators were asked to respond to the reports ndngs and hgh-
ght the most crtca ssues that agary must address as we move
towards a sustanabe uture. ve hope that ths tzens Daogue nspres
urther dscusson and acton as Sustanabe agary aunches ts ctzen
engagement ntatve, A tzens Agenda or the Transormaton to a
Sustanabe agary.

Hon. Mike Harcourt
Chair, External Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities
Any eort to change the way a socety thnks and works depends on eary
adopters to baze the tra and create a vng exampe or others. vhen
the story o anadas sustanabe deveopment transton s eventuay
tod, agary w stand out as a cty that coped wth ts share o cha-
enges, and has come nto ts own as a communty that coud hep pont
the way or others.
By documentng that eort n ts trenna State o Our ty Report, the
Sustanabe agary Socety has done us a a great servce. The Report s a
sod reerence pont or some o the steps that communtes must take
aong the road to sustanabty, and or the type o revew and measure-
ment requred to transate our ond hopes and best ntentons nto eec-
tve acton.
lts a the more mpressve that the Report s produced by a very commt-
ted group o vounteers. By ther eorts and expertse, members o the
Sustanabe agary Socety have demonstrated the roe that cv socety
can pay n the New Dea or tes and ommuntes a new partnershp
among edera, provnca, terrtora and muncpa governments amed at
changng the way o dong busness and mprovng the quaty o e n
ctes and communtes. v socety nvovement s not an optona ee-
ment o the New Deawe see t as a key success actor that brngs a new
vbrancy to our work.
Precsey that vbrancy s reected n ths years report, wth the aunch o
an ambtous ctzens daogue on agarys onger-term sustanabty
needs. l eagery awat the resuts o those deberatons.
As har o the edera governments Externa Advsory ommttee on t-
es and ommuntes, l can see a broader context or the work gong on n
agary. Nany other anadan communtes have embarked on a smar
pathwhch means agary can reach out to an nnovatve network o
peers and practtoners who w be eager to share, expore and earn
together. l saute Nayor Dave Bronconners eadershp roe n seekng a
+( SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
sustanabe agary and n encouragng cv socetys partcpaton n ths
process.
Based on the actvty we see across the country, the Externa Advsory
ommttee has agreed on our pars o sustanabty that w underpn
the New Dea and the transton to sustanabe ctes and communtes. ln
addton to the envronmenta, economc and soca actors put orward
by the vord ommsson on Envronment and Deveopment, we beeve
cuture w be a key determnant o our success. And l appaud my eow
Advsory ommttee member and the cutura sub-commttee char, on
Jackson, Presdent and EO o the EPOR entre or the Perormng Arts,
or hs work n weavng cuture through the pars o sustanabty.
ve aso understand that the nterpretaton o the our pars w neces-
sary vary by communty. Thats why we want to taor the New Dea to
smaer centres, medum-szed towns, and the arger gateway ctes that
account or a substanta share o anadas nternatona trade and serve
as access ponts or the communtes that surround them.
vth our own work as a reerence pont, ts thrng to see a oca nta-
tve that denes smart growth as a sht to more socay, ecoogcay
and economcay sustanabe orms o communty desgn, and use,
mobty and nrastructure, and ctes soca equty, meanngu work and
democratc partcpaton as sustanabty goas on a par wth ecoogca
ntegrty.
Ths s precsey the knd o oca experence and nsght that can gve
depth and texture to our pocy work and put a sod oundaton under the
deas and concepts weve brought orward. A snge document that brngs
together the atest oca ndcators n areas as dverse as resource con-
sumpton, surace water quaty, urban spraw, asthma ncdence, teracy
rates and partcpaton n communty estvas reects the knd o ncu-
sve vson that w hep make the New Dea a reaty. And as a startng
pont or ctzen engagement, ts hard to magne a better ca to acton
than the words n ths report: agarans have made ther mark around
the word as entrepreneurs and traders. Now s the tme to make our
mark as ctzens o the word.
lor a these reasons, l am deepy grateu or the obvous eort and ded-
caton that went nto the State o Our ty Report. lke any good wrtten
work, the Report has et me ookng orward to readng the next nsta-
ment, and to hearng more rom the Sustanabe agary Socety n the
weeks and months ahead.

Cesar Cala
Ethnocultural Council of Calgary
vhat makes a communty sustanabe' A communty s propeed by the
dreams, vaues, atttudes, wsdoms and behavours o ts members and o
ts pubc and prvate nsttutons. lor t to be sustanabe, a communty
needs a ctzenry that s engaged n the shapng o ther present and n
ther uture and concerned over the weare o ther neghbours. lt needs
a ctzenry that takes serousy ts stewardshp o the communtys e-
base. Nost mportanty t needs a ctzenry whose noton o a good e s
one that can be shared by a, that prveges a, that can be sustaned and
supported by the communtys natura and soca resources.
Sustanabty means not havng to apoogze to uture generatons
because we have squandered what we have n the present and et behnd
or them a bghted ecoogca and soca andscape.
agary s at a cruca crossroads on the queston o sustanabty. Our
popuaton s nearng the mon mark makng ssues ke resource use
and urban spraw a the more urgent. ve have become a more dverse
cty, n terms o cutura, ethnc, and soca composton o our popuaton,
hghghtng the need to be more ncusve. ve have become more
thoughtu about what we want the cty to be at ths juncture and n the
uture. Sustanabe agary s part o that growng thoughtuness.
But beng at a crossroads means that we as a communty need to decde
whch paths to take. To be sure, our current ways o e are pushng us,
conscousy or otherwse towards partcuar paths, as the ndcators n ths
report are teng us. Are these the drectons we reay want to go' Our
economy s robust but are we becomng a more carng communty' Our
sense o communty s gettng stronger but are we nvestng enough n
our chdren' Our natura envronment s st reatvey heathy but are
we at the pont o messng t up'
agary s proud o ts growng dversty, as evdence that we are not the
mono-chromatc, snge-ndustry town that we are oten pctured outsde.
But dversty s somethng that we havent uy understood and tapped.
ve have to go beyond the mere recognton that we are dverse, that we
come rom derent ethnc, cutura and soca backgrounds. lt s not
enough just to acknowedge our derences and contnue to ve and
occupy our own parae unverses. The queston s what do we do wth
our dversty' ve need to estabsh the common ground that denes us
as a communty - the thngs that dene the way we nteract, engage, get
nvoved, contrbute to and partake o the common good, and the ways n
whch our pubc nsttutons serve and govern us. The rst step n dver-
sty s ncuson. Are we there yet' The ndcators n ths report say not yet
uy. The bgger chaenges are the next steps, whch are the osterng o
meanngu nteracton and partcpaton.
As l was readng the report, one thought came to mnd. lndvdua ndca-
tors are not sustanabe by themseves. Our communty s one organc
+ SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
whoe and ndcators are snapshots o parts connected to that whoe. Ths
means that even some aspects o our communty are heathy, the cha-
enges posed by the other aspects may utmatey endanger the sustan-
abty o the entre communty. lor nstance, our growng ncome
dsparty and the ncreasng nsecurty o our most vunerabe w at some
pont aect the more postve prognoses o our communty sector ndca-
tors. Even the strength that we derve rom the growng ethnocutura
dversty, uness couped wth stronger awareness o the mportance o a
robust oca economy, can resut n bgger dependence on goods produced
esewhere, especay o ood.
ln the same ven, we can use our strengths, based on these ndcators, to
nd ways o addressng the growng ssues and chaenges our communty
aces. How can we brng our strong, dverse, creatve and reatvey we
educated communty to bear on growng soca nequtes' How can we
use the awareness that our envronment s st reatvey heathy to make
changes n the way we consume and use our natura resources'
lasty, the roe o pubc pocy n encouragng sustanabty s undamen-
tay mportant. Ny suggeston s or us to have stenng posts on key
areas to gve us an ndcaton where economc, envronmenta and soca
poces are headng. vhat andmark pocy dscussons and decsons
shoud we be cosey oowng and partcpatng n' How can we be
meannguy nvoved n the cratng o these poces'

Ruth Ramsden-Wood
President
United Way of Calgary and Area
On beha o Unted vay o agary and Area l am peased to provde a
revew o Sustanabe agarys oo( State o Our ty Report. Unted
vay o agary and Area shares your vson o a sustanabe communty,
whch supports our undamenta bee that or a cty to be truy great t
must be great or everyone.
As you have requested that my comments be bre, n revewng the
Report l have ocused on soca ssues. lndcators chosen or ths purpose
were communty sector, economc, educaton and weness ndcators.
The lnkages sectons pay a vauabe roe n dentyng the nterconnect-
edness o ndcators. lor exampe, wthn the homeessness secton, nk-
ages to decreased sense o communty, economc sustanabty, ood
bank usage and ncome equty serve as an mportant remnder o the
nterconnectedness o a aspects o our economc, soca and envronmen-
ta we beng.
Poverty and ack o access to communty resources are prmary actors
underyng the soca ssue categores whch receved neutra and
SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT +;
decreased sustanabty ratngs. Poverty s assocated wth ack o trans-
portaton, ack o ree tme and nabty to pay user ees amongst eco-
nomcay chaenged agarans, whch underscores the decreased ratng
n esure actvtes, sense o communty and vounteersm. lt aso under-
scores decreased sustanabty ratngs n ncreased ood bank usage, hous-
ng aordabty, ncome equty, heathy brth weght babes, support or
the most vunerabe and youth weness. Ths hghghts that athough our
communty has one o the hghest standards o vng n the country,
many agarans do not share n the opportuntes and optmsm or
whch our cty s known.
An estmated +. per cent o agarans (+o,,ooo ndvduas or + n 8 a-
garans) were vng beow the low-lncome uto n ooo. Approx-
matey o per cent o peope vng n poverty do so or protracted perods
o three years or more and the hardest ht are one-parent mothers and
ther chdren, Aborgna peope, peope wth dsabtes and mmgrants
who are vsbe mnortes. The cost o poverty n agary s estmated to
be upwards o ;oo mon a year n ost ncome and soca costs. luture
versons o the Report mght be enhanced by the ncuson o questons
desgned to create a cearer ne o sght between poverty and ts mpacts
n key areas. Ouestons to assess movement out o poverty and the mpact
o poverty on access to u democratc and soca partcpaton woud be
o vaue n hepng us to assess agarys sustanabty on ths mportant
soca justce ront.
Vaung cutura dversty s a second area that coud be expanded n
uture to provde addtona depth. agary s the ourth most ethncay
dverse urban centre n anada. Accordng to the oo+ ensus o anada,
agarys mmgrant popuaton o +,;,(+o made up o., per cent o the
tota popuaton. Over the past o years an average o ,,o( new mm-
grants came to agary each year rom other countres. Ths secton o the
Report coud be enhanced by the ncuson o a separate secton measur-
ng specc dversty ndcators. lor exampe: How many years does t
takes or new anadans to obtan empoyment n ther ed n agary'
How many years does t take or new anadans vng n agary to
acheve a standard o vng comparabe to anadans born n anada'
vhat s the abty o new anadans vng n agary to access soca and
heath servces n ther prmary anguage'
Overa, l ound the Report to be extremey we ad out, normatve and
easy to oow. The use o cons throughout s postve and ads compre-
henson. l w keep the summary, whch provdes vauabe, condensed
hgh eve normaton, as a reerence or uture use. Unted vay w be
abe to reerence ths matera n our work.
Ny sncere thanks to you and to your team or your hard work and ded-
caton n creatng and dstrbutng ths extremey vauabe report.

+8 SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
Murray Sigler
President & CEO
Calgary Chamber of Commerce
ongratuatons to those nvoved wth the oo( State o Our ty lndca-
tors Report. Ths document reects many vounteers tme and energy,
and harnesses the passon o grassroots agarans who strve to make
ther communty a better pace to ve. Ths sprt s shared by more than
,(oo members o the agary hamber o ommerce, ncudng our Env-
ronment, Natura Resources, vc Aars, and other standng pocy com-
mttees.
ln a gobay compettve envronment, quaty o e ssues are ncreas-
ngy mportant to attract and retan new busnesses and empoyees. A
cean envronment, ow crme rates, good schoos, an ecent transporta-
ton system, and compettve taxes a pay mportant roes to enhance
agarys busness advantage and encourage sustanabe growth.
ln the +st century, mantanng agarys advantage w requre an
ncreased consderaton o envronmentay sound busness practces. ln
act, companes that address these ssues n a proactve manner are key
to derve sgncant nanca benets.
lor exampe, companes that nvest n energy ecency see a payback to
the bottom ne. lt creates a wn-wn stuaton where companes save
money, become more compettve, and reduce ther envronmenta
mpact. Add to ths the benet o an enhanced company mage, and you
have a recpe or nanca gan aong wth greater communty sustanab-
ty. The agary busness communty needs to nd more wn-wn stua-
tons ke ths. ve have no doubt that agarans possesses the nnovatve
and entrepreneura drve to nd them.
Through partcpaton n lmagneAlGARY, an ntatve to create a +oo-
year vson or the ty, the hamber o ommerce hopes to contnue the
daogue o measurng what matters, and to dscuss eadng sustanabe
deveopment practces wthn the busness communty. lt s mportant or
the communty and or busness to ook ahead and dene our ong-term
goas. ve must montor our progress, and correct our course to stay suc-
cessu. The oo( State o Our ty lndcators Report s a remnder o the
many thngs that keep our cty great and make t a postve pace or bus-
nesses to thrve!

SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT +,
Professor Brian R. Sinclair, MRAIC AIA
Dean, Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS)
University of Calgary
To advance our ot n the context o our cuture, our envronment, and
our tmes, demands new ways o seeng, thnkng and actng. The great
Amercan nteectua vam James once noted that Genus means tte
more than the acuty o percevng n an nhabtua way. agary s at an
mportant juncture, one that warrants our creatvty, nnovaton, dedca-
ton and genus. To these ends, the Sustanabe agary rd State o our
ty report represents an mportant step n the approprate drecton.
As a natve agaran, whose ancestors arrved to the cty n +88(, l ee
deepy connected to ths unque pace where the prares greet the moun-
tans. Returnng back to agary n oo, ater more than a decade away, l
have been mpressed wth the rch opportuntes and exctng possbtes
on our doorstep. agary s posed to become a goba cty, assumng ead-
ershp n many areas o urban settement, economc deveopment, and
envronmenta sustanabty. ve are postoned we, or many reasons,
to reaze an urbanty that proves exempary n the reams o quaty o
e, ncuson o the breadth o ctzenry, and mportance o desgn. To get
to ths pont w necesstate some crtca decsons beng made, some
major rsks to be taken, and some rea vson to be exercsed.
Desgn s essenta to our becomng a word cass, attractve, compettve
and successu cty. Desgn by necessty s ntegratve and nterdscp-
nary. At ts best desgn s hostc and ncusve, attendng to a broad array
o needs and wants whe pushng the enveope n nnovaton and creatv-
ty. There are many areas o the cty that must be attended to as we chart
a promsng uture. Nany o the ndcators n the State o the ty are
approprate touchng upon the economc, envronmenta and soca
parameters that together contrbute to a heathy and vbrant agary.
One dmenson that s vta, rom my perspectve, s the reazaton o
more mxed-use deveopment. The noton o messy vtaty, whereby
neghborhoods ncorporate and ceebrate a wde range o uses and users,
s centra. nca zonng, where and uses are separated and segregated,
needs to be avoded. Attenton must be drected to creatng paces and
spaces that are dverse and dynamc, ave and exctng. Nany European
ctes teach us that many types o actvtes, many types o peope, and
many types o budngs, can happy coexst. vhe we neednt drecty
mtate other modes o cty budng, we certany shoud consder modes
o successu urban desgn and be wng to empoy the genus noted ear-
er to poneer and ensure wonderu envronments or agary.
Baance s an essenta part o the equaton. Rather than ang back nto
postons that are poarzng back and whte wth no shades o gray we
need to expore the rchness o possbtes beore us. lor exampe, we
need to avod the no growth versus unbrded growth debate. lnstead,
we need to converse, dscuss and consder how we progress to maxmum
benet. Ths key means some verson o smart growth where urban
edge deveopment and nner cty ntenscaton are both possbe and
o SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
necessary. tes are ntensey compex enttes ther heavy ntercon-
nected parts demand systems thnkng and cybernetca approaches. lrag-
mentaton too oten compcates our journey. Bureaucratzaton puts
barrers on our path.
Tbetans reer to our desre to cut through uson and dspe deuson. To
acheve these ends they depoy a doube-edged sword one edge s ws-
dom and the other compasson. lor agary to mprove ts record, to
become a better cty, to be more sustanabe and exempy a cv socety,
we must coupe wsdom wth compasson. lt s not an easy task to sht a
cuture, to change a communty, to make a derence. ve need to
empoy potent methods. ve need to conduct good research. ve need to
nk evdence to decson makng. ve need to have knowedge shape po-
cy. ve need to connect art and scence. ve need to coupe head and
heart. ve need to consder the range o stakehoders, ther needs and
ther aspratons. ve need to rase awareness, bud exctement, secure
resources, and garner commtments. ve need to educate our ctzens
about the envronment. ve need to teach our chdren the vaue o
desgn. ve need to nst n agarans an apprecaton or and expecta-
ton o exceent ndustra, nteror, archtectura, urban and envronmen-
ta desgn. ve need to enst communtes, empower ndvduas, and
evoke change. ve need to am hgh and commt ourseves to the cha-
enges at hand. ve need to open our eyes and our mnds. ve need to act
responsvey and responsby. agary has remarkabe potenta and out-
standng promse. A brght uture beckons. Buckmnster luer empha-
szed that The best way to predct the uture s to desgn t.
Community Indicators
This section contains the following indicators
Crime Rate & Rate of Victimization
Leisure Activity
Membership in Community Associations
Number of and Attendance at Public Festivals
Sense of Community
Valuing Cultural Diversity
Volunteerism
Highlights
Between +,,8 and oo, person
crme rates decned . percent,
whe property crme rates decned
+. percent.
ln oo, o percent o agarans
were physcay actve enough durng
ther esure tme to experence heath
benets.
ln oo, an estmated +, percent o
agary househods were members o
ther communty assocatons, sghty
more than n +,,,. O a members,
approxmatey ;; percent were regs-
tered n communty programs.
ln oo, approxmatey (,,ooo peo-
pe attended ten major cty estvas.
Snce oo+ severa new estvas have
emerged n the cty, ncudng Goba
lest, Asan Hertage Nonth, and the
agary Roots and Bues lestva.
ln ooo, approxmatey , percent o
Abertans vounteered, each contrb-
utng an average o +, hours. These
numbers have not changed sgn-
canty snce +,,;.
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Property Crime Rate
Person Crime Rate
2002 2001 2000 1999
Person & Property Crime Rate
Rate
per
100,000
people
Crime Rate & Rate of Victimization
SUSTAINABILITY TREND
The Facts
ln oo, the estmated person crme
rate per +oo,ooo peope n agary
was ,o. The estmated property
crme rate was ,,o. Both o these
numbers are ower than those or
recent years.
Definitions
These statstcs were drawn rom the
agary Poce Servce Annua Stats-
tca Report: Person 8 Property
rmes +,,8-oo and the oo a-
gary Poce Servce tzen Survey.
Person crme ncudes: attempted
and commtted homcde, street,
nanca, and commerca robbery,
sex oences, assaut, kdnappng,
extorton, and harassment. Property
crme ncudes: break and enter,
thet, and raud.
Trends
Person and property crme rates n
agary have both been decreasng
snce the eary +,,os, wth a rea-
tvey rapd decne n more recent
years. Between +,,8 and oo, per-
son crme rates decned . percent,
whe property crme rates decned
+. percent. Rates o robberes,
break and enters, and vehce thets,
as we as the tota number o
assauts n the cty, have dropped
snce +,,8, whe raud and drug
oences have both ncreased.
Snce +,,8, the rst year that rates o
domestc voence were documented,
the tota number o reported nc-
dences has decned amost ( percent.
However, because domestc voence
s notorousy under-reported, these
statstcs may underestmate the
amount o domestc voence n a-
gary.
On a per capta bass, rates o crm-
na charges aganst youth decned
between +,,; and oo+. Athough
the rate s ang, agary has hgher
rates o youth-reated crme than
many other anadan ctes, ncudng
Vancouver, Toronto, and Nontrea.
The tota amount o schoo crme has
decreased sghty snce t was rst
recorded n +,,;.
agarans opnons about saety
have become more postve over the
past sx years. Accordng to the oo
agary Poce Servce tzen Survey,
the percentage o agarans who
beeve crme s ncreasng n ther
neghbourhoods has decned ( per-
cent snce +,,;. The survey aso
reports that there has been a ( per-
cent reducton n respondents who
ee very unsae wakng aone ater
dark on agary streets and a per-
cent ncrease n those who ee very
sae.
Importance
A sense o saety s a key component
o a sustanabe communty. rme
drecty decreases the quaty o e
o vctms through nanca oss,
physca njury, emotona trauma,
and aenaton. The repercussons o a
crme spread beyond the mmedate
vctm, parents, chdren, rends, co-
workers, wtnesses, and the commu-
nty aso suer ater a crme has
occurred. lear o crme can ead peo-
pe to stay behnd ocked doors and
resst steppng out nto the commu-
nty, whether to take a wak or to
partcpate n communty e.
Linkages
rme costs mons o doars each
year and thereore aects the com-
muntys economc deveopment. ln
areas hard ht by crme, housng
prces drop and peope who can
aord t move to other neghbour-
hoods. Busnesses bypass hgh crme
areas.
Budng heathy, carng communtes
s one o the best ways to prevent
crme. Key actors n ths approach
ncude the provson o empoyment
and educatona opportuntes, access
to servces, adequate housng, and
accessbe pay and recreatona ac-
tes. loca gatherng spots ke com-
munty gardens can deter crme by
budng tes between neghbours and
encouragng eengs o communty
ownershp and prde.
Individual & Collective Actions
Support agences and programs
that hep deveop oca crme pre-
venton through soca deveop-
ment strateges, such as the Acton
ommttee Aganst Voence and
the Aberta ommunty rme Pre-
venton Program
Get nvoved n constructve actv-
tes or youth.
Get to know your neghbours and
other communty members.
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Leisure Activity
The Facts
ln oo, o percent o agarans
were physcay actve enough dur-
ng ther esure tme to experence
heath benets. Ths actvty eve s
sghty ower than n +,,,. lncreas-
ngy, agarans use the ctys path-
way system or exercse or
recreaton. Abertans have sghty
more tme avaabe or esure actv-
ty than most other anadans.
Definition
lnormaton about physca actvty
eves n agary was derved rom
the oo Aberta Survey on Physca
Actvty. Statstcs about the usage o
agarys pathways came rom the
ty o agarys oo Pathwatch sur-
vey. Accordng to the Aberta entre
or Actve lvng, anadans shoud
burn at east ,ooo kocaores o
energy each week through exercse
to reduce the rsk o heart dsease.
Trend
Based on resuts rom the oo
Aberta Survey on Physca Actvty
competed by the enter or Actve
lvng, agarans are sghty ess
actve than they were n +,,,. Phys-
ca actvty eves have decned by
percent, wth around o percent o
the popuaton burnng at east ,ooo
kca o energy each week through
exercse. Despte ths decne, agar-
ans reman more actve than most
other Abertans and are more key
to state that they can easy nd
paces to exercse.
Data rom the oo Pathwatch sur-
vey ndcate that more and more a-
garans are spendng ther esure
tme on the ctys pathway system.
The overa average houry use o the
pathways has ncreased by (. per-
cent snce the rst Pathwatch survey
n +,,(. Nost pathway users wak
((.(), cyce (;.,), run (++.),
and nne skate (.). The most
common reason or usng the path-
ways s exercse ((), oowed by
recreaton (;) and commutng
(+8).
Accordng to a oo( po by leger
Narketng, the average Abertan
works ,. hours a week, just under
the natona average o (o. hours.
Ony resdents o Ouebec work ewer
hours, at 8. hours per week. O a
the provnces, Abertans spend the
east amount o tme watchng teev-
son and surng the lnternet durng
ther esure tme (an average o +o.
hours and hours per week, respec-
tvey). They spend on average ++.;
hours per week wth rends or dong
amy actvtes, a rate just under the
natona average o + hours.
The oo+ anadan Nenta Heath
survey ound that + percent o ana-
dans consder work to be a moderate
or major source o stress. A oo(
ONPAS survey reports that 8o per-
cent o anadans reported that work
and proessona responsbtes take
away rom persona and amy tme.
ln oo+ the anadan Pocy Research
Network ound that, compared to
+,,+, anadans experenced hgher
eves o work-reated depresson and
stress. vorkpace stress nduces
empoyees to work onger hours,
take work home, vst the doctor
more requenty, and take more sck
days. Stress-reated absences cost
anadan empoyers ;. bon each
year.
Importance
lesure tme heps to create heathy,
baanced ndvduas and commun-
tes. Physca actvty, the reducton
o stress eves, and the pursut o
hobbes promote physca, menta,
and emotona we-beng. Peope
who ead rch, actve ves n ther e-
sure tme oten brng postve, pro-
ductve energy to a other aspects o
ther ves. At the communty eve,
esure actvty can hep to oster
soca support networks and carng,
vbrant communtes.
Linkages
lesure actvtes can be nked to
ecoogca ndcators. lor exampe,
accordng to the ooo Aberta Recre-
atona survey, brdwatchng s one o
the astest growng actvtes n a-
gary. Peope who use agarys parks
or actvtes ke brdwatchng are
more key to vaue natura spaces
than those who do not. Some esure
actvtes are hghy resource nten-
sve, such as motorzed sports, down-
h skng, and go. vhe esure s
an essenta part o a we-baanced
e, the most sustanabe esure
actvtes co-exst wth natura env-
ronments.
Accordng to the Aberta entre or
Actve lvng survey, ncome s an
mportant determnant o physca
actvty. Abertans wth annua
ncomes arger than ;+oo,ooo report
hgher eves o esure-tme physca
actvty than those earnng ess than
;,,ooo. Unortunatey, ths dspar-
ty n physca actvty eves can ead
to a dsproportonate number o peo-
pe rom ower ncome brackets hav-
ng heath-reated concerns such as
obesty, dabetes, and heart dsease.
Take up a new hobby.
Accumuate +o,ooo steps n tota
throughout the day.
Take advantage o agarys exten-
sve (~ookm) pathway system.
To reduce stress, bank tme-o n
eu o overtme pay.
( SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
Membership in Community Associations
The Facts
ln oo, an estmated +, percent o
agary househods were members o
ther communty assocatons,
sghty more than n +,,,. O a
members, approxmatey ;; percent
were regstered n communty pro-
grams. Aso n oo, n a survey o
seven agary neghbourhoods,
approxmatey + o respondents
stated that they st on a board or a
commttee n ther neghbourhood.
Definition
Nembershp normaton was gath-
ered through a Sustanabe agary
survey o agarys communty asso-
catons. ommunty assocatons
were contacted by teephone, ema,
and ax, and o the +o communty
assocatons surveyed, (o)
responded. Statstcs about board and
commttee partcpaton were
derved rom a ty o agary
research ntatve nvestgatng the
sense o communty n the cty.
Trend
ln the oo+ State o Our ty Report,
our survey o + communty assoca-
tons (+( o agarys communty
assocatons) ound that + percent
o agarans were members o a
communty assocaton n +,,,.
Nembershp rates have cmbed
sghty between +,,, and oo,
athough the sma sampe szes n
each survey mean that t s dcut
to make a concusve statement
about the magntude o ths ncrease.
O the communty assocatons that
answered the oo survey, +o per-
cent more respondents had exper-
enced an ncrease n membershp
over the past three years than those
who had experenced stabe member-
shp numbers or a decne n member-
shp. Those experencng ncreases n
membershp were generay new,
growng communtes, whe those
acng decnng numbers were oten
oder communtes or communtes
wth mted access to nanca and
other resources.
Importance
Partcpaton n the soca and cu-
tura e o a communty s a neces-
sary ngredent or sustanabty. ln
agary one measure o such partc-
paton s membershp n communty
assocatons. agary s unque n the
status and responsbty aorded to
communty assocatons n arge part
because o ther proactve hstory.
Partcpaton can enhance the amen-
tes avaabe n a communty, ncud-
ng recreatona actes, schoos,
and meetng spaces.
Linkages
ommunty-eve sustanabty
depends upon a strong sense o com-
munty that ncudes ngredents such
as soca support, neghbourness,
cooperaton, shared vsons, and
trust. Our survey ndcates that many
househods jon ther communty
assocaton to take advantage o
sports and recreatona opportuntes
or themseves and ther ames.
These actvtes can pay a roe n cre-
atng a eve o amarty wth
neghbours and budng a sense o
communty. ommunty assocatons
aso gve resdents the opportunty to
mprove oca neghbourhoods
through vounteer nvovement on
envronment, transportaton, and
pannng commttees.
Such partcpaton actates a am-
arty wth neghbours and contrb-
utes to the creaton o soca capta
the sum o our reatonshps that
hep us dream together and pan,
coordnate, and carry out actvtes to
acheve our goas. Every rendy nod,
heo, or chat on the street corner
buds soca capta.
A eeng o beongng to a commu-
nty deveops over tme. Surveys
have shown that o percent o a-
garans have moved sx or more tmes
n ten years. Ths eve o transence
may nhbt a persons partcpaton n
communty e.
Heath anada notes that peope
wth stronger support networks and
soca contacts experence ess heart
dsease and have ower premature
death rates. lndvduas who have a
support network and a sense o com-
munty are aso more key to partc-
pate n communty e. Addtonay,
a strong sense o communty s se-
perpetuatng. Postve nteractons
ncrease opportuntes or soca, cu-
tura, and economc benets, whch
n turn renorce ones sense o com-
munty.
Become an actve member o your
communty assocaton.
Get nvoved n communty recre-
aton and esure actvtes.
heck out the lederaton o
agary ommuntes webste:
www.cagarycommuntes.com.
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Number of and Attendance at Public Festivals
The Facts
ln oo, approxmatey (,,ooo peo-
pe attended ten major cty estvas.
Snce oo+, severa new estvas have
emerged n the cty, ncudng Goba
agary Roots and Bues lestva.
Definition
Attendance normaton was
obtaned or ten major estvas n
agary through each estvas oce
or webste. The estvas ncuded a-
gary lok Nusc lestva, agary
lnternatona hdrens lestva, a-
gary lnternatona lm lestva, a-
gary lnternatona Jazz lestva,
agary vnterest, arest,
Enbrdge payRtes lestva, lac les-
tva, One Yeow Rabbt Hgh Peror-
mance Rodeo, Shakespeare n the
Park, and vordlest. lnormaton
about new estvas n the cty came
rom agary Toursm and a revew o
onne estva postngs.
Trend
ln oo attendance at many o a-
garys estvas was hgher than n
ooo, wth sgncant jumps n
attendance at the agary lnterna-
tona lm lest ((oo) and vord-
lest (). lor the ew estvas that
experenced decnes n attendance,
weather, new venues, or competng
attractons ke major sports events
were the cause.
Aongsde rsng estva partcpa-
ton, the number o estvas n a-
gary contnues to grow, wth Goba
agary Roots and Bues lestva
among the most popuar o the
newer estvas. Other oca estvas
such as the agary lnternatona
lm lestva, the lac lestva, and
lunny lest, have made sgncant
contrbutons to agarys arts and
cutura envronment n recent years.
O mportant note s the overa
ncrease n mutcutura events n
the cty such as Goba lest and Asan
Hertage Nonth. The emergence o
such estvas suggests that agarys
estva scene s ncreasngy reect-
ng ts cuturay dverse popuaton.
vhe the ncreasng numbers o es-
tvas and estva attendance n a-
gary s encouragng, o equa
mportance s the growng number o
estvas that are ree or oer ree
events. lestvas ke the lac lest
and vnterest enabe a agarans
to partcpate, regardess o ncome.
Importance
Arts and cutura deveopment s
drecty nked to the sustanabty o
a communty. Support or ths type
o deveopment gves ctzens o a
ages and backgrounds the opportu-
nty to deveop ther magnaton,
creatvty, and awareness. These
opportuntes make a communty
more vbrant and attractve. Arts and
cutura experences oten aord a
new outook to those who take part,
whether as partcpant, spectator, or
vounteer.
Beyond a certan eve o matera
we-beng, quaty o e and happ-
ness are ess key to be nked to
hgher ncome but rather to ntang-
bes such as the enjoyment derved
rom creatng and partcpatng n the
arts. A sustanabe communty paces
great vaue on the mportance o the
arts or ndng and expressng mean-
ng n our day ves.
Linkages
lestvas are nked to a greater sense
o communty. Accordng to Aberta
ommunty Deveopment, oca est-
vas and speca events can ncrease
toursm, generate revenue, deveop
recreaton opportuntes or vstors,
and deveop a postve communty
mage. These events aso encourage
agarans to vounteer. The agary
lok lestva, or exampe, rees on
over ,oo vounteers.
On the other hand, ower ncome
ames and ndvduas oten nd
that estvas and other arts and cu-
tura events are out o reach econom-
cay. l ths becomes a common
phenomenon, the u potenta o
the events as postve contrbutors to
the communty w not be reazed.
At the provnca eve, cutura
events and estvas are an mportant
part o Abertas prosperty. The
Aberta loundaton or the Arts
states that Abertas economy sgn-
canty benets rom the work o art-
sts and arts organzatons not ony
through expendtures and tax reve-
nue, but aso through export and
toursm doars. The compettve
advantage o Aberta s ncreased by
the arts, whch can be used to market
the provnce and make t more
attractve or nvestors.
Arts and cutura events are unque n
ther abty to promote toerance
and apprecaton o dversty. vhen a
communty supports a strong contn-
gent o artsts, there are mutpe
benets. Artsts contrbute to e-
ong earnng opportuntes (e.g.,
puppet-makng workshops, musc es-
sons) and to the arts n our schoo
system.
vatch or and attend oca peror-
mances, estvas, and exhbtons.
Become a vounteer at your avou-
rte estva.
Support oca artsts, arts organza-
tons, events, and unders.
Hep deveop gudenes or env-
ronment-rendy and socay
ncusve event pannng.
Sense of Community
The Facts
ln oo+ and oo agarys Sense o
ommunty Partners (agary Heath
Regon, ty o agary, Sustanabe
agary, The agary loundaton, and
Unted vay o agary and Area,)
surveyed agarans about ther sense
o communty (SO) usng a set o +8
statements. ln oo+, agary as a
whoe expressed an average SO
score o ;. on a scae o o-+oo,
where +oo s the best possbe score.
ln oo, ;o respondents rom seven
derent agary neghbourhoods
expressed an average SO score o
;..
Definition
Sense o communty s dened as the
sense o beongng, eowshp, we-
ness, or dentty experenced n the
context o a group or neghbour-
hood. vhe t s chaengng to mea-
sure, the +8 statements used n the
oo+ and oo surveys create a re-
abe ndex that reects SO. By
exporng ssues such as ctzens
experences wth neghbourhood vo-
unteersm, eengs o saety, and
sense o beongng, the ndex s a too
that heps gauge the eectveness o
communty programs, seect commu-
ntes n whch to mpement commu-
nty deveopment eorts, compare
the eves o SO between ctes, and
assess the soca eects o controver-
sa deveopment projects.
Trend
Over the past our years, much
progress has been made n agary n
denng and measurng SO. lnt-
ated by the oo+ State o Our ty
Report, whch caed or the creaton
o a more drect measure o SO, a
workng group ormed to expore a-
garys SO and suggest ways that t
coud be mproved
Neasurng SO s a dcut task as
no one statstc captures t n ts
entrety. vhe the oo+ and oo
SO surveys serve as a benchmark or
uture comparsons, they cannot be
compared wth one another snce the
oo+ survey expored SO at a cty-
wde eve and the oo survey
ocused on the phenomenon at the
neghbourhood eve. vhe the nd-
vdua surveys suggest that agar-
ans have a reatvey hgh SO, ony
ater urther appcaton o the too
and comparson o derent negh-
bourhoods and ctes can the SO n
the cty be accuratey measured.
One mportant ndng that arose
rom the seven neghbourhood-eve
surveys s that SO vares consder-
aby n agary, dependng on the
neghbourhood. vth some negh-
bourhoods enjoyng sgncanty
hgher SO than others, these sur-
veys suggest that ctzens shoud be
engaged at the oca, neghbourhood
eve to mprove agarys SO as a
whoe.
Importance
An ncreased SO makes agary a
better pace to ve and work. Nost
peope understand SO ntutvey.
Yet t s a compex dea, composed o
severa eements a eeng o
beongng or membershp, havng
nuence on your communty, beng
abe to meet most o your needs
through your communty, and beng
emotonay connected wth and
commtted to your communty. ve
recognze t n neghboury and
rendy actons ke wavng, chattng,
vstng, and borrowng and endng
tems, and assstance. These types o
nteractons oten hep us ee at
home n our neghbourhoods and
rooted wthn the arger cty.
Linkages
SO has both communty and nd-
vdua benets nked to many
spheres o e. Studes show that a
strong SO s reated to greater ee-
ngs o saety and securty and
ncreased eves o votng, recycng,
hepng others, and vounteerng.
lndvduas wth hgher SO are
shown to be happer and ess worred,
and have a greater sense o compe-
tence. A strong SO s aso reated to
ower menta ness and sucde rates,
ess chd abuse, hgher quaty o
chd rearng, physca mprovements
n neghbourhoods, reduced crme,
and greater hardness among nd-
vduas. vhe t cannot be stated
that havng a hgh SO aways resuts
n these outcomes, there appears to
be a nk between SO and ndvdua
and communty we-beng.
Beyond ths, studes have shown that
SO can have a sgncant nuence
on the reatve success o economc
deveopment eorts. Strong, con-
nected communtes are more abe to
keep money crcuatng n the com-
munty, n eect puggng the eaks
n the oca economy. Transportaton
s aso nked wth SO. A good tran-
st system can actate mobty,
especay or youth, the dsabed, and
the edery, aowng peope to partc-
pate n communty e more uy,
and pedestran-rendy streets nvte
more soca nteracton.
Get to know your neghbours. Try
organzng an annua bock party.
Vounteer wth agences that assst
those who are soated.
Jon communty and schoo organ-
zatons.
Enhance your own support system.
heck out the agary Sense o
ommunty webste at:
www.cagary.ca/cs
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Valuing Cultural Diversity
The Facts
ln oo(, o postons wthn a
seecton o agarys most nuenta
boards, councs, eected bodes, and
meda, + percent were hed by
women, ,.+ percent by vsbe mnor-
tes, and o., percent by Aborgna
peope. These groups make up o, +,,
and . percent, respectvey, o a-
garys popuaton.
Definition
anadas Empoyment Equty Act
denes vsbe mnortes as peope
other than Aborgnas who are non-
aucasan n race or non-whte, and
Aborgnas as persons who are lnd-
ans, lnut, or Nets. The corporate
boards o drectors examned or the
ndcator ncude ve o the top pr-
vate sector empoyers wth head
oces n agary (Petro-anada,
Enana, ATO, Nova hemcas, and
Transanada). The ve boards o
drectors n the non-prot sector
ncude the agary loundaton, a-
gary Unted vay, Vounteer agary,
the Epcor entre or the Perormng
Arts, and the agary lnter-lath
lood Bank. Eected ocas n the
survey ncude the oo( agary Pub-
c Schoo Board, Adermen, provn-
ca NlAs, and edera NPs. The
meda survey ncudes the supper-
hour news anchors or each oca
teevson staton, rado mornng
show anchors or the top ve rated
rado statons, and membershp on
the edtora boards o agarys two
eadng daes. Demographc nor-
maton was derved rom the oo+
anadan ensus.
Trend
Snce ths ndcator was ast exam-
ned n oo+, some nuenta bodes
have become more representatve o
agarys dverse popuaton, whe
others have become ess so. Reatve
to oo+, o percent more women
now hod postons on the boards o
major corporatons. However, repre-
sentaton by women n government
has aen by + percent and on the
boards o non-prots by +; percent.
The proporton o hgh proe meda
postons hed by women has
remaned stabe snce oo+, at (o
percent.
ompared to oo+, the number o
peope beongng to vsbe mnortes
on non-prot boards has more than
doubed, and the number ng hgh
proe postons n the meda has
more than trped. However, ( per-
cent ewer hgh-proe government
postons beong to peope rom vs-
be mnortes, and the boards o the
surveyed corporatons contnue to
have no representaton rom vsbe
mnortes.
Aborgna representaton n agarys
major boards and organzatons con-
tnues to be very ow reatve to rep-
resentaton n the tota popuaton.
Aborgna peope hed .( percent o
non-prot board postons and have
no other representaton among the
surveyed corporate, meda, or gov-
ernment postons.
A comparson o the proporton o
vsbe mnortes, Aborgna peope,
and women hodng eadershp pos-
tons to the tota popuatons o
these groups suggests that agary
st has ar to go n ensurng equa
representaton o ts ctzens. ln none
o the sectors studed does represen-
taton match the demographc reaty
o agarys dverse popuaton. O a
the groups surveyed, corporatons
have the owest overa cutura
dversty and gender baance.
Importance
The rchness o communty e s
cosey reated to the dversty o ts
consttuents. Our vaung o cutura
dversty reects the extent to whch
we, as a cty, benet rom the dver-
sty that surrounds us. As dversty
ncreases, so does the breadth o our
coectve experence and creatvty,
as we as the quaty o potca
debate.
As the ourth most common urban
center or mmgraton n anada,
agary s strengthened by the dver-
sty o ts ctzens. Beyond ethnc
dversty, respect and acceptance o
other derences (or exampe, sex-
ua orentaton or physca or menta
abty) s an mportant mark o a
mature socety and s nherent to a
sustanabe socety.
Linkages
utura dversty can enrch our cty
n many ways. lor exampe, a dver-
sty o cutura groups brngs nvest-
ment, busness, empoyment, new art
orms, restaurants, and unque sks
and taents. Our dversty creates an
exctng and cosmopotan cuture n
agary.
Speak out when you see dscrm-
naton happenng n your commu-
nty or workpace.
Nake an eort to meet someone
rom a background that you mght
not otherwse encounter and be
open to a dversty o deas and
perspectves.
Representation in Leadership Positions
Sector # of positions % Women % Visible Minority % Aboriginal
oo+ oo( oo+ oo( oo+ oo( oo+ oo(
Non-Prot 8 8 (.o 8.o ;.o +.o .( .(
Government (, + .o ,.o +(.o 8.o o.o o.o
Neda o (o.o (o.o . ++.o o.o o.o
orporate , +o.o +.o o.o o.o o.o o.o
Totas o (.o +.o ., ,.+ o., o.,
Volunteerism
The Facts
ln ooo, approxmatey (; percent o
agarans vounteered, representng
an ncrease o more than ; percent
snce +,,;. agary has the hghest
vounteer rate n anada.
Definition
These data are derved rom the
ooo Natona Survey o Gvng, Vo-
unteerng and Partcpaton con-
ducted by the anadan entre or
Phanthropy. Ths ndcator mea-
sures the rate o orma vounteersm
among agarans + years and oder.
lorma vounteersm can be dened
as ntentona, organzed partcpa-
ton n a vounteer or chartabe
actvty. ln contrast, norma voun-
teersm occurs at a more spontane-
ous eve, when peope casuay assst
rends, neghbors, and amy mem-
bers outsde o ther househod.
Trend
Ths survey was ast conducted n
+,,;, when an estmated ; percent
o agarans vounteered. vth vo-
unteersm rsng +o percentage ponts
between +,,; and ooo, agary now
has the hghest vounteer rate n the
country. agary s aso one o ony
two anadan muncpates to expe-
rence an ncrease n vounteersm
snce +,,;.
Accordng to a oo teephone sur-
vey commssoned by Vounteer a-
gary, 8; percent o respondents sad
they have vounteered at some pont
n ther e, and percent are cur-
renty engaged n vounteer work,
suggestng that rates o vounteer-
ng n agary coud be even hgher
than those estmated by the ana-
dan entre or Phanthropy.
Importance
The sprt o vounteersm s a den-
ng characterstc o agary. lt nd-
cates the sense o beongng peope
have n ther communty, the respon-
sbty they accept or t, and the care
they aord t. Vounteers are the e-
bood o many organzatons and pro-
grams. vthout vounteers, many
mportant ntatves, rom Bock
vatch to teracy programs n
schoos, woud strugge to survve.
The actua eectveness o work
accompshed by vounteers s o top
quaty because t most oten comes
rom a pace o carng and concern.
On a persona eve, vounteersm
oers ndvduas the opportunty to
gan a sense o satsacton based on
makng a contrbuton to a cause or
to ther communty. lt s aso an
exceent way to make new rends,
network, earn, and gan new sks.
Linkages
Vounteersm has been recognzed as
a sgncant contrbutor to our soca
capta. Unortunatey t s not cap-
tured n oca economc statstcs.
Vounteer actvty s oten the cata-
yst or actvtes that contrbute to
the ecoogca sustanabty o our
communty, such as habtat protec-
ton programs. Nost cty estvas
rey heavy on vounteers, as do
many eong earnng programs and
ood banks. Our schoo system s aso
enrched by the contrbuton o par-
ents on a vounteer bass.
Nany ndvduas vounteer to earn a
sk that w hep them nd a career
and ncrease ther contrbuton to the
orma economy. Vounteer actvty
provdes opportuntes or exposure
to the dversty o our communty
and thus contrbutes to the sense o
toerance wthn the communty.
On a cautonary note, as educaton,
heath, and soca servces are wth-
drawn by government, vounteer ev-
es may rse to the gaps. Vounteer
actvty may aso mask a stuaton
where vauabe work n our commu-
nty s not beng recognzed as mpor-
tant enough to be pad, and
unempoyed or underempoyed nd-
vduas are expected to gve o ther
tme reey.
Vounteer your tme.
Support the adopton o economc
measures such as the Genune
Progress lndcator that actor vo-
unteer work nto assessments o
our economc we-beng.
heck the Vounteer agary
webste at
www.vounteercagary.ab.ca
Economic Indicators
Economic Diversification Oil and Gas Reliance
Food Bank Usage
Hours Required to Meet Basic Needs at Minimum Wage
Housing Affordability
Income Equity: Gap between Rich and Poor
Unemployment Rate
Highlights
ln oo+, agarys o and gas sector
contrbuted approxmatey ; percent
o the ctys empoyment, percent
o the ctys GDP, and percent o
the ctys net exports.
ln oo, the agary lnter-lath lood
Bank Socety (llB) gave out +,8o
hampers to +o,;,; cents and pro-
vded ;. mon n ood to over +o
cty chartes and non-prot agences.
To meet basc needs at mnmum
wage n Aberta n oo, a snge a-
garan had to work ;+ hours per week
and a two-person amy had to work
( hours each per week.
At ;.,o per hour, Aberta has the
owest mnmum wage n anada.
ln oo, the average unempoyment
rate n agary was .( percent, and t
has remaned under percent snce
+,,;.
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
2001 2000 99 98 97 96 95 94 93 92 91 1990
Calgary Reliance on the Oil and Gas Industry
R
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0.5
Economic Diversification Oil and Gas Reliance
The Facts
ln oo+, agarys o and gas sector
contrbuted approxmatey ; percent
o the ctys empoyment, percent
o the ctys GDP, and percent o
the ctys net exports, or a reance
ndex o o. (+.oo beng tota re-
ance). ompared wth prevous years
ths number s down, ndcatng ess
reance on the o and gas ndustry.
Definition
Ths ndcator s derved by determn-
ng the o and gas ndustrys nu-
ence on three areas o agarys
economy: empoyment (the oner-
ence Board o anada Netropotan
Outook Report, vnter oo), con-
trbuton to GDP (the onerence
Board o anada), and net exports
(anadan Assocaton o Petroeum
Producers). These three vaues are
reected as percentages, taed, and
dvded by oo percent.
Trend
agarys economy appears to be
becomng ess dependent on the o
and gas ndustry. A sgncant decne
n reance has occurred snce the ate
+,8os, when a arge proporton o
agarys empoyment, GDP, and
exports were ted to the ndustry.
Reance on the o and gas ndustry
has contnued to decne n more
recent years. Between +,,, and oo+,
the reance ndex decreased by o.o.
Though the nuence o the ndustry
on agarys empoyment and GDP
actuay ncreased durng ths perod,
greater dverscaton n net exports
brought the ndex as a whoe beow
+,,, eves. ln partcuar, exports
ncreased n the manuacturng sec-
tor, wth vaues rsng to ; bon n
ooo. Other ndustra sectors, such
as whoesae, reta trade, and non-
commerca servces ke toursm and
educaton, have mantaned a gradua
growth rate and strong empoyment
rate over the past ew years and
account or some o the dversca-
ton away rom o and gas.
Athough ts nuence appears to be
decnng, the o and gas ndustry
contnues to comprse a substanta
part o agarys economy and can
mpact our ctys economy n ways
not measured by the economc dver-
scaton cacuaton. lor exampe,
reated ndustres ke engneerng,
exporaton, drng, and ppene
companes are not ncuded n the
economc dverscaton cacuaton
but, together wth the o and gas
ndustry, account or 8., percent o
agarys empoyment.
Importance
A sustanabe communty vaues eco-
nomc dversty just as t vaues cu-
tura and ecoogca dversty. A
dverse economy that does not rey
on a snge resource, empoyer, or
sector s better abe to wthstand eco-
nomc downturns and uctuatng
market prces and can provde a sta-
be envronment or ong-term com-
munty sustanabty.
Linkages
Our sense o communty s nked to
busness dverscaton. Boom-and-
bust economes tend to promote
more transence, makng t dcut
or peope to put down strong roots.
Ths type o economy aso tends to
have a negatve eect on equty, as
weath becomes more concentrated
durng the boom perods, whe bust
perods are assocated wth ncreased
crme rates and homeessness. ln a
boom-and-bust economy t s espe-
cay mportant to mantan strong
economc stabzers or the bust
tmes, ncudng unempoyment
nsurance and a progressve taxaton
system.
Support poces that strengthen
the dverscaton o the oca and
regona economes.
Support oca and sma busnesses.
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Food Bank Usage
N
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0
0
s
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
# of Recipients
# of Hampers
2003 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95 1994
Food Bank Usage
The Facts
ln oo, the agary lnter-lath lood
Bank Socety (llB) gave out +,8o
hampers to +o,;,; cents and pro-
vded ;. mon n ood to over +o
cty chartes and non-prot agences.
llB receved 8,; kg o donated
ood n oo/oo. lood bank usage
s ncreasng, though at a sower rate
n recent years.
Definition
llB s a crss acty that provdes
ood rom nne depots to agarans
n tmes o nanca troube. lndvd-
uas and ames can receve three
hampers per year through se-reer-
ra and up to three more when they
are reerred by an agency or organ-
zaton where they are partcpatng
n programs or servces.
The llB has been trackng ts dstr-
buton o ood snce +,,. The num-
ber o recpents measured n ths
ndcator ncudes peope who make
mutpe vsts.
Trend
lood bank usage has cmbed steady
snce ood banks rst appeared n a-
gary n the eary +,8os, athough the
ncrease n usage has sowed n
recent years. lt s too eary to deter-
mne whether ths sowed ncrease s
a short-term phenomenon or w
contnue nto the uture. Usage, mea-
sured by the number o hampers ds-
trbuted, ncreased by + percent
rom +,,( to +,,, by +( percent
between +,,; and +,,,, and by ; per-
cent between ooo and oo.
Between +,,, and oo, the llB
experenced a ncrease n new
centee, wth +;,8 new vstors
requrng ood n oo. Durng ths
tme, whe the proporton o ood
bank users who are chdren e rom
( to (+ percent, there was st a net
ncrease o ,8o chdren usng llB
servces. lnay, a arge proporton o
those dependng on ood banks are
wage-earners, comprsng 8 percent
o a ood bank users n oo.
llBs pocy o requrng cents who
need more than three hampers n a
+-month perod to obtan a reerra
rom a thrd-party agency has ony
recenty been ntroduced and
expans some o the drop n ood
bank demand n recent years.
Through ths change, llB hopes to
ensure that ts cents are recevng
hep rom approprate agences to
address ther reason or usng the
ood bank.
The anadan Assocaton o lood
Banks reports that on a natona
scae, Aberta has the second owest
rate o per capta ood bank usage, at
just over +. percent o the popua-
ton. ln comparson, approxmatey
percent o peope rom Newound-
and, . percent rom Ontaro, and +
percent rom the Yukon use ood
banks. St, reatve to other prov-
nces Aberta had the second argest
ncrease n ood bank use between
+,,8 and oo, at . percent.
Importance
lood bank usage ndcates to what
extent we are ung our soceta
responsbty to more vunerabe ct-
zens. Hstorcay, ood banks have
been consdered a temporary phe-
nomenon, dedcated to resovng a
ood dstrbuton crss. Over tme
they have become a xture n our
towns and ctes. Accordng to the
anadan Assocaton o lood Banks,
more than ;o,ooo anadans used a
ood bank n Narch oo aone. lrom
oo to oo ood bank usage rose
. percent across anada. Snge-par-
ent ames, ames reyng on soca
assstance, and o-reserve Aborgna
ames are over-represented among
the hungry.
Linkages
Research ndcates that hunger has
adverse mpacts on the heath o
mothers and chdren and can resut
n mpared physca deveopment
and a ack o readness or schoo. ln
ames who depend on ood bank
support, parents oten have to go
hungry to try to provde or ther
chdren. llB ctes a combnaton o
ow mnmum wages, rgdy con-
troed and nadequate support pay-
ment structures or vunerabe
groups, the hgh cost o pubc trans-
portaton, and the contnung scar-
cty o aordabe housng n agary
as key mpedments to ndependent
vng or many o ther cents.
ln the short term, be generous to
ood banks.
lor ong-term sustanabty, sup-
port poces and programs that
tacke the root causes o poverty.
Hours Required to Meet Basic Needs at Minimum Wage
The Facts
To meet basc needs at mnmum
wage n Aberta n oo, a snge a-
garan had to work ;+ hours per week
and a two-person amy had to work
( hours each per week. These num-
bers have ncreased snce +,,,. At
;.,o per hour, Aberta has the ow-
est mnmum wage n anada.
Definition
Ths ndcator s derved by dvdng
Abertas mnmum wage o ;.,o per
hour nto the beore-tax low lncome
uto (llO) eves estabshed by
Statstcs anada or varous house-
hod szes n ctes o over oo,ooo
peope. A ow-ncome househod s
dened as one that requres at east
(.; percent o ts ncome just or
ood, sheter, and cothng. Add-
tona expenses woud ncude taxes,
transportaton, chdcare, medca/
denta premums and servces, and
persona and househod expenses.
lor ths cacuaton t s assumed that
an average work week s (o hours,
that an ndvdua has two weeks o
vacaton a year, and that she takes a
+ statutory hodays.
Trend
Abertans workng at mnmum wage
have to work onger hours to meet
ther basc needs than resdents n
any other provnce or terrtory. Snce
mnmum wage was ast adjusted n
+,,, rom ;., the llO has rsen
amost ++ percent. ln oo, reatve to
workers n +,,,, a snge agaran
earnng mnmum wage had to work
nne more hours each week, and a
two-person amy had to work a
tota o sx hours more each week,
just to meet ther basc needs. ln
order to make ends meet on a reguar
(o-hour work week, a snge agar-
an n oo woud need to earn
;+o.((/hour. A snge parent wth
two chdren woud need to earn
;+.+/hour.
Hours Required at Minimum Wage
Nunavut provdes anadas hghest
mnmum wage, at ;8.o/hour. vth
the excepton o Aberta, a o the
other provnces and terrtores have
ncreased ther mnmum wages snce
oo+. Amost two-thrds o mnmum
wage workers n anada are aduts.
Approxmatey the same amount are
emae, and neary ha have some
post-secondary educaton. lewer
than one n ve peope earnng mn-
mum wage are young aduts st v-
ng at home.
Importance
Equty s an mportant eement o a
sustanabe communty. Every mem-
ber o the communty shoud have
the opportunty to have meanngu
work or a reasonabe wage. Ade-
quatey remunerated empoyment
can ncrease se-sucency, decrease
reance on soca programs, and, n
the ong term, reduce costs to soc-
ety.
Over the past decade, the ocus on
pubc debt has meant cutbacks at a
eves o government. These cutbacks
have dsproportonatey aected the
soca servce, educaton, and heath
sectors. low-ncome peope rey
most heavy on these servces.
Linkages
long workng hours over an
extended perod o tme can ead to
poor physca and menta heath,
ncudng stress and substance abuse.
long workng hours eave tte tme
or amy, communty, physca t-
ness, eong earnng, vounteer
actvtes, or partcpaton n oca
governance. lor a these reasons,
ncreasng mnmum wage woud
key mprove our overa sense o
communty.
ln ames where parents are work-
ng ong hours or ow wages, nequ-
tes are potentay exacerbated rom
one generaton to the next. Parents
who work ong hours outsde the
home are ess abe to support the
earnng and deveopment o ther
chdren. Ths can have an adverse
eect on the opportuntes o ch-
dren to reach ther u potenta.
As nequty grows n a communty, so
does the rsk o rsng crme. lncreas-
ngy, ow-ncome peope experence
reduced access to heath care and
educatona programs, both o whch
oten have hdden or addtona costs.
low mnmum wage can be a dsn-
centve to work when the ncome s
not enough to cover costs ke trans-
portaton and chdcare.
Support a sgncant rse n the
mnmum wage.
Support a more equtabe tax sys-
tem.
Support the provson o aordabe
housng, chdcare, and other soca
servces or the workng poor.
Family Type Hours of Work
Snge Person ;+ hours
oupe 8 hours
Snge Nom / kds ++o hours
oupe / kds + hours
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Housing Affordability
The Facts
ln oo+, +;. percent o a agary
househods, representng 8,o
homes, spent more than they coud
aord on housng. The oo( agary
homeess count regstered ,,; per-
sons, an ncrease o 8+ peope rom
oo.
Definition
The anada Nortgage and Housng
orporaton states that or housng
to be aordabe, a househod shoud
spend no more than o percent o ts
gross ncome on sheter. Aordabe
housng projects are targeted at
househods earnng percent or ess
o the area medan ncome, whch n
agary transates nto a beore-tax
gross ncome o ;;,+ per year or
ess.
agarys homeess count has been
conducted by the ty o agary
every two years snce +,,. ln oo(,
the count measured the number o
homeess peope vng n actes
and servce agences, as we as on the
street.
Trend
ln oo+, we measured housng
aordabty accordng to the per-
centage o renters wth ncomes su-
cent to purchase a starter home.
ty o agary sta have snce
adopted the measurement o annua
ncome versus ncome spent on she-
ter n order to determne aordabe
housng needs. Though ths measure
provdes a more reevant ndcator o
housng aordabty, t does not cur-
renty aow or drect comparson
wth hstorc data. St, some sgn-
cant trends do emerge rom ths new
data set. vth +;. percent o the
ctys househods spendng more than
o percent o ther gross ncome on
sheter, agarys housng stuaton s
currenty not sustanabe.
The strugge to nd aordabe hous-
ng does not aect a agarans
equay. Renters are more key to
requre aordabe housng than
homeowners (( versus +o,
respectvey). lorty-two percent o
a renter househods wth the pres-
ence o a dsabty and (o percent o
a renter househods wth an Aborg-
na prmary househod mantaner
are overspendng on sheter.
Snce reported n the oo+ State o
Our ty Report, agarys number o
homeess ndvduas has more than
doubed, rom +,+8 n ooo to ,,;
n oo(. Ths ncrease mrrors a gen-
era rse o homeess ndvduas n
the cty snce agarys rst homeess
count n +,,, when ((; peope were
counted, ony one-th o the oo(
count. Homeess numbers rose (
percent between oo and oo(, the
second hghest rate o ncrease snce
the count began.
Nonetheess, these numbers must be
nterpreted wth cauton. Snce the
oo( homeess count ncuded data
rom a greater number o actes
and sheters than was ncuded n pre-
vous counts, the tota number o
homeess peope may be dspropor-
tonatey arge reatve to oo. l
data rom these addtona actes
and sheters had not been ncuded n
the atest homeess count, oo(s
growth rate over oo may have
been ony percent, representng
the sowest rate o growth n home-
essness snce +,,(. However, the
rea number o homeess persons n
agary ncreases n both scenaros.
Number of Homeless People counted
biennial homeless count in Calgary
Importance
vthout the basc human rght o
aordabe sheter, many other sus-
tanabty objectves cannot be
acheved. l ower-ncome ames
spend more than o percent o ther
ncome on sheter, they are ess abe
to aord other basc goods and ser-
vces. vhen heath suers as a resut
o these crcumstances, ctzens ab-
ty to support themseves may be
compromsed at urther economc,
physca, and soca cost to them-
seves, ther ames, and the com-
munty.
Linkages
lack o aordabe housng s nked
to a decrease n sense o communty.
Peope who have nsecure access to
housng and/or who may have to
move requenty are ess abe to nte-
grate nto and contrbute to ther
communtes. Ths aso creates d-
cutes or chdren and youth, and
can aect ther heath and educaton
outcomes.
Ths ndcator s nked to severa
other ndcators o economc sustan-
abty. lood bank usage, unempoy-
ment rate, ncome equty, and the
hours requred to meet basc needs at
mnmum wage are each reated to
housng aordabty. lor peope v-
ng n poverty, acton must be taken
to mprove each o these ndcators n
order to enhance quaty o e.
Take tme to vounteer at a home-
ess sheter to gan a better under-
standng o the stuaton.
Support the mpementaton (not
just pocy makng) o aordabe
housng strateges throughout the
cty, not just n the downtown
core.
Year Homeless
Count
% of Total
Population
+,, ((; o.o
+,,( (+ o.o
+,, + o.o8
+,,8 ,88 o.+
ooo +,, o.+
oo +,; o.+,
oo( ,,; o.8
Income Equity: Gap between Rich and Poor
The Facts
ln ooo, the top +o percent o agar-
ans earned +, tmes the ncome o
the bottom +o percent.
Definition
Ths ndcator s derved usng gures
rom the lederaton o anadan
Nuncpates oo report tted
lang Behnd: Our Growng lncome
Gap, whch depends argey on the
Statstcs anada census conducted n
oo+ and tax er data rom ooo.
lncome ncudes the oowng
sources: empoyment, empoyment
nsurance, soca assstance, and
other government transers.
Trend
agary s a reatvey rch cty n an-
ada. Between +,,o and ooo, the
medan amy ncome n the agary
metropotan area ncreased by .
percent, ater adjustng or naton.
lt s estmated that agary workers
have the hghest average annua
ncome n anada, at amost
;(o,ooo.
Between +,, and ooo, medan
ncome ncreased by a greater rate
or the owest ncome tax ers (bot-
tom +o percent) than or the top +o
percent ncome tax ers +,. per-
cent vs. ++.+ percent, respectvey
thereby narrowng the gap between
the rchest and poorest agarans.
But the numbers show a wde abso-
ute gap ames n the owest +o
had an average ncome o ;+,ooo,
whe ames n the top +o had an
average ncome o ;(8,ooo.
The ncrease n medan ncome n the
ate +,,os counters a trend o prev-
ous decne or the poor. lrom +,,
to +,,, amy ncome or the bot-
tom dece had decreased +o.; per-
cent. The rate o ow ncome n
agary decreased rom +,., percent
n +,, to + percent n +,,,.
ln genera, ncome equty between
rch and poor appears to be ncreas-
ng n agary. A ocus on ncome
equty at the neghbourhood eve s
mportant to ensure that agary
does not become ghettozed. ln
ooo, ; percent o tax ers n a-
garys ower ncome neghbourhoods
were o ow ncome. ln Saskatoon the
gure was (; percent. Ths ndcates
that agarys neghbourhoods have a
greater mx o ncome types. How-
ever, the hghest ncome neghbour-
hood n agary n ooo had . tmes
the medan ncome o the owest
ncome neghbourhood, and peope
who earn ower ncomes are becom-
ng ncreasngy concentrated n the
nner cty. These two trends pont
toward ncome stratcaton by
neghbourhood.
Importance
A communty that s ncreasngy
spt by ncome nequty cannot sus-
tan tse over tme. Poverty breeds
soaton and excuson, wth ess
opportunty or nteracton between
peope o derent ncome eves.
Linkages
The soca and physca mpcatons
o ncome dsparty are proound.
Segregaton, margnazaton, ds-
crmnaton, crme, decreased heath,
and ack o opportuntes or mnor-
tes, the dsabed, recent mmgrants
and snge-parent ames are but a
ew o the deeterous eects o
ncome dsparty.
l agarys neghbourhoods become
more poarzed by ncome stratca-
ton, crme and the deveopment o
ghettos coud ncrease. Poorer com-
muntes nd themseves more key
to be near ndustra stes and pou-
ton sources. As schoo undng s cut
back, ow-ncome communtes nd t
more dcut than rcher commun-
tes to rase suppementa unds or
computers, textbooks, and educa-
tona enhancements. The ess edu-
cated become poorer. And the vcous
crce spras downward.
lncome nequty eads to nequtes n
heath and we-beng. ln a oo+
report rom York Unversty, lnequa-
ty s Bad or Our Hearts, researchers
state that ncome eve s the greatest
predctor o the ncdence o heart
dsease. The physca and psycho-
soca stresses o a ow-ncome exst-
ence damage the cardovascuar sys-
tem and ead to the adopton o
heath-threatenng behavours such
as acoho and tobacco use. l a
anadans were as heart heathy as
the weathest anadans, there
woud be , ewer deaths a year
rom heart dsease. The cost o
ncome-reated derences n heart
dsease among anadans s est-
mated at ;( bon annuay.
Gender nequty s aso evdent n a-
garys ncome patterns. Naes n a-
gary earn on average ;o,ooo more
per year than do emaes.
Another nk s between poverty and
transportaton. The oo+ transt
strke n agary hghghted the m-
ted resource base o agarys poor-
est ctzens, who had no orm o
ndependent transportaton.
Individual and Collective Action
Beware o user ees and at taxes.
Support the reorm o taxaton sys-
tems to ensure that they are not
regressve and do not burden ow-
ncome househods.
Support standard and accessbe
muncpa servces throughout the
cty.
Support rent contro and ncreases
to mnmum wage.
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Unemployment rates for Calgary and Canada
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6
7
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9
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11
12
% Unemployed Canada
% Unemployed Calgary
2004 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95 94 93 92 91 90 89 88 1987
Unemployment Rate
The Facts
ln oo(, the average unempoyment
rate n agary was .o percent, and
has remaned under percent snce
+,,;. On average, there were just
over (,oo agarans ookng or
work. The abour orce partcpaton
rate was ;.+ percent.
Definition
The unempoyment rate measures
the proporton o the popuaton n
the abour orce who are wthout
work. The abour orce represents a
ndvduas over + years od who are
empoyed (part-tme and u-tme
postons) or actvey ookng or
work. These gures are or the a-
gary ensus Netropotan Area and
are coected by Statstcs anada.
Trend
Ths ndcator appears to be movng
n a sustanabe drecton. Snce +,,;,
the unempoyment rate n agary
has remaned under percent. Rea-
tve to other anadan ctes, agary
has a ow unempoyment rate (Tor-
onto, ;. percent, Vancouver, .8 per-
cent). As a provnce, Aberta enjoys
the owest unempoyment rate n
anada (Aberta: (.(, anada: ;),
wth Edmonton aso boastng a ow
unempoyment rate o (.8.
vhe these statstcs are promsng,
they hde two mportant ponts. lrst,
youth between +-( years od have a
harder tme ndng a job. ln oo n
agary, the unempoyment rate was
,.+ percent or ths age group,
whereas t was (. percent and .+
percent or the -( and and over
age groups, respectvey. Secondy,
(., percent o agarys popuaton
over + years od s not n the abour
orce. Ths group ncudes peope
who are dscouraged rom job search-
ng, students who reman n schoo
or ack o ndng work, peope on
job creaton programs, premature
retrees and nvountary part-tme
workers. ln oo+, estmated hdden
unempoyment ncreased the ana-
dan unempoyment rate by (GPl
Atantc Study). lt shoud be noted
that ow unempoyment rates do not
necessary transate nto a heathy
workorce. The agary and Regon
Soco-Economc Outook oo-oo8
ndcated that the proporton o
Abertans workng overtme has
ncreased rom . n +,,8 to
. n oo. Overtme work can
cause stress, other heath probems,
and reduce overa job satsacton.
Importance
The vtaty and productvty o a
socety depends on the work o ts
ctzens. Each ndvdua has the
potenta to contrbute to the better-
ment o socety. ln a sustanabe
communty a peope shoud have
that opportunty.
Nantanng a ow unempoyment
rate aso heps to boost the economc
sustanabty o a cty. Hgh empoy-
ment means better nances, resut-
ng n ower empoyment nsurance
cams and more ncome tax. Nore
revenue n pubc unds enabes more
spendng on heath, educaton, trans-
portaton and other pubc servces.
Linkages
Hgh eves o unempoyment can
dran a cty o ts prosperty. vth
ewer peope earnng wages, ewer
tax doars are avaabe to support
programs or unempoyed ctzens,
whe demand or these programs
ncreases. Servces such as aordabe
housng and ood banks can be over-
oaded n tmes o hgh unempoy-
ment, and the basc heath o
unempoyed ctzens and ther am-
es can suer.
leve o educaton and teracy are
strongy nked to unempoyment
rates, snce most jobs requre a cer-
tan eve o educaton or teracy.
vorkers wth tte educaton or poor
teracy sks are vunerabe to ayo
and dspacement, and once unem-
poyed, they can nd t very dcut
to secure new jobs.
Sometmes structura barrers such as
a ack o transportaton can prevent
peope rom ganng empoyment.
Pubc transt that s convenent,
aordabe, and ecent can hep
peope who do not drve or do not
own a car to become empoyed.
Support ntatves such as job shar-
ng, cooperatves, peer endng
groups, and entrepreneurshp
tranng.
Education Indicators
Adult Literacy
Daycare Worker Salaries and Turnover
Grade Three Achievement Scores
Library Use
Average class size
Highlights
ln oo+, daycare sta n Aberta
worked or an average startng wage
o ;8.,/hour. Ater three years o
empoyment n a daycare, sta
earned an average o ;+o.8/hour,
wth an average maxmum wage over
the onger term o ;+.+o/hour. These
wages have ncreased snce +,,,.
On the oo/oo Provnca Acheve-
ment Tests or language Arts, ,o.
percent o grade three students n
agary acheved the acceptabe stan-
dard as dented by Aberta learn-
ng, and +8. percent acheved
exceence. These achevement eves
exceed the targets set by Aberta
learnng.
ln oo, agarans used the agary
Pubc lbrary (Pl) approxmatey
mon tmes, or ; uses per capta,
representng an ncrease o more
than ve uses per capta snce +,,,.
ln oo/oo(, the average cass sze
n agary schoos was ;. students.
ass szes n agary are arger than
the Aberta average and are we
above the gudenes recommended
by Aberta learnng.
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Adult Literacy
The Facts
ln +,,, o o agarans unc-
toned at teracy eve three or
hgher, ony 8 unctoned at eve
our or ve.
Comparative % of Level 4/5 Literacy
Definition
Ths ndcator s based on statstcs
comped or Readng the luture: A
Portrat o lteracy n anada, a
anadan report on the +,, lnterna-
tona Adut lteracy Survey (lAlS).
The report denes three types o t-
eracy prose, document, and quant-
tatve each wth ve eves o
procency. At eve three, an ndvd-
ua can do smpe research and nte-
grate normaton. At eve our, an
ndvdua ntegrates and contrasts
normaton we. At eve ve, an
ndvdua can ntegrate compex
normaton and perorm mutpe
numerca operatons.
Trend
There have been no new surveys o
teracy n anada snce +,,,
athough Statstcs anada w con-
duct a new lAlS n oo(, wth resuts
to be reeased n oo.
vhe t cannot be determned rom
exstng data whether o percent o
agarans contnue to have a teracy
eve o eve three or hgher, Human
Resources Deveopment anada cau-
tons that n todays normaton-rch
and knowedge-ntensve socety, ct-
zens must contnuay mprove ther
readng and wrtng sks to uncton
eectvey n both the workpace and
everyday e. St, ess than +o per-
cent o anadans n need o teracy
support actuay enro n programs
to upgrade ther sks. Accordng to
the AB anada lteracy loundaton,
nanca nstabty, ack o chdcare,
and ack o accessbe transportaton
are some o the barrers that prevent
peope rom enrong n teracy pro-
grams.
vth the ncreasng demand or a t-
erate workorce, severa ntatves
have emerged n recent years to
mprove teracy sks across Aberta.
lamy teracy programs or parents
and chdren, whch ntegrate adut
nstructon wth eary anguage
deveopment assstance or young
chdren, are ncreasngy popuar.
Aso emergng are communty-based
teracy programs, n whch teracy
specasts work to bud teracy sks
n ndvdua communtes. lve a-
gary neghbourhoods partcpated n
such a program n oo. lnay,
paces o empoyment are ncreas-
ngy sponsorng teracy sk deve-
opment programs or empoyees.
Importance
Hgher teracy sks tend to correate
wth heather estyes. They aso
enabe ctzens to partcpate more
uy n ther communtes and to gan
meanngu work. lteracy aso sup-
ports eong and ndependent earn-
ng by hepng peope to acqure new
competences and sks.
Linkages
Accordng to lteracy Aberta, ter-
ate aduts suer hgher rates o pov-
erty and unempoyment. On average,
anadans wth eve one teracy
sks make ;8,ooo ess each year
than those wth eve our or ve t-
eracy sks. lteracy Aberta notes
that peope wth ower teracy sks
experence hgher unempoyment
and are more key to requre soca
assstance and to become nvoved n
crme.
lteracy pays an essenta roe n the
deveopment o vocatona sks.
Those wthout the requste teracy
sks have dcuty keepng up wth
the changng demands o the work-
orce. vorkers n areas wth ess
strngent teracy requrements oten
ack opportuntes to exercse and
deveop ther teracy sks, thus per-
petuatng ower teracy eves. Go-
bay, a terate popuaton s
mportant or economc deveop-
ment. A oo( Statstcs anada study
o the teracy rates n +( OED coun-
tres, ncudng anada, ound a nk
between hgh eves o teracy wthn
a natons workorce and ncreased
growth n per capta GDP.
lteracy enabes u partcpaton n
a aspects o communty e. lterate
aduts and senors are better abe to
mantan ther quaty o e and
ndependence, thereby reducng the
need or soca servces. They can par-
tcpate uy n democratc processes,
access requred servces, and read and
understand saety and nstructona
materas. lterate parents can read
to ther chdren and hep them wth
ther homework, thus passng ther
teracy sks on to the next genera-
ton.
Read to and wth chdren.
Support teracy tranng and
Engsh as a Second language
(ESl) tranng.
lnd out about vounteerng n a
teracy program through lteracy
Aberta: www.teracy-aberta.ca
Deveop your own teracy sks by
readng wdey, jonng a book
group, and/or partcpatng n the
annua vordlest.
Type/Place AB U.S.A Sweden
Prose , +.+ .(
Document o +,.o .
Ouanttatve ; . .8
Daycare Worker Salaries and Turnover
The Facts
ln oo+, daycare sta n Aberta
worked or an average startng wage
o ;8.,/hour. Ater three years o
empoyment n a daycare, sta
earned an average o ;+o.8/hour,
wth an average maxmum wage over
the onger term o ;+.+o/hour. These
wages have ncreased snce +,,,.
Aberta daycares experenced a (
percent turnover rate rom Decem-
ber oo to Nay oo(.
Definition
Daycare sta wage normaton was
obtaned through the government o
Abertas vage and Saary Survey.
Houry wage gures assume u-tme
empoyment and appy to a eary
chdhood educators, ncudng day-
care sta, preschoo teachers, and
supervsors.
lnormaton about sta turnover
rates came rom a study n the Nay
oo( edton o Todays Parent.
Trend
Snce +,,, daycare workers n
Aberta have earned progressvey
hgher wages, partcuary ater three
or more years o empoyment. ln
oo+ startng wages were ( percent
hgher than Abertas ;.,o mnmum
wage, and average maxmum wages
were more than doube mnmum
wage vaues.
Daycare Staff Wages in Alberta
Nonetheess, reatve to other prov-
nces, Aberta daycare workers are
poory pad. Hstorcay, startng
daycare sta n Ouebec and Ontaro
have been pad ;( percent and 8
percent more than the provnca
mnmum wage, respectvey.
The reatvey ow wages that day-
care sta n Aberta receve can be
traced n part to ack o government
support. lve other provnces aocate
more undng or chdcare per chd
aged o-+ years than Aberta, at ;++o
per chd annuay. Accordng to hd
are anada, the argest provder s
Ouebec, spendng ;,8o per chd,
amost nne tmes the amount ao-
cated by the Aberta government.
Ouebecs spendng not ony heps to
mantan daycare sta wages at a
medan o ;++.o( per hour, but aso
ensures that more than o percent o
Ouebec chdren aged o-+ years have
access to a reguated chdcare space.
Ater Ouebec, Nantoba provdes the
second argest number o chdcare
spaces, at +.( percent. Aberta pro-
vdes reguated space or ,.+ percent
o chdren.
Daycare sta turnover rates have not
changed snce +,,8 eves. St, (
percent turnover remans very hgh
reatve to Abertas average turnover
rate o +.; percent (across a sec-
tors). low pay s the most commony
cted reason or sta eavng ther
jobs.
Importance
Educaton durng eary chdhood has
a tremendous eect on chd deve-
opment and the overa path that s
ad down or uture earnng. ln ther
+,,, book, The learnng Revouton:
To hange the vay the vord
learns, researchers Dryden and Vos
state that o percent o a chds ab-
ty to earn s deveoped durng the
rst our years o e, whe another
o percent s deveoped by age eght.
However, eary chdhood programs
receve proportonay ower govern-
ment undng than other educa-
tona programs. Daycare workers
ow wages and strenuous workng
condtons ead to hgh turnover
rates, whch n turn can create nsta-
bty n daycare programs. lack o
stabty and consstency n those
programs can be hard on chdren,
and make t dcut to justy proes-
sona deveopment actvtes that
woud mprove the quaty o pro-
grammng.
Linkages
As snge-parent househods and two-
ncome ames become an ncreas-
ngy common reaty, the need or
hgh-quaty, accessbe chdcare s
growng. Adequate compensaton o
daycare sta, aong wth benets
programs, sae and heathy workng
condtons, and access to resources
and proessona deveopment, hep
to ensure a hgh-quaty experence
or chdren and provde peace o
mnd to workng parents. ln partcu-
ar, access to hgh-quaty chdcare
programs may hep more mothers to
return to the workorce. Aong wth
promotng greater gender baance n
our socety, hgh-quaty chdcare
programs can reduce stress eves
among workng parents and enabe
them to acheve more baance n
ther ves.
Support government acton on a
comprehensve natona chdcare
strategy that addresses the needs
o workng and stay-at-home par-
ents.
Support an mmedate ncrease n
the wages pad to chdcare work-
ers.
1996 1999 2001
Startng
wage
;.; ;;. ;8.,
vage ater
years
;8.o+ ;8.o ;+o.8
Top vage ;,. ;,.8 ;+.+o
Nnmum
wage
;.oo ;. ;.,o
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Grade Three Achievement Scores
The Facts
On the oo/oo Provnca
Achevement Tests or language
Arts, ,o. percent o grade three stu-
dents n agary acheved the accept-
abe standard as dented by Aberta
learnng, and +8. percent acheved
exceence. These achevement eves
exceed the targets set by Aberta
learnng.
Definition
Ths ndcator s based on the resuts
o Aberta learnngs Provnca
Achevement Tests n language Arts
or grade three students n agarys
pubc and separate schoos. An
acceptabe perormance s a score o
o percent or better, and an exceent
perormance s a score o 8o percent
or more. The provnca targets are 8
percent o students achevng accept-
abe perormance and + percent
achevng exceent perormance.
Trend
agarys grade three achevement
scores uctuate wdey each schoo
year but contnue to reman gener-
ay above provnca targets. Though
the oo/oo scores have aen
very sghty snce ast reported n the
oo+ State o Our ty Report, they
reman hgh reatve to other scores
over the past nne years. Durng the
rst year o testng n the +,,(/+,,
schoo year, ony 8(.; percent o stu-
dents acheved acceptabe peror-
mance, and +., percent acheved
exceent perormance. The ctys
achevement scores are generay
consstent wth provnca averages.
ln an eort to contnue boostng t-
eracy sks o young Abertans,
Aberta learnng has nvested n an
eary teracy program snce +,,8.
Through ths program, students n
kndergarten through grade two wth
underdeveoped teracy sks are
provded wth speca support and
resources. Ths program s evauated
n part by usng provnca grade
three achevement scores.
Language Arts Achievement Scores
Importance
hdren who estabsh heathy pat-
terns o earnng durng the eary ee-
mentary years are key to contnue
to earn successuy nto aduthood.
vhe achevement testng occurs n
a number o currcuar areas, an-
guage arts scores have been seected
or reportng because teracy s so
undamenta to partcpaton n
todays word. lt aows us to uncton
ndependenty, to contrbute to our
communty, and to be productve n
the workpace.
Linkages
lterate chdren tend to have a
ower sense o se-esteem, hgher
dropout rates, and hgher rates o
ncarceraton. As peope deveop t-
eracy sks, they are generay better
abe to uncton n socety, have
greater ndependence, can contrbute
to pubc debate, and can earn add-
tona sks. Vounteersm that sup-
ports communty budng and
partcpaton tends to be hgher
among more educated and more t-
erate members o the popuaton.
hdren who strugge to read and
wrte may have parents who aso
have teracy chaenges. Snce par-
ents have a strong nuence on the
enthusasm and nterest wth whch
chdren approach readng and wrt-
ng, chdren rom ames wth ow
eves o teracy may not receve the
encouragement and support they
requre to deveop strong teracy
sks. Parents wth teracy chaenges
may aso ack the normaton, con-
dence, or sks to ensure that ther
chdren are recevng sucent sup-
port at schoo. Ater struggng
through ower grade eves, chdren
n ths stuaton oten drop out o
hgh schoo or graduate wth ow ev-
es o teracy.
Read to your chdren rom a very
eary age and encourage them to
read and wrte.
Provde a good exampe to chdren
by readng wdey yourse.
Vounteer to read and be read to n
teracy programs at oca schoos.
Support your oca pubc brary n
order to hep bud a cuture o
readng n your communty.
School Year Acceptable Excellent
+,,(/, 8(.; +.,
+,,/, 8;.( +.(
+,,/,; 88.o +(.(
+,,;/,8 8., +.o
+,,8/,, 88. +.;
+,,,/ooo ,+. o.+
ooo/o+ 8,.( +;.(
oo+/o 8+. +.(
oo/o ,o. +8.
(o SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
Library Use
The Facts
ln oo, agarans used the agary
Pubc lbrary (Pl) approxmatey
mon tmes, or ; uses per capta,
representng an ncrease o more
than ve uses per capta snce +,,,.
Sxty percent o agarans used the
brary at east once durng oo.
Definition
The data or ths ndcator come rom
Pl records and user surveys. lbrary
usage ncudes eectronc and n-per-
son vsts, crcuaton o materas,
and n-brary use o resources.
Trend
Between +,,( and oo, the per cap-
ta use o the Pl ncreased by ((
percent. At over . mon n-person
vsts n oo, the Pl had more vs-
tors than the Stampede, agary Zoo,
Hertage Park, Scence entre, recre-
aton arenas, and a proessona
sportng events combned. Aso n
oo, the Pl crcuated over +.
mon tems, representng the sec-
ond hghest crcuaton n anada and
one o the hghest n North Amerca.
lncreasngy, brares do much more
than provde ctzens wth books.
Nany patrons use the Pls com-
puter resources or research, job
search, and persona communca-
tons. ln oo, +. mon eectronc
vsts were made to the brary
through the Pl webste.
Usage of the Calgary Public Library
ln oo, a majorty () o brary
customers used the Pl to obtan
materas or normaton or norma
or persona study. Ths suggests that
a hgh proporton o customers con-
tnue to depend on the brary or
resources that support ongong,
casua earnng. An ncreasng num-
ber o patrons use the Pls pubc
computers and databases or
research, job searches, and genera
nterest.
ln oo, a arge proporton o agar-
ans stated that the Pl s a vauabe
part o ther ves. A u ,8 percent
agreed that the brary s an mpor-
tant part o ther communty, and 8(
percent consdered t mportant to
ther househod.
Importance
ln a sustanabe communty, a ct-
zens shoud have access to the nor-
maton they need to partcpate n
communty e and understand ther
word. The pubc brary pays an
essenta roe n provdng an ncu-
sve pace or ctzens to engage n
ongong earnng n a changng env-
ronment, rvaed ony by the lnter-
net.
The pubc brary, sometmes caed
the peopes unversty, osters per-
sona empowerment and communty
deveopment through unversa
access to earnng resources. h-
drens programs, teracy programs,
and arge-prnt and takng books
serve communty members who are
sometmes margnazed or soated.
Linkages
The eong earnng that brares
promote s mportant or persona
growth and we-beng. lt broadens
horzons, stmuates curosty and
creatvty, eads to ncreased heath
and ument, and creates a more
enghtened and nvoved commu-
nty.
lbrares hep peope to acqure and
enhance ther teracy sks. Because
the brary s an ncusve and demo-
cratc nsttuton, a ctzens are we-
come to use ts resources, regardess
o age, abty, cutura background,
or ncome. Specazed programs such
as home-book devery servces or
peope who are housebound, summer
readng cubs or chdren, and the
avaabty o prnt materas or new
adut readers a hep to encourage
teracy sks. lbrary vounteers pay
a cruca roe n ensurng that these
and other programs run smoothy
and eectvey.
A brary s an envronment-rendy
means o dssemnatng normaton
snce t aows resources to be shared
among ctzens, savng countess
trees n the process.
Use your pubc brary.
Take advantage o contnung edu-
caton opportuntes.
Support adequate eves o undng
or pubc brares.
learn more about eong earnng
through the agary ommunty
Adut learnng Assocaton:
www.earnng-resource.com.
Uses (millions) Use/Capita
+,,( +.8 +8.;
+,,, +8. +.
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Average class size
The Facts
ln oo/oo(, the average cass sze
n agary schoos was ;. students.
ass szes n agary are arger than
the Aberta average and are we
by Aberta learnng.
Definition
ass sze s dened as the rato o
students to u-tme equvaent
teachers n a cassroom. A oo
Aberta learnng report pubshed
cass sze statstcs coected rom the
agary Schoo Dstrct and the a-
gary Roman athoc Separate Schoo
Dstrct or kndergarten through
grade +. Gven that students may
spend tme n severa casses, the
Aberta learnng report mts the
data to the our core subject casses:
anguage arts, math, scences, and
soca studes. These numbers do not
ncude data about speca needs
casses.
Trend
The method o measurement or ths
ndcator has changed n recent years.
Tted Pup/Teacher Ratos n the
prevous State o Our ty Reports,
ass Sze provdes a more accurate
measure o the reatonshp between
numbers o students and teachers
because t does not ncude educa-
tona proessonas who do not teach
n cassrooms, such as prncpas,
counseors, and brarans. ln oo+,
we reported that the Pup/Teacher
Rato transated nto an actua aver-
age cass sze o n prmary schoos
and as hgh as (o n hgh schoos.
Eementary schoo cass-sze data
were rst coected n oo+/oo,
junor hgh data n oo/oo, and
senor hgh data n oo/oo(. The
mted data rom these years suggest
that cass szes have remaned rea-
tvey stabe durng ths perod. How-
ever, cass szes n agary are arger
than the Aberta average and are we
by Aberta learnng.
Budgetary constrants n the +,,os
orced oca schoos to cut spendng
n other areas n order to mantan
stabe cass szes. ln the process,
many teachng postons were cut
rom pubc schoos, partcuary the
postons o ne arts and other spe-
casts, whose jobs were then
absorbed by other sta. Recenty, the
Aberta government has provded
schoo boards wth addtona unds
earmarked or reducng cass szes.
Importance
Educaton s the oundaton upon
whch a communty can bud ecoog-
ca, soca, and economc sustanab-
ty. A strong educaton equps youth
to become contrbutng, commtted,
compassonate, and sked ctzens o
tomorrow. Postve envronments or
teachers and students, ncudng
smaer cass szes, can aso rase
morae and ower stress eves,
thereby mprovng the overa quaty
o educaton.
Linkages
Smaer cass szes and ncreased nd-
vdua attenton can pay a crtca
roe n socazaton that contrbutes
to heathy estyes as youth become
aduts. onsequenty, chdren n
smaer casses may experence ewer
heath probems, reduced ncdents o
antsoca behavour, and ess
nvovement n crme.
Vounteers have aways been a part
o our schoo system. vth budget
cutbacks, vounteers become even
more crtca as they work wth stu-
dents, hep sta, and assst wth
undrasng and extra-currcuar
actvtes. Obgatng parents to pro-
vde more tme and money to pro-
grams and actvtes, however, works
to the dsadvantage o ower-ncome
communtes, where parents may
aready be workng ong hours to
make ends meet.
large cass szes can aso spur parents
to nvestgate prvate schoos, whch
can oer cass szes as sma as tweve
students. The sht toward prvate
educaton n agary has soca and
economc mpcatons, snce ony
ames wth sgncant nanca
resources are abe to access these
schoos. Per student, prvate schoos
receve o percent o the undng
that pubc schoos receve rom the
government, and they are aso eg-
be or government grants ke the
Aberta lntatve or Schoo lmprove-
ment. ombned wth tuton, the
resources avaabe to prvate schoos
enabe them to provde educatona
opportuntes that may not be ava-
abe n pubc schoos, thus poten-
tay perpetuatng nequtes.
Support ncreased undng or pub-
c educaton.
Vounteer your tme and sks to
your oca schoo and get actve
wth parent councs.
Get to know the ssues aced by
your oca schoo board and trust-
ees, so that you can partcpate n
the debate.
Average and recommended class sizes 2003/2004
Grade level Calgary Average Alberta Average Alberta Living Recommendation
K- . +., +;
(- .( (.;
;-, ;. .
+o-+ ,. .+ ;
Average ;. (.; .o
Natural Environment Indicators
Air Quality
Bird Population Surveys
Food Grown Locally
Pesticide Use
Surface Water Quality
Water Consumption
Highlights
ln the oo agary hrstmas Brd
ount, , brdwatchers recorded ;8
speces and (,8o ndvdua brds. ln
the same year, the la Ngraton
Nontorng (lNN) program
recorded ;o speces and +,, ndvd-
ua brds. These numbers have
ncreased sghty snce +,,,.
There were our Aberta larmers
Narket (AlN)-approved armers
markets n the cty wth approx-
matey ,( vendors and we over
,ooo day vstors.
ln oo+, agary Parks and Recreaton
apped approxmatey o.; kg o
actve pestcde ngredents per hect-
are n the cty. The rate o appcaton
has decned snce +,,8.
ln oo, agarys average per capta
water consumpton was + tres per
day, contnung a trend o decnng
consumpton snce the +,;os.
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Air Quality
The Facts
ln oo the Ar Ouaty lndex at a-
garys three montorng statons
entra (downtown), Northwest
(resdenta), and East (ndustra)
was rated as good ,, ,.(, and ,.
percent o the tme, respectvey.
Durng the same year, annua aver-
age ntrogen doxde (NO) concen-
tratons were 8(, (, and 8 percent
o the parts per bon (ppb)
gudene vaue or the three respec-
tve statons. The maxmum houry
average NO concentratons or the
year were (o, , and ( percent o
the houry gudene vaue (+ ppb)
or the entra, Northwest, and East
statons, respectvey. These num-
bers have not changed sgncanty
rom prevous years.
Definition
Aberta Envronment uses the Ar
Ouaty lndex (AOl) to measure ar
quaty n the provnce. The AOl com-
bnes measures o carbon monoxde,
ne partcuate matter (PN.),
NO, ozone, and suphur doxde to
represent overa ar quaty. NO s
ormed prmary as a resut o hgh
temperature combuston rom veh-
ces, resdenta and commerca heat-
ng, and ndustry, and s known to
aggravate asthma symptoms. Ar
quaty sampes are coected contn-
uousy rom montorng statons at
++-( St. SE (entra), , St. and ,
Ave. Nv (Northwest), and (, Ave.
and + St. SE (East).
Trend
AOl eves and measures o NO at
each o agarys montorng statons
have changed ony sghty over the
past ve years. AOl eves, measured
n the number o hours wth good ar
quaty, decned by about percent
at each o the montorng statons
snce +,,,. vhe NO concentra-
tons have aen ,. percent snce
+,,,, they have ncreased 8 percent
and percent at the Northwest and
East statons, respectvey.
On most ar quaty measures, a-
gary ares sghty worse that Edmon-
ton, partcuary n the ndustra
zones o the ctes. Snce +,, the a-
gary East staton has had consstenty
hgher eves o carbon monoxde,
haze (dust and smoke), hydrogen su-
des, suur doxdes, and ntrogen
oxdes than the Edmonton East sta-
ton. At downtown montorng sta-
tons, the derences between the
two ctes are ess dramatc, athough
agary contnues to have a hgher
eve o haze than Edmonton.
Importance
The ar we breathe s a common
good. Ar quaty can aect our
heath, economy, aesthetcs, and the
envronment. Heath eects can be
short term, aectng peope wth res-
pratory probems, or ong term,
ncreasng the ncdence o nesses
such as asthma and cancer. Heath
anada estmates that each year
,ooo anadans de prematurey due
to ar pouton. Poor ar quaty can
resut n economc osses totang m-
ons o doars through damage to
materas such as pant, meta, and
rubber, and through reduced prop-
erty vaues n areas that become
known or poor ar quaty. Envron-
menta degradaton occurs when ar
contamnants damage vegetaton,
so, and water bodes. Aesthetc va-
ues can be reduced by haze that
obscures vews o the cty and the
mountans.
Linkages
The ty o agarys oo State o
the Envronment report notes that
the persona vehce s the argest
source o ar pouton n the cty.
arpoong and ncreased transt
usage reduces ar pouton. ln turn,
as ar quaty mproves, more peope
may be persuaded o the benets o
wakng and cycng to work and
other destnatons. leavng our cars
at home and usng aternatve modes
o transport mproves our heath,
enhances our sense o communty,
and deters crme.
agarans sometmes bame poor ar
quaty on atmospherc nversons.
These nversons, however, do not
create the poutants but merey trap
them near the ground, mtng ther
duton n the atmosphere. ln these
condtons, we can breathe (and
oten see) the condensed eects o
everythng we put nto the ar!
vak, cyce, roerbade, or take
pubc transt to work and other
destnatons.
l you do drve, turn your engne
o when your vehce s stopped
or more than ten seconds. less
ue s needed to restart your veh-
ce than to eave t runnng.
Undertake energy ecency mea-
sures at home (e.g., nsuate, turn
down the thermostat, sea cracks).
Average NO2 Concentrations (ppb) in Calgary
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
agary entra 8. 8.+ . . .8
agary East (., .8 (. (. .(
agary Northwest +. +.+ +.+ +.+ +;.
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Bird Population Surveys
The Facts
ln the oo agary hrstmas Brd
ount, , brdwatchers recorded ;8
speces and (,8o ndvdua brds.
ln the same year, the la Ngraton
Nontorng (lNN) program
recorded ;o speces and +,, ndvd-
ua brds. These numbers have
ncreased sghty snce +,,,.
Definition
The agary hrstmas Brd ount s
part o the Natona Audubon Soc-
etys North Amercan hrstmas Brd
ount. Ths s the +o(th year o the
count n North Amerca and the nd
n agary. The survey nvoves an a-
day census o brds or each day
between December +( to January
and covers a +-me radus rom the
cty centre. The count s coordnated
ocay by the agary led Natura-
sts Socety and s conducted by vo-
unteer observers. The lNN program
began n agary n +,,. Ths pro-
gram montors changes n the popu-
atons o brds durng the a
mgraton perod by brd bandng. A
data s entered nto a natona data-
base wth Brd Studes anada.
Trend
Snce the oo+ State o Our ty
Report, the dversty and tota num-
ber o brds counted n the hrstmas
Brd ount and the lNN program
have ncreased. Ths normaton
shoud be tempered wth some qua-
ers. Annua derences n weather
condtons, ood avaabty, and the
number o vounteer observers can
heavy nuence the na tay o
brds n a gven year. Nonetheess,
montorng ong-term popuaton
trends s the rst step toward a bet-
ter understandng o how our actv-
tes aect brd habtat.
Accordng to the lngewood Brd
Sanctuary, some brd speces have
experenced sgncant changes n
popuaton sze over the past ew
years. lor nstance, popuatons o
sotary sandppers, northern water-
thrushes, and dark-eyed juncos have
decned n recent years. Other brds,
ke savannah sparrows, are growng
n number, and harequn ducks, red-
breasted nuthatches, and many
nches are ncreasngy overwnter-
ng n agary. The reatvey heavy
evergreen cone crop n the cty n
recent years may be supportng these
brds through the wnter.
ln oo, or the rst tme n recent
memory, a par o bad eages nested
n the cty, across the rver rom the
lngewood Go ourse. ln oo and
oo( the eages moved ther nest
sghty downrver and had two suc-
cessu young each year. Snce the
Bow Rver has had a reatvey arge
amount o open water n recent wn-
ters, more ducks and geese have been
abe to overwnter and have provded
a reguar ood source or the eages.
Importance
Brds are ntrcatey nked to our eco-
systems, and ong-term changes n
ther popuatons can show us where
our envronmenta protecton s ack-
ng. The extenson o our cty nto
armand and acreages means that
our zone o nuence has encom-
passed ncreasng numbers o grass-
and brd speces.
Ngratng brds that ony spend part
o ther ves n agary are vunera-
be to changng and-use practces, as
mportant habtats such as wetands
or woodots are deveoped. Opportu-
nstc speces such as cowbrds and
magpes survve we n the urban
envronment, oten to the detrment
o ess adaptabe songbrds.
Brds are aected by the same env-
ronmenta poutants as humans, but
ther smaer bodes make them more
vunerabe to toxc substances. Brd
speces dversty can be used as a
proxy or overa boogca dversty.
The more dverse an ecosystem, the
more resent t s over the ong
term.
Linkages
Peope nteract wth brds n a varety
o ways, rom settng up a brd eeder
to brdwatchng n one o agarys
natura envronment parks. Nature
observaton s a reaxng pastme that
can have sgncant heath benets
as we as encourage nteracton wth
other communty members. Brds
aso hep to connect cty dweers
wth natures rhythms: nothng
marks the sprng and a n agary
ke the appearance o the V-orma-
tons o the anada goose.
Support the protecton o natura
areas rom deveopment.
Naturaze your yard wth prare
speces that attract brds.
Snce cats k brds, keep them
ndoors at dawn and dusk when
brds are most actve.
Become nvoved n the hrstmas
Brd ount or the la Ngraton
Nontorng program.
Avod usng pestcdes n your yard.
heck out the agary led
Naturasts Socety webste:
www.cns.anweb.ca
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Food Grown Locally
The Facts
ln oo(, there were nne actve com-
munty gardens n agary wth ;
ndvdua pots, two communa vege-
tabe pots, and one communa wd-
ower garden, as we as a
commerca venture rentng out o
ndvdua garden pots just outsde
the cty. There were our Aberta
larmers Narket (AlN)-approved
armers markets n the cty wth
approxmatey ,( vendors and we
over ,ooo day vstors.
Definition
A communty garden s a pace where
peope come together to grow ood
and owers aongsde neghbours on
a common pece o and. The data or
communty gardens come rom the
agary Hortcutura Socety, whe
the statstcs or the armers markets
come rom the AlN Specast at
Aberta Agrcuture, lood and Rura
Deveopment and rom the ndvdua
market coordnators. ln order to
receve approva rom the AlN dv-
son o Aberta Agrcuture, lood and
Rura Deveopment, markets must
ensure that 8o o ther goods are
created, baked, or grown n Aberta
and sod drecty by producers.
Trend
A growng number o agarans are
producng ood and owers n oca
communty gardens, whch are
ncreasngy vunerabe to and deve-
opment as nner-cty property
becomes more scarce and vauabe.
Three o the argest communty gar-
dens n the cty, ncudng agarys
rst communty garden, Varsty
ourts, ost some or a o ther and
to deveopment between oo+ and
oo(. However, n the same tme
perod, two new communa gardens
and one wdower garden were
estabshed n the cty. Addtonay, a
prvatey owned commerca garden
pot venture just outsde the cty m-
ts grew rom o pots n oo+ to o
n oo(.
Snce oo+, the numbers o agary
armers markets, vendors, and vs-
tors have a ncreased. ln oo+, there
were our regstered armers mar-
kets n the cty. By oo(, there were
seven armers markets, our o
whch had receved AlN approva,
ncudng a arge, new, year-round
market n Garrson voods. One mar-
ket awats approva. Two o the pre-
vousy exstng approved markets
report an ncrease n vendors and vs-
tors snce oo+, whe the others
report the same eves as oo+.
Importance
As agarans eat more ocay pro-
duced ood, we become ess depen-
dent on nputs rom outsde o our
regon and we reduce pouton and
greenhouse gas emssons reated to
transportng ood ong dstances. ve
aso gan greater contro over ood
saety because we can communcate
wth armers about ther use o pest-
cdes, hormones, antbotcs, and
genetcay moded seed.
Linkages
onventona ood producton s an
ecoogcay expensve process. The
oss ue-ntensve nature o ood
producton and transportaton
resuts n the expendture o +o to +
caores o energy or every caore o
ood devered. ln contrast, ocay
produced ood requres ess transpor-
taton, rergeraton, packagng
materas, and preservatves.
loca ood s resher and, many say,
tastes better than ood shpped ong
dstances. loca armers and domes-
tc gardeners can oer produce var-
etes bred or taste and reshness
rather than or ther abty to wth-
stand ndustra harvestng equp-
ment and extended trave, thereby
both conservng bodversty and
oerng more nutrent-rch ood
than ood pcked and transported
beore t becomes rpe. Sma-scae
urban agrcuture s aso better suted
to sustanabe agrcutura tech-
nques, such as organc producton.
The oss o agrcuturay vabe and
s a growng ssue n the agary area,
as rsng urbanzaton and the
ncreased domnaton o ood pro-
ducton by a ew arge corporatons
puts pressure on amy armers and
ranchers to se out to urban and
deveopers. loca amy armers who
se drecty to consumers receve a
arger share o the prot or ther
ood, whch n turn heps to make
armng more protabe and seng
armand or deveopment ess
attractve. loca armers spend ther
money ocay, and suppy more oca
jobs and contrbute more to the oca
economy than do arge, corporate-
owned armng operatons.
Grow ood n your yard or partc-
pate n a communty garden.
Become more aware o where the
ood you buy s produced.
Support oca armers markets.
Ask your oca ood store to carry
oca and organc produce.
Support ood stores that aready
carry oca, organc produce.
heck out Sow lood agarys
webste: www.sowoodcagary.ca
Pesticide Use
The Facts
ln oo+, agary Parks and Recreaton
apped approxmatey o.; kg o
actve pestcde ngredents per hect-
are n the cty. The rate o appcaton
has decned snce +,,8.
Definition
Ths ndcator measures the amount
o herbcdes, ungcdes, nsect-
cdes, and rodentcdes used to con-
tro pests on cty-owned and, as
reported n the ty o agarys oo
State o the Envronment Report.
The ndcator s cacuated by dvdng
the weght o actve (non-nert) pes-
tcde ngredents by the tota area o
and mantaned by the ty o a-
gary.
Trend
Between +,,8 and oo+, the tys
rate o pestcde appcaton
decreased by ; percent. Ths reduc-
ton appears to be nked n part to
the tys +,,8 adopton o ts lnte-
grated Pest Nanagement (lPN) Pan,
whch descrbes lPN as an ecoogca
approach to vegetaton and pest
management that strves to reduce
reance on pestcdes as we as nte-
grate preventatve measures and
aternatve contro technoogy.
Through lPN, sta are mandated to
expore aternatves to pestcdes,
ncudng encouragement o natura
predators and use o mechanca con-
tros ke manua weedng and strate-
gc prunng.
Pesticide use on Municipal land
Athough the ty s makng progress
n reducng the amount o pestcdes
sprayed on muncpay owned and,
resdents contnue to use pestcdes
at a dsproportonate rate. agarans
use an estmated sx tmes more pes-
tcdes than muncpa sta, n part
due to the popuarty o mut-pur-
pose products that combne ertz-
ers wth herbcdes. As part o ts lPN
strategy, the ty s workng to ban
these products and s amng to
reduce resdenta pestcde use by o
percent by oo;.
vhe we appear to be movng n a
postve drecton, severa other
anadan ctes outshne agary n
ther eorts to reduce pestcde use.
Snce oo the ctes o Haax,
Ottawa, Toronto, and Nontrea have
each taken measures to ban the use
o pestcdes wthn cty mts. a-
gary has consdered bannng pest-
cdes n the past but remans
supportve o the controed use o
pestcdes through the lPN strategy.
Importance
A sustanabe communty strves to
emnate or reduce to a mnmum
the use o toxc substances. Growng
evdence suggests that pestcde use
can have serous consequences on
envronmenta and human heath. A
oo( study by the Ontaro oege o
lamy Physcans uncovered compe-
ng evdence that pestcde exposure
can resut n cancer, neuroogca ds-
eases, and reproductve dsorders.
Linkages
ln addton to ther assocaton wth
numerous acute and chronc human
heath probems, pestcdes aso pose
a threat to the natura envronment.
Stormwater runo can brng pest-
cdes nto the rver system, contam-
natng our water suppy and harmng
the aquatc ecosystem. Pestcdes bo-
accumuate n anmas at the top o
the ood chan, posng a very rea rsk
to anma and human heath. Across
anada eves o pestcde resdues
ound on anadan-grown produce,
whe st generay beow threshod
amounts, have been ncreasng and
are now at eves comparabe to
mported produce.
hdren are partcuary vunerabe
to pestcde exposure, snce pound or
pound they drnk, eat, and breathe
more than aduts. They aso tend to
pay on grass, craw n drt, and put
thngs n ther mouths. Studes pont
to negatve eects o pestcde expo-
sure on chdrens motor sk, bran,
and emotona deveopment. Pest-
cdes are desgned to attack the neu-
rosystems o pests, yet no anadan
government studes have ocused on
neurotoxc eects o chemca expo-
sure on chdren. The anadan lnst-
tute o hd Heath states that n
the case o pestcdes to be used or
purey cosmetc reasons around
schoos, chd care centres, and
homes, we ee that the ony accept-
abe rsk s zero rsk.
Research and empoy aternatve
methods o pest contro or awns
and gardens.
Support a ban on the aesthetc use
o pestcdes on cty-owned and
and or home gardenng.
Vst New Ednborough Park, a-
garys rst pestcde-ree park, n
Sunnysde. Gather the support o
your neghbours to make a oca
park n your communty pestcde-
ree.
heck out the Pestcde Acton
Network webste www.panna.org
and the Serra ub hnook
Groups pestcde-ree yard
campagn webste at
www.pestcdereeyards.org
Kilogram of active ingredient
per hectare relative to 1997
+,,; +
+,,8 +.
+,,, +.+
ooo +
oo+ o.;
SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT (;
N
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Surface Water Quality
The Facts
ln oo, the eca coorm counts n
the Bow Rver downstream o a-
gary recorded a medan count o ,o/
dl (bactera coones per dectre o
water sampes) and an average o
+8/dl. leca coorm counts ranged
between +o/dl and 8o/dl over a +
month perod. These measures have
mproved snce +,,(.
Definition
leca coorm s one o many stan-
dard measures o water quaty.
Accordng to the anadan vater
Ouaty Gudenes (vOG) or con-
tact recreaton (e.g., swmmng) the
maxmum eca coorm count aow-
abe or a snge sampe s (oo/dl.
The vOG or the mean o ve sam-
pes n o days s oo/dl. The data or
ths ndcator come rom the Aberta
Envronment Sters Ranch ste down-
stream o agary.
Trend
vater quaty at the Sters Ranch ste
appears to be mprovng over tme. ln
+,,( the ste had a medan eca
coorm count o (o/dl, whch
mproved to +,/dl by ooo, and
then to ,o/dl by the end o oo. ln
oo ony three sampes were at or
above the contact recreaton mt o
(oo/dl, and the hghest concentra-
ton o eca coorm, 8o/dl, was
ess than one-ha o the hghest con-
centraton n +,,,/ooo o +,oo/dl.
Upgrades to the sewage treatment
pants at both Bonnybrook and lsh
reek are key responsbe or the
mprovement n water quaty at
Sters Ranch.
agarys sewage treatment s consd-
ered one o the best n North Amer-
ca. lt dsposes o waste sudge
through ts state-o-the-art sewage
sudge and spreadng operaton. a-
gary rated an A+ rom the Serra
lega Deence lund n oo( or ts
sewage treatment system. Ths ratng
was an mprovement rom ts +,,,
grade o A, due to the UV dsnec-
ton system that the ty has added
to acheve +oo percent tertary treat-
ment o sewage.
vhe the Sters Ranch data suggest a
ow eve o boogca contamnaton
n water downstream o agary, ths
ndcator does not capture other
components o water quaty, ncud-
ng physca characterstcs such as
temperature, coour, suspended so-
ds and turbdty, and chemca char-
acterstcs ke nutrents, mneras,
metas, oxygen, and organc com-
pounds. Aberta Envronment mon-
tors water quaty usng a
comprehensve ndex that measures
metas, nutrents, bactera, and pest-
cdes. ln the uture, ths ndcator
coud evauate water quaty n more
deta usng a combnaton o boog-
ca, physca, and chemca measures.
Another crtca component o water
quaty s storm water management.
Hstorcay, overow storm water
has been dscharged untreated
drecty nto agarys major water-
courses. Snce +,,8, however, the
ty o agary and Aberta Envron-
ment have worked to reduce such
run-o by makng t mandatory that
new housng deveopments contan
an nterna system o storm water
management. lncreasngy common
s the use o exstng and constructed
wetands to manage storm water
whe preservng habtat and provd-
ng an educatona green space.
Importance
agarans depend on the Bow and
Ebow Rvers or drnkng water,
ndustra use, recreaton, and tour-
sm, as we as beng a recevng body
or treated sewage and storm water.
vth recent tragedes such as the
deaths n vakerton, Ontaro n ooo
due to water contamnaton, munc-
pates ace extra pressure to ensure
cean drnkng water. Nantanng
cean waterways n agary heps to
mprove water quaty o both
human and aquatc communtes
downstream o our cty.
Linkages
agarans denty strongy wth the
Ebow and Bow Rvers. These water-
ways and ther surroundng ands are
mportant to our sense o commu-
nty, our sense o we-beng, and our
esure actvtes.
Urban run-o s a major threat to
water quaty. Pestcdes and other
toxns enter the rvers through run-
o and can harm brds, sh, and
nvertebrates that ve n these sens-
tve aquatc ecosystems. Once n the
water, these toxns can bo-accumu-
ate and threaten human popuatons
downstream.
Good water quaty aso has eco-
nomc benets. The Bow Rver s an
nternatonay recognzed sport sh-
ng rver. vater quaty aects the
heath o the aquatc system that the
sport shng ndustry rees upon.
Addtonay, we consume ess
water and ntroduce ess poutants
nto our water system, water treat-
ment costs w dmnsh, eavng
more tax doars or other sustan-
abty ntatves.
Become more aware o how chem-
cas, road sat, pestcdes, o rom
cars, pants, and other products
end up n our storm sewer systems.
Support eectve egsaton to
mnmze or emnate the use o
contamnants that eventuay po-
ute our water systems.
(8 SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT
Water Consumption
The Facts
ln oo, agarys average per capta
water consumpton was + tres per
day, contnung a trend o decnng
consumpton snce the +,;os.
Definition
The average amount o water used
per person per day ncudes tota
water use or the cty, ncudng
ndustra, commerca, nsttutona,
and resdenta consumpton, dvded
by the tota popuaton. onsumpton
eves aso ncude water not pad or
through accounts such as pubc use,
eakage, and re ghtng. These sta-
tstcs come rom the ty o agary
vaterworks.
Trend
Snce the +,;os, agarys per capta
water consumpton has steady
decned, wth oo eves more than
one-thrd ess than ate +,;os eves
o approxmatey 8oo tres per per-
son per day. ln more recent years,
ths trend has contnued. ln +,,, an
average o ; tres o water were
used per capta per day.
Nonetheess, agary has not yet
reached a sustanabe eve o water
consumpton. ln oo, agary had a
gross day water consumpton o
neary (;,ooo cubc metres. vth a
projected o popuaton o +.( m-
on peope, we must change our con-
sumpton patterns today to ensure
that uture agarans have access to
an adequate suppy o hgh quaty
water. The ty o agary vater-
works estmates that to ensure that
agarans vng thrty years rom
now can access the same quaty and
quantty o water that we enjoy
today, present day consumpton ev-
es must be reduced by about a thrd
to , tres per person per day.
ompared to other countres, anad-
ans consume an extraordnary
amount o water. anada s second
ony to the Unted States n per cap-
ta water consumpton. Some Euro-
pean countres have resdenta water
consumpton eves as ow as +o
tres per person per day, reatve to
anadas resdenta average o (
tres.
Importance
lke a vng thngs, humans depend
on a cean and reabe suppy o
water. To be sustanabe, a commu-
nty must montor and protect ts
water suppy, thereby ensurng ong-
term heath through conservaton
and stewardshp.
agarys drnkng water orgnates n
the snow pack o the Rocky Noun-
tans, ows to our cty va the Bow
and Ebow Rver basns, and s stored
n the Genmore and Bearspaw Reser-
vors. ve share our water sources
wth many users upstream and
downstream o the cty, whch puts
addtona demands on agarys
water suppy. Noreover, cmate
change appears to be shrnkng the
gacers that are the source o a-
garys drnkng water, makng t even
more mportant that we act to con-
serve water today and address c-
mate change.
Linkages
Hgh eves o water consumpton
put pressure on exstng muncpa
nrastructure. As water demand
ncreases, costy upgrades to treat-
ment pants, pump statons, reser-
vors, and ppes are requred. The
need or technoogca mprovements
can be deerred agarans commt
to reducng ther own water con-
sumpton. ln savng water, energy s
aso conserved, snce eectrcty s
used to process and dstrbute water.
Oute asde rom our own savngs
and conservaton, our water con-
sumpton aects aquatc e. lor
exampe, the amount o water ow-
ng through the ctys rvers changes
based on human water use. low
water eves can cause the water to
warm up, dsruptng aquatc e and
natura systems. Addtonay, waste-
water treatment uses chemcas,
whch are returned to the rvers. The
provnce has embarked on water-
shed-based and-use pannng that
w decrease the amount o runo
that enters our surace water
sources, partcuary durng storms.
To encourage ctzens to conserve
water, agary ty ounc passed a
byaw n oo that w put water
meters n every home by o+(. ln the
meantme, a new houses and newy
purchased homes requre meter
nstaatons, and agarans are
beng encouraged to have ree water
meters nstaed n ther homes. By
usng these meters, ctzens are ony
charged or the amount o water
they consume, as opposed to a at
rate. ln uy metered ctes, water
consumpton averages (o tres per
capta per day.
Have a water meter nstaed.
Retrot your home wth ow-ow
devces such as a ow-ush toet.
heck your home or eaks and
repar them. vater eaks are one o
the most common sources o water
oss.
vater your awn n the eary
mornng or ate evenng ony or
do not water t at a!
lnsta a ran barre and pant
drought-toerant speces n your
garden.
SUSTAlNABlE AlGARY oo( STATE Ol THE lTY REPORT (,
Resource Use Indicators
Domestic Waste
Ecological Footprint
Energy Use
Population Density
Transit Usage for Work Trips
Transportation Infrastructure Spending
Highlights
ln oo, agarans generated + kg
per person or a tota o o(,ooo
tonnes o hand-coected domestc
waste. Snce +,8; per capta produc-
ton o domestc waste has decned.
ln oo+, agarys ecoogca ootprnt
was approxmatey ,.8 hectares/per-
son, or a tota ootprnt area o
approxmatey ,,8oo km
. Ths oot-
prnt has contnuay expanded
throughout agarys deveopment.
ln oo, agary had ,,+ peope
and ; km
o and wthn ts munc-

pa boundares, or a gross densty o
+,;8 peope/km
.
ln oo+, transt accounted or (+ per-
cent o a work trps nto downtown
agary and 8.; percent o a trps to
paces o empoyment outsde the
downtown core. ty-wde, transt
accounted or +.+ percent o a work
trps. These numbers have not
changed substantay rom those
measured n +,,,.
Weight of Annual Disposed Waste
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2003 02 01 2000 99 98 97 96 95 1994
Domestic Waste
The Facts
ln oo, agarans generated + kg
per person or a tota o o(,ooo
tonnes o hand-coected domestc
waste. An addtona ;,, tonnes o
agarys waste (newspaper, mxed
paper, meta, gass, eectroncs, tres,
pastcs, and organcs) was recyced
or composted and dverted rom
ands n oo. Snce +,8; per capta
producton o domestc waste has
decned.
Definition
Ths ndcator measures the amount
o househod waste generated annu-
ay per capta wthn the cty. The
data s rom the ty o agary, Sod
vaste Servces Annua Report and s
based on the voume o hand-co-
ected waste devered to the three
cty ands by resdenta santaton
crews. Resdenta crews do not co-
ect waste rom centrazed recepta-
ces, so most apartment, townhouse,
and condomnum resdents are not
ncuded n these cacuatons. Ths
must be kept n mnd the propor-
ton o the popuaton vng n ths
type o housng changes sgncanty
n the uture.
Trend
Snce +,8;, agarans have reduced
the amount o waste they generate
on a per capta bass by 8 percent,
wth a ; percent decne snce ths
ndcator was ast measured n +,,,.
Part o ths reducton s nked to the
act that n oo agarans recyced
8 percent more materas at resden-
ta recycng depots than they dd n
+,,,, thereby dvertng percent o
materas rom cty ands.
vhe per capta anded waste ev-
es are decnng, agarys ands
receved more waste n oo than
they dd durng any other year over
the ast decade. Despte a reducton
n anded waste n oo, whch
muncpa sta suggest may have
been caused by ower eves o eco-
nomc actvty and deveopment, a
tota o ;(8,ooo tonnes o muncpa,
regona and prvatey haued waste
were deposted n the three ands
operated by The ty o agary n
oo. Ths represents a neary o per-
cent ncrease over +,,( eves, and
sgnes that non-domestc waste
currenty accounts or two-thrds o
tota waste n agary.
agarys eorts to reduce waste ag
behnd those o many anadan
muncpates, where programs such
as curbsde recycng are we-estab-
shed. Edmonton boasts anadas
most progressve waste management
strategy: through an extensve curb-
sde recycng, compostng, and
recovery program, the ty o Edm-
onton ands ony o percent o ts
waste.
Importance
Ths ndcator ocuses on the overa
goa o waste reducton. The voume
o waste we generate s nuenced n
arge part by the consumpton pat-
terns o our socety. Dsposabe,
heavy packaged, and mted
espan products are a major actor
n the generaton o waste. lnherent
n waste reducton s reducng con-
sumpton, reusng materas and
goods, recycng, and compostng.
Linkages
The handng and dsposa o waste
materas s an economc dran.
lncreased waste generaton requres
more and or ands and demands
more tax doars. vhe t s preera-
be to dea wth waste through recy-
cng and reuse, the best souton s to
reduce the use o materas n the
rst pace. Reducng our consump-
ton w ree up more o our tme and
resources to enjoy esure actvtes,
to vounteer, and to engage n non-
consumptve actvtes. Producng
ess waste w aso ead to ceaner ar,
water, and so.
Decreasng muncpa waste w save
vauabe and. l we mody our e-
styes and change our throwaway
mentaty, we can reduce our mpact
on orests, armand, and other natu-
ra resources, and utmatey shrnk
our ecoogca ootprnt.
Reuse, reduce, reuse, recyce, and
above a, rethnk! agarans must
begn to vew waste as a resource
and not as throw away tems.
ompost t can save up to o to
o percent o your domestc waste.
ontact ean agary or compost-
ers, workshops, and normaton.
Buy buk grocery, cosmetc, and
ceanng products.
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Comparison of Ecological Footprints
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Ecological Footprint
The Facts
ln oo+, agarys ecoogca ootprnt
was the argest n anada at approx-
matey ,.8 hectares/person, or a
tota ootprnt area o approxmatey
,,8oo km
. Ths ootprnt has con-

tnuay expanded throughout a-
garys deveopment.
Definition
An ecoogca ootprnt estmates the
amount o productve and and sea
area needed to sustan a gven
human popuaton reatve to annua
consumpton eves o ood, bre,
wood, energy, and other manuac-
tured goods, and the producton o
wastes and poutants that resut
rom human actvty.
agarys ecoogca ootprnt s
derved rom a oo( report tted
Ecoogca lootprnts o anadan
Nuncpates and Regons by Ane-
sk Nanagement lnc. The ecoogca
ootprnt was cacuated by tayng
the demands that oca human popu-
atons pace on sx derent and cat-
egores n a gven year: crop and,
pasture and, orest and, sea space,
but area, and energy and (the area
o orest requred to absorb the car-
bon doxde emssons resutng rom
energy consumpton).
Trends
lt s estmated that n +,oo agarys
ootprnt was one hectare per person,
and t rose to two hectares by +,o.
Today, wth over nne hectares
needed to sustan the average agar-
an, we have one o the argest eco-
ogca ootprnts n the word. At
current goba popuaton eves, the
earth can provde approxmatey .
hectares o productve and and sea
or each human. vth an ecoogca
ootprnt o over our tmes ths
mt, agarans are usng much more
than ther share o the earths
resources.
agary has the argest ecoogca
ootprnt o any anadan muncpa-
ty wth a eve more than two hect-
ares/person (or ) over the
natona average. agary has the
hghest Energy land demand o a o
the muncpates, comprsng .o
hectares o each agarans oot-
prnt. The Energy land demand s
partcuary hgh because o Abertas
use o coa-derved eectrcty com-
pared to hydro-derved eectrcty n
other provnces. agary aso has a
hgh househod expendture proe,
whch s nked to hgher overa
energy and matera consumpton.
Gobay, anada has the eghth arg-
est ecoogca ootprnt. Accordng to
the oo( lvng Panet report, the
per capta ootprnt o the words
weathest natons, ncudng an-
ada, s over our tmes greater than
that o ow and mdde ncome coun-
tres, and more than doube the
earths boogca capacty. St, coun-
tres that enjoy hgh quaty o e
but have reatvey sma ootprnts,
such as the Netherands and Japan,
suggest that t s possbe to attan a
hgh standard o vng wthout over-
usng the earths resources.
Importance
The ecoogca ootprnt s an mpor-
tant ndcator o a sustanabe com-
munty because t heps us to
understand whether our estye s
sustanabe rom a goba perspectve
and to denty wasteu practces and
eectve strateges or emnatng or
adjustng them. lrom an ethca
standpont, t chaenges us to exam-
ne our estye n reaton to what
the earth can provde.
Linkages
Sustanabty ndcators reated to
resource consumpton, such as
energy use, popuaton densty, and
water consumpton, actor drecty
nto ecoogca ootprnt cacua-
tons. Nore broady, ecoogca oot-
prnt s an economc ndcator n that
t demonstrates the resource cost o
our estyes and enabes us to reect
on the unequa access and use o
resources throughout our cty, coun-
try, and panet. The ecoogca oot-
prnt can aso encourage us to
preserve natura areas that provde
us wth esure opportuntes and,
perhaps more mportanty, a stronger
sprtua connecton to the vng
word.
Individual and Collective
Actions
Seek out non-consumptve ways to
enhance your quaty o e (e.g.,
wak to work).
Become more conscous o how
your day choces aect your eco-
ogca ootprnt.
Buy ocay whenever possbe.
Energy Use
The Facts
ln oo the average agaran con-
sumed the equvaent o (o barres o
o, or the energy equvaent o ;,o
tres o gasone, up +. percent snce
+,,;.
Definition
Ths ndcator tracks the energy use
per capta n key energy categores. lt
combnes eectrcty usage (ENNAX
data), natura gas usage (ATO
data), and petroeum product (e.g.,
gasone) usage (per capta gures
based on provnca data).
Eectrcty and natura gas gures
ncude resdenta, commerca, and
ndustra consumpton. Petroeum
product usage gures reer to the
tota o rened petroeum products
used n a three sectors, ncudng
motor gas, dese ue, ue os, kero-
sene, avaton ues, and petroeum
gases.
Trend
The eve o energy consumpton n
agary s not sustanabe or the
ong term. lrom +,,; to oo, there
was a +. percent ncrease n energy
consumpton per capta. Ths trend s
demonstrated across the provnce as
we. Accordng to Statstcs anada,
between +,,o and oo Abertas
overa energy consumpton soared
o.; percent the argest ncrease n
anada, ar surpassng our popua-
ton growth o ony percent. ln
contrast, n the same perod energy
consumpton went up ony +.+ per-
cent n Ontaro and +. percent n
Ouebec.
A arge porton o ths ncrease can be
attrbuted to car use. The ty o a-
garys Nobty Nontor newsetter
(Juy oo) ndcated that trac
growth, measured by tota vehce
kometers traveed on a typca
weekday, grew by percent
between +,,+ and oo+. Durng the
same perod, agarys popuaton
ncreased by ( percent.
On the brght sde, however, agar-
ans are consumng more renewabe
orms o energy. Snce +,, more
than +8 wnd arms have been con-
structed n southern Aberta. These
contrbute +;o megawatts o eectrc-
ty to the grd enough power to
serve amost o,ooo homes and
represent ha o anadas tota wnd-
generatng capacty.
Importance
A sustanabe communty shoud
expend the absoute mnmum n
energy resources to meet ts needs,
eavng uture generatons wth the
abty to enjoy the same quaty o
e. ln order or agary to become a
sustanabe communty, we need to
reduce our consumpton o eectrc-
ty, natura gas, and petroeum prod-
ucts.
Linkages
agarans quaty o e s ntrcatey
nked to our use o energy. As a cty,
we use ever-ncreasng amounts o
energy to heat and ght our homes,
operate our appances, produce the
goods and servces we desre, and
move ourseves around. ln agary
the man source o energy s oss
ues a non-renewabe orm o
energy. The producton, renement,
and consumpton o oss ues has a
sgncanty greater mpact on the
envronment than that o renewabe
energy.
The way we desgn new neghbour-
hoods mpacts our reance on the
automobe and our consumpton o
oss ues. onstructng satete
communtes wth ew or no amen-
tes encourages us to drve our cars to
nteract wth peope or to perorm
even mnor errands. Ths desgn aso
aects our abty to create a sense o
oca communty and soates those
wthout easy access to an automo-
be.
Energy conservaton s ncreasngy
becomng an economc and soca
concern, as much as an envronmen-
ta one. Throughout oo(, the prce
o o routney set record hghs.
Nany researchers are orecastng the
peak o word o producton wthn
the next + years, whch w push the
prce o petroeum to eves we
beyond the present. Ths may have a
postve mpact on Abertas argey
o-based economy, but ncreased
consumpton and hgher prces w
tax agarys soca and envronmen-
ta sustanabty.
Individual and Collective
Actions
Retrot your house or ow-energy
consumpton. See the Energude
or Houses Program at
www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca
Buy appances that have the
Energy Star abe.
Purchase ocay produced ood.
Use wnd-generated eectrcty to
power your home. See
www.pembna.orgwnd_power.asp
or www.enmax.com
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Population Density
The Facts
ln oo, agary had ,,+ peope
and ; km
o and wthn ts munc-

pa boundares, or a gross densty o
+,;8 peope/km
. ln the same year,

the cty had a gross resdenta area
o ,( km
or a gross resdenta
densty o ,+; peope/km
.
Definition
agarys gross area ncudes a and
wthn the ctys boundares. agary
s a unque cty snce a ts major ser-
vces and a o year suppy o and
reserved or uture deveopment are
ocated wthn ts boundares. As a
resut, agarys gross densty may be
understated when comparng t to
that o other ctes.
agarys gross resdenta area
ncudes resdenta, commerca, and
park and but excudes ndustra
and, arge non-deveopabe and,
non-deveopabe rver vaeys, edera
and, Nose H Park, and lsh reek
Park.
Trend
The ty o agary has mted hs-
torc popuaton densty data, and
those data are conned to resdenta
and. Nonetheess, t can be deter-
mned that the genera resdenta
densty o the cty has ncreased rom
,o, peope/km
n +,;o to ,+;
peope/km
n oo, an ncrease o
percent.
Accordng to Statstcs anadas oo+
census data, agary s one o the
east compact ctes n anada. ln
comparson to other ctes, agarys
gross densty s above that o Edmon-
ton (,;(/ km
) but beow that o

vnnpeg (+,/ km
), Nontrea
(,/ km
), Toronto (,,,/ km
),
and Vancouver ((,;,/ km
).
ty o agary pocy requres that
new communtes be but at dens-
tes o sx to eght dweng unts per
gross resdenta acre. ls ths sustan-
abe' ln ther study o major ctes
around the word, Peter Newman
and Jerey Kenworthy recommend
denstes above + to o unts per res-
denta acre or pubc transt-or-
ented urban estyes. ln those terms,
whe some progress has occurred,
the ty must make a greater eort
to ncrease urban denstes to a sus-
tanabe eve.
Importance
ompact ctes can have ess mpact
on the envronment. ar usage gen-
eray decreases and aternatve
modes o transportaton become
more vabe wth ntensed dens-
caton, whch n turn eads to reduc-
tons n ar pouton. The destructon
o natura habtat, watersheds, and
armand by urban deveopment can
be mnmzed by restrctng ow-den-
sty urban spraw.
The soca advantages o hgh-densty
vng are aso sgncant. A compact
cty can put amentes wthn reach o
those who cannot drve or aord a
vehce, such as the edery, youth
and chdren, and the poor. Hgher
densty can aso mean shorter com-
mutng dstances, ess tme spent n
trac, and more tme spent wth
amy and rends.
Hgh-densty vng resuts n mpor-
tant economc benets. A number o
studes n both anada and the
Unted States have shown that hgh-
densty deveopment costs ess to
mantan on a per capta bass and
generates more tax revenue than
comparabe ower-densty deveop-
ments.
Linkages
A major study by the anadan Heart
and Stroke loundaton tted The
Suburban Dream Gone Sour est-
mates that or every one hour per
day spent n a car, there s a
ncrease n the kehood o obesty.
onversey, or every + hour per day
spent wakng there s a reducton
n the kehood o obesty. Research
summarzed by the US Natura
Resources Deense ounc suggests
that as ctes become more compact,
a greater proporton o the popua-
ton w choose to wak, cyce, or use
pubc transt. vth more peope
usng aternatve modes o transpor-
taton, the consumpton o oss
ues can be reduced and ar quaty
enhanced. lmprovng ar quaty
means ewer cases o respratory ds-
ease.
Individual and Collective Action
Educate yourse about the bene-
ts o more compact urban desgn.
hoose to ve n a compact com-
munty.
Support eorts to ncrease densty,
ke ceanng up contamnated
ands to aow or redeveopment,
concentratng growth n exstng
urban areas, and estabshng
growth boundares and agrcu-
tura and reserves.
Transits Share of Work Trips
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0
10
20
30
40
50
Downtown
City Wide
2001 99 96 91 88 85 81 79 76 71 1964
Transit Usage for Work Trips
The Facts
ln oo+, transt accounted or (+ per-
cent o a work trps nto downtown
agary and 8.; percent o a trps to
paces o empoyment outsde the
downtown core. ty-wde, transt
accounted or +.+ percent o a work
trps. These numbers have not
changed substantay rom those
measured n +,,,.
Definition
lnormaton or ths ndcator was
derved by pong +o percent o
empoyed agary resdents durng
the oo+ ty ensus. A u report,
entted Trave to vork Survey, oo+
s avaabe rom the ty o agary
Pannng Pocy lnormaton entre.
Transt usage ncudes communty
shuttes, buses, and ght ra transt
(lRT).
Trend
Between +,,, and oo+ there was a
o. percent decrease n work-reated
transt usage n agary, wth most o
ths reducton reated to a sght
decne n the transt share o trps to
non-downtown work stes. Aong-
sde ths decne, automobe usage
dropped o. percent over these two
years whe the number o peope
who waked to work ncreased by o.;
percent.
Over the onger term, work-reated
transt usage n agary has been
decnng snce the eary +,8os. How-
ever, n more recent years, transts
share o downtown work trps has
been ncreasng snce a ow n the
md-+,,os.
vth the lRT expanson n oo and
oo(, t s possbe that transt w
account or an ncreasngy arge
share o work trps n the cty. The
openng o the Dahouse (Nv) and
the Somerset/Brdewood (Sv) sta-
tons has engthened the lRT tracks
to over ; km, and dedcated transt
anes aong some streets hep to
ensure hgh requency, ecent tran-
st servce.
Importance
ln a sustanabe communty, the
movement o peope and goods s
accompshed usng the most e-
cent means possbe. The more we
use our cars or bud our cty to sup-
port the movement o the automo-
be, the ess vabe the cty becomes.
Thousands o peope are movng to
agary, makng t one o the astest
growng ctes n anada and puttng
ncreasng pressure on the transpor-
taton system. Exacerbatng the
probem s the act that many peope
do not ve near where they work.
lor nstance, downtown and cty cen-
tre jobs have grown by ; percent
whereas the popuaton n those
areas has ony grown by ( percent.
Popuaton growth has concentrated
n the outer edge o the cty, where
transt usage s beow average.
Linkages
The prmary eect o ow transt
usage s hgh persona automobe
usage, resutng n more congested
and dangerous roads, ar and nose
pouton, the creaton o greenhouse
gases, and the oss o vauabe and to
roads and parkng ots.
lvng n a car-dependent cty, a-
garans spend a consderabe amount
o money to own and mantan ther
vehces. Accordng to Statstcs an-
ada, the average new vehce has a
ue ecency ratng o +o ters per
+oo km (ths ncudes cars and ght
trucks), makng a o km commute
cost approxmatey ;, each month
or ue aone. Add nsurance and
mantenance costs, and drvers can
spend as much as ;(oo/month on
ther cars. ln comparson, a monthy
transt pass cost ; n oo(.
Nakng communtes more transt-
rendy by provdng bus sheters,
benches, and peasant and sae
pedestran envronments can
ncrease rdershp and promote pos-
tve nteracton among communty
members. Transt aso aows peope
who do not have a prvate automo-
be to partcpate n the soca and
economc opportuntes oered n
the cty.
onsder a the costs n choosng
your mode o transportaton
Vounteer to be a carpoo coordna-
tor at work and at cubs where
your chdren are members.
Encourage your workpace to par-
tcpate n agarys annua com-
muter chaenge. learn more at
www.commuterchaenge.net
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p
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(
m
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$
)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Roads, Traffic, & Parking
Public Transit (minus revenue)
Public Transit
2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
The Facts
ln oo, the ty o agary spent
;+ mon on transportaton nra-
structure, ncudng roads, pubc
transt, and pathways. About ( o
ths spendng was dedcated to roads
and 8 was or pubc transt.
vhen revenue generated rom tran-
st users s deducted, the actua
amount spent on roads n oo repre-
sents + o expendtures, compared
to (, or pubc transt. O the tota
transportaton nrastructure bud-
get, o.( (;+. mon) was spent
on constructon o new regona
pathways.
Definition
These statstcs come rom the oo
and oo ty o agary Annua
Reports. Expendtures ncude oper-
atng and capta unds or pubc
transt and or roads, trac, and
parkng. The gures do not ncude
spendng by deveopers on roads
wthn new subdvsons.
Trends
vhe the ty o agary hstorcay
has spent more money on roads than
transt (not ncudng transt-derved
revenue), n recent years ths trend
has become more sustanabe, wth
neary equa amounts o spendng
dedcated to each type o nrastruc-
ture n both oo+ and oo. vhe
spendng on roads has remaned sta-
be at around ; mon snce ooo,
the ncrease n capta spendng or
transt n recent years s argey due
to extenson o the lRT nes n the
southwest and northwest.
As agary expands, the persona
vehce remans the choce mode o
transportaton. Between +,( and
oo+, the vehce kometres traveed
on agary streets on a typca week-
day grew rom +.( to ((. kome-
tres per person, an ncrease o more
than o percent.
The ty o agary s currenty pre-
parng an update o the +,, agary
Transportaton Pan (TP) to be
reeased by the end o oo. TP
oo w consodate a exstng ty
o agary transportaton poces and
gudenes based on the +,, TP
vson and current and use strat-
egy. luture pans or agary transt
and the ctys regona pathway sys-
tem w be outned n the document,
as we as nks between agarys
transportaton system and soca and
envronmenta ssues.
Importance
The wdespread use o automobes
has many unsustanabe sde-eects
that are evdent n terms o pubc
heath, energy dependence, the
ncreasng cost o provdng and
mantanng transportaton nra-
structure, and greenhouse gas ems-
sons. Nany o these costs are beng
transerred to subsequent genera-
tons, makng the current system
both socay nequtabe and eco-
nomcay and ecoogcay unsustan-
abe.
Linkages
As a cty grows, the orm t takes s
undamentay nked to ts transpor-
taton network. ln agary, transpor-
taton networks have been created
prmary to accommodate the per-
sona automobe. ar-orented
desgn oten overooks the needs and
preerences o pedestrans and
cycsts, thereby reducng the poten-
ta or person-to-person nteracton
n communtes and commerca
areas. Such nteractons can oster
sense o communty, reduce crme
rates, and provde support or more
vunerabe ctzens.
The anadan Urban Transt Assoca-
ton states that whe cars and ght
trucks produce ( percent o a
transportaton-reated greenhouse
gas (GHG) emssons, pubc transt
accounts or ess than one percent o
GHG emssons. Roadways aso take
up vta urban space. The average
muncpaty commts percent o
ts and area to roads, parkng, and
automobe nrastructure. vth ess
dependence on automobes, more
and woud be avaabe or housng,
green space, and other amentes.
Educate yourse and tak to your
aderman about the agary Trans-
portaton Pan and nrastructure
spendng prortes.
Teecommute or change your work
schedue to avod traveng durng
peak hours.
lnvestgate car poong 8 carshar-
ng optons or your transportaton
needs. heck out the agary Ater-
natve Transportaton o-operatve
at www.catco-op.org
Wellness Indicators
Access to Primary and Alternative Health Resources
Childhood Asthma Hospitalization Rate
Healthy Birth Weight Babies
Self Rated Health
Youth Wellness
Highlights
Approxmatey .8 percent o the a-
gary Heath Regons (HR) oo/
oo budget was drected toward
preventve heath care, ths s sghty
ess than was spent n +,,;.
ln oo, there were ,+( emergency
asthma cases and +o hosptazatons
per +oo,ooo chdren under +8 at the
Aberta hdrens Hospta n agary.
Asthma-reated hosptazatons have
been decnng n recent years.
ln ooo, ,. percent o babes born
n agary had a heathy brth weght.
Rates o unheathy brth weghts
have vared unpredctaby over the
ast ten years.
ln oo, the weare ncome or a ds-
abed person n Aberta was , per-
cent o the low lncome uto
(llO). ln +,,, ths gure was o
percent.
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Access to Primary and Alternative Health Resources
The Facts
Approxmatey .8 percent o the a-
gary Heath Regons (HR) oo/
oo budget was drected toward
preventve heath care, ths s sghty
ess than was spent n +,,;. Between
+,,8 and +,,,, o to ;o percent o
anadans used some orm o ater-
natve therapy.
Definition
Preventve heath care ncudes a
nterventons to reduce the rsk o -
ness or njury, ncudng the promo-
ton o reguar physca actvty, good
nutrton, santaton, and mmunza-
ton. Aternatve heath care covers a
wde range o weness treatments
rom hnese and naturopathc med-
ca treatment, to chropractcs, to
reaxaton and massage.
lnormaton about the HRs spend-
ng on preventve heath care came
rom the HR oo/oo( Annua
Report and ncudes a spendng on
promoton, protecton, research, and
educaton that s reated to preven-
tve heath care. Statstcs about
anadans use o aternatve heath
care were derved rom a +,,, lraser
lnsttute study.
Trend
The oo+ State o Our ty Report
abeed ths ndcator an lndcator n
Progress because ony approxmate
data or preventve heath care
spendng coud be obtaned. Snce
that tme, the HR has tracked pre-
ventve heath care spendng n more
deta, and the statstcs suggest a
sght decne n the proporton o
resources devoted to preventve
heath care snce +,,;.
Heath anada notes that anadan
emaes are more key to use ater-
natve therapes than maes, except
n the use o chropractc. Nost users
o aternatve therapes are between
and (. Use o these therapes
ncreases wth educaton and ncome
and most commony takes the orm
o epsodc vsts rather than contn-
ua, ongong contact. O a anad-
ans, Abertans are most key to use
some orm o aternatve heath care.
Importance
lncreasngy, preventve and aterna-
tve heath strateges are ganng
acceptance as reabe compements
to conventona heath practces.
vhe conventona heath care w
aways pay an mportant roe n
treatng dsease and njury, a sustan-
abe communty shoud aso adopt
practces that promote weness and
reduce the need or more ntrusve
heath nterventons. Preventve
heath care practces such as mam-
mography and mmunzaton not
ony oer mportant benets to nd-
vdua heath, but they aso hep to
acheve arge nanca savngs. Ater-
natve heath care practces can be a
strong component o a preventve
heath care strategy, gven ther
ocus on overa estye and we-
beng.
Linkages
Satsacton o basc human needs s
the most undamenta eement o
heath. ln modern socety, ths sats-
acton s cosey ted to ncome. The
ncreasng number o hours requred
to meet basc needs at mnmum
wage and the rsng numbers o ood
bank users n agary both pont to
an ncreasng proporton o agar-
ans who strugge to meet ther most
undamenta needs.
A heath promoton approach has
been one response to the need or
preventve care. Ths approach
ncudes mutsectora coaboraton,
communty budng, and heath ser-
vces reorentaton to address ssues
such as smokng, cean ar and water,
and nutrton. The Aexandra Heath
entre n lngewood and the agary
Urban Project Socety embody ths
type o approach.
An ncrease n physca actvty and a
growng nterest n organc oods are
both nked to preventve heath care.
However, n agary, accompanyng
these postve contrbutors to heath
s an ncrease n the consumpton o
junk ood and obesty among youth.
Smokng remans the snge eadng
preventabe cause o premature
death and dsabty n anada.
Support the mantenance o un-
versa and equtabe access to
heath care.
Deveop a heath strategy ceary
ocused on preventon.
Support programs ke amateur
sports, whch promote heathy e-
styes and ower the need or
heath treatments.
Percentage of CHR budget spent on preventive health care
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Promoton and protecton . . . .+ . .
Research and Educaton +. +. +.( +.( +. +.
Tota proporton o budget
spent on preventve heath care
(.o (.+ (.o . . .8
Childhood Asthma Hospitalization Rate
The Facts
ln oo, there were ,+( emergency
asthma cases and +o hosptazatons
per +oo,ooo chdren under +8 at the
Aberta hdrens Hospta n a-
gary. Asthma-reated hosptazatons
have been decnng n recent years.
Definition
Asthma s a chronc nammatory
condton n the arways o the ungs.
Symptoms such as chest tghtness,
wheezng, and coughng are sudden
or persstent and can vary rom md
to e threatenng. ln-patent asthma
cases ncude ony those n whch
asthma was the most sgncant con-
dton eadng to a hospta stay. The
Aberta hdrens Hospta provded
the data or ths ndcator.
Trends
Asthma-reated hosptazatons have
been decnng n recent years. The
hghest number o emergency
asthma cases at the Aberta h-
drens Hospta came n +,,, when
there were , asthma-reated vs-
ts. Hosptazaton rates were at
ther hghest n +,,, when ch-
dren were hosptazed due to
asthma.
Reatve to the peak o asthma cases
at the Aberta hdrens Hospta n
+,, and +,,, oo statstcs
decned by ; percent and percent
or emergency vsts and hosptaza-
tons, respectvey. vhe t seems
that ewer asthmatc chdren are
spendng tme n the hospta, Aberta
has the thrd hghest asthma rate n
the country. vth an estmated +
percent o anadan youth havng
asthma, more than ;,ooo young
peope n agary may be suerng
rom ths dsease.
ompared to data rom the +,;os,
todays chdhood asthma rates are
very hgh. Statstcs anada gures
or anada show that n +,;8/+,;,,
. percent o chdren under + were
dagnosed wth asthma. By the md-
+,8os that rate had rsen to .+ per-
cent, and by +,,(/+,,, the rate was
approxmatey ++. percent.
Importance
Asthma suerers are ke the canares
n the coa mne n terms o ndcat-
ng the heath o our cty and ar
quaty. Asthma s a growng goba
probem, wth as many as oo mon
peope aected wordwde. These
numbers are ncreasng, and
researchers are struggng to nd out
why.
ln anada, approxmatey o chdren
and oo aduts de each year rom
the dsease. Regardess o the sever-
ty o the condton, peope who have
asthma ace a varety o chaenges,
ncudng reduced actvty eves, sen-
stvty to certan envronments, and
more days o rom work and schoo.
Linkages
The anadan lnsttute or hd
Heath warns that the growng bur-
den o chemcas to whch chdren
are exposed s key a sgncant ac-
tor n the deveopment o asthma.
Artght homes and oces sea chem-
ca emssons rom sources such as
carpets, gue, pywood, and pant,
thereby concentratng asthma trg-
gers wthn our vng envronments.
Addtonay, ncreased car depen-
dency s creatng more ar pouton
n our ctes. A oo report n the
Journa o Envronmenta Heath
ound that chdren vng n ctes
wth hgh eves o exhaust-reated
ozone (or smog) are at greater rsk o
deveopng asthma.
Snce peope suerng rom asthma
tend to be ess productve at work
and n ther communtes as a resut
o havng to devote tme and energy
to deang wth ther symptoms, rs-
ng asthma rates coud aect other
ndcators ke sense o communty,
ncome equty, and unempoyment
over tme.
Deang wth asthma s costy to the
heath care system. Snce physca
exercse can trgger asthma attacks,
young asthmatcs may not be phys-
cay actve enough to mantan we-
ness, whch coud ead to heath
probems ater n e. Asthma s aso a
serous ssue n our schoos, not ony
or the heath o chdren but aso or
ts eect on ther educaton. One-
quarter o a tme ost rom schoo s
as a resut o asthma.
Ensure that your home s con-
structed wth non-toxc materas
and that ar-tght homes have a
hgh-voume ar exchange system.
Support smokng preventon pro-
grams and smoke-ree poces n
pubc paces.
Support ncentves or pubc trans-
port and or ow emsson energy
sources to mprove ar quaty n
agary.
vork wth your chds schoo to
mprove ndoor ar quaty.
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Healthy Birth Weight Babies
The Facts
ln ooo, ,. percent o babes born
n agary had a heathy brth weght.
Rates o unheathy brth weghts
have vared unpredctaby over the
ast ten years.
Definition
The agary Heath Regon denes a
heathy brth weght as over ,oo
grams (. pounds). Ths standard
was set by the vord Heath Organ-
zaton and s used nternatonay to
montor brth weghts. low brth
weght occurs as a resut o short-
ened gestaton and/or nadequate
eta growth. Data was derved rom
agary Heath Regon statstcs.
Trend
lt s dcut to determne an obvous
trend or ths ndcator. Snce +,,o
the ncdence o ow brth weght
babes n agary has vared wdey,
rangng rom a ow o ., percent n
+,,( to a hgh o ., percent n +,,8.
ln the years snce +,,8, the rate o
ow brth weghts has decned
sghty, but t s not easy to predct
whether ths trend w contnue.
Hstorcay, agary has had a hgher
ncdence o ow brth weght babes
than the rest o Aberta. Severa ac-
tors may hep to expan ths trend,
ncudng the arger proporton o
mothers over n agary, the
hgher rate o mutpe brths n the
cty, and agarans access to ertty
drugs and advanced eves o care
that can actate rsky pregnances
and sustan ow brth weght babes.
Importance
The Natona ounc o veare est-
mates that up to ; percent o nant
deaths can be attrbuted to ow brth
weght. By promotng practces and
behavours that ead to heathy brth
weghts, we can protect one o a-
garys most mportant resources, ts
chdren.
Never was the axom gettng a good
start n e more true than wth brth
weght. low brth weght s strongy
assocated wth poor heath out-
comes. low brth weght babes are
more at rsk o deveopng heath
compcatons such as asthma and
hearng probems. They are aso more
key to have deveopmenta dsab-
tes and to perorm poory n schoo.
The economc costs assocated wth
ow brth weght babes are enor-
mous. They are two to our tmes
more key to be hosptazed durng
the rst ve years o e than norma
brth weght babes, and they com-
prse the agary Heath Regons
ourth hghest category o expend-
ture.
Linkages
Poverty s one o the most potent
actors contrbutng to ow brth
weghts n anada. low-ncome am-
es may have ess knowedge about
prenata heath and reduced access to
nutrtona oods, and they are more
key to practce hgh heath rsk
behavours such as smokng durng
pregnancy. ln agary, prenata
casses are avaabe on a user-pay
bass, whch may mt access or
those wth mted nanca
resources. vth the advent o new
ertty technooges, ow brth
weght s aso becomng an ssue n
more auent communtes n a-
gary, where expensve ertty tech-
nooges are more commony used
and deayed chdbearng s ncreas-
ngy common.
ln one respect, an ncrease n ow
brth weght babes may be regarded
as a postve heath ndcator n that
medca advances aow us to better
support pregnancy and resusctate
and sustan more ow brth weght
babes. Research has aso shown that
negected ow brth weght babes are
more prevaent among ames that
ack soca support rom the extended
amy and the communty. on-
versey, a strong communty can be a
actor n reducng the negatve out-
comes o ow brth weght.
Support pregnant women you
know n eatng heathy oods,
avodng acoho, and quttng
smokng.
l you know o amy rends or
neghbours wth ow brth weght
babes, be more conscous o ther
need or support.
Self Rated Health
The Facts
ln ooo, more than ,o percent o
agarans rated ther heath as good
or better reatve to others ther age.
Among agarans wth reatvey ow
eves o educaton, ; percent more
rated ther heath as good compared
to +,,8.
Definition
The data or ths ndcator come rom
a agary Heath Servces survey con-
ducted n ooo that randomy sam-
ped (o respondents rom each o
seven age and gender groups. The
queston asked was ompared to
other peope your age, how woud
you descrbe your state o heath'
Exceent, Very Good, Good, lar, or
Poor.
Trend
leves o se-rated heath have
remaned reatvey stabe n recent
years. ln a age, gender, and educa-
tona groups, most agarans per-
ceve ther heath to be equa to or
better than that o ther peers. The
owest eve o se-rated heath s
ound among peope who have a jun-
or hgh educaton or ess. St, the
number o peope n ths educaton
cass who have a hgh eve o se-
rated heath ncreased percent
snce +,,,. ompared to a other
gender and age categores, ths jump
represents the most sgncant
ncrease n se-rated heath snce the
survey was ast conducted n +,,,.
Percentage of respondents who self-
rated their health as Good or Better
than people in the same age bracket.
Percentage of Respondents, by level of
education who self-rated their health
as Good or Better than people in the
same age bracket
Importance
A persons menta and emotona
sense o we-beng s oten as mpor-
tant as objectve assessments o
physca heath. The noton o se-
rated heath not ony expores an
ndvduas subjectve assessment o
physca, menta, and emotona
heath, but aso provdes an ndrect
assessment o amy we-beng, con-
necton to communty, economc
we-beng, and sense o securty.
Se-assessments provde us wth
another pont o comparson by
whch we can arm the assessments
made by heath care provders or by
whch we can be aerted to potenta
probems that may be mssed n an
objectve assessment.
Linkages
vhen ctzens have a strong sense o
weness, we can expect ess absen-
teesm rom work or schoo, ess
stress, a more productve economy,
and ess o a burden on the heath
system. Heathy ndvduas are more
key to engage n preventve care, to
take more responsbty or ther
own care, and to be actve n the
communty.
The ower percentage o postve
responses rom those wth junor
hgh educaton or ess may have to do
wth a whoe range o actors. leve
o educaton s reated to ncome and
empoyment status. Unempoyed
ndvduas and ower-ncome ndvd-
uas may have more heath probems
due to ack o resources to meet basc
needs or reduced access to heath
care.
Ouantaby worse heath s aso
reated to educaton and empoy-
ment, as seen n the Adut lteracy
and Hours o vork Requred at Nn-
mum vage ndcators. Subjectvey,
se-rated heath may aso be nu-
enced by eengs o ow se-esteem
among a group oten ess vaued by
socety and s thereby nked to the
Sense o ommunty ndcator.
Support the deveopment o a
more progressve tax system.
Support government renvestment
n soca programs.
Nontor and mprove, necessary,
your own nutrton and exercse
habts, and mode heathy habts
or your chdren and/or rends.
Age Sex 1996 1998 2000
+8-( N , , ,
+8-( l , ,, ,+
-( N 88 8, ,o
-( l ,+ 88 ,o
+ Both 8 ;8 ;,
Level of
Education
1996 1998 2000
Unversty ,( ,( ,(
Technca
oege
,( ,o ,
Senor Hgh
Schoo
,+ 8, 8,
Junor Hgh
schoo or ess
;, ;+ ;;
W
e
l
l
n
e
s
s

I
n
d
i
c
a
t
o
r
s
Support for the most vulnerable
The Facts
ln oo, the weare ncome or a ds-
abed person n Aberta was , per-
cent o the low lncome uto
(llO). ln +,,, ths gure was o
percent.
Definition
lnormaton or ths ndcator comes
rom the oo veare lncomes and
the Estmated Poverty lne by Prov-
nce and Househod Type lact Sheet,
Apr oo: A Report by the Natona
ounc o veare (www.ncwcn-
bes.net/ndex.htm). llO s one o
the most commony used proxes or
the poverty ne n anada. lor more
normaton on llO, reer to Hours
Requred to Neet Basc Needs at
Nnmum vage on page
Trend
veare support or dsabed Aber-
tans has decned steady snce +,,+,
when t peaked at o percent o the
llO. Between +,,8 and oo, ths
support e by percent reatve to
the llO, reachng ts owest pont
snce +,8 when t stood at (( per-
cent o the llO. vth a oo llO
at ;+,,, the ;;,o+ avaabe to ds-
abed peope represents a dect o
;++,.
Reatve to other provnces, Aberta
ares poory n supportng ts most
vunerabe resdents, wth benets
or persons wth dsabtes n
Ontaro, Nantoba, Saskatchewan,
and Brtsh oumba totang +, (,
, and + percent o the llO,
respectvey. ln oo Ontaro pro-
vded the most support to dsabed
resdents o a the provnces, wth
weare payments o ;++,;, or
percent hgher than those n Aberta.
lor aduts wth permanent dsab-
tes that severey mpar ther abty
to earn a vehood, Abertas Assured
lncome or the Severey Handcapped
(AlSH) program provdes nanca
and medca benets. urrenty, or a
snge ndvdua, AlSH provdes a
maxmum payment o ;8o per
month, resutng n a yeary payment
more than ;,,ooo beow the llO. ln
oo, ater a revew o ts ow-
ncome programs, the Aberta gov-
ernment reported that the AlSH pro-
gram woud not be recevng
addtona undng n the near uture.
As the costs o ood, uttes, rent,
and other basc necesstes rse, the
abty o persons recevng AlSH to
purchase these goods and servces s
n decne.
Importance
lt has been sad that the strength o a
chan s measured by ts weakest nk.
Because o the soca stgma that has
ong accompaned peope wth ds-
abtes, they are partcuary vuner-
abe to poverty, soaton, and
segregaton. A socety that cannot
hep ts most vunerabe ctzens
meet ther basc needs and partc-
pate uy n communty e, espe-
cay n tmes o auence, s not a
strong socety.
Linkages
Urban spraw creates probems n
everyday vng or dsabed ctzens.
As the cty spreads outward, trans-
portaton nks are ewer and trave
dstances and tmes ncrease. A con-
venent, accessbe pubc transporta-
ton system can be a ene or
ctzens wth dsabtes, who may
not have access to a car or be abe to
drve. These ctzens shoud be abe to
move throughout our shoppng
areas, neghbourhoods, and work-
paces wth ease. The needs o ds-
abed peope shoud actor nto every
decson we make about the orm o
our cty. lor exampe, when pannng
new crosswaks and ntersectons, we
shoud desgn them consderng
those ctzens who cannot wak very
ast or are n wheechars.
Because o ther derent e stua-
ton, ctzens wth dsabtes may
not ee that they beong n a com-
munty as much as ther neghbours.
Ths ow sense o communty can be
partcuary strong among dsabed
schoochdren, who may ee that
ther derence sets them apart rom
ther cassmates n nsurmountabe
ways. The educatona system can
urther excude these chdren by
ocusng argey on academc compe-
tences rather than socazaton and
the dscovery o ndvdua sks and
knowedge.
Support the rasng o government
support or dsabed persons to at
east the low lncome uto and
promote ndexng AlSH or na-
ton.
Support ncudng the requre-
ments and concerns o peope wth
dsabtes n the pannng and
mpementaton o pubc transpor-
taton and pubc works.
Support the exporaton o a more
ndvduazed approach to weare
undng.
Recognze the benets o openng
your workpace to more dversty.
onsder supportng or beng
nvoved n settng up a busness
advsory board to hep peope wth
dsabtes nd compettve work
n the communty.
Youth Wellness
The Facts
A oo Heath anada survey ound
that youth aged + to +, have the
owest eves o psychoogca we-
beng o a anadans. ompared to
other countres, anada has among
the hghest eves o youth obesty
even though young anadans are
some o the most physcay actve
young peope n the word.
Definition
Psychoogca we-beng ncorpo-
rates the concepts o se esteem,
mastery (the sense that one s n con-
tro o ones own e), and coherence
(the sense that the word s compre-
hensbe and meanngu), as mea-
sured n the oo Heath anada
pubcaton How Heathy are ana-
dans' omparsons o obesty and
physca actvty eves among ana-
dan youth were derved rom the
ooo vord Heath Organzaton
report Heath Behavour n Schoo-
aged hdren.
Trend
Studes n the +,,os ound that psy-
choogca we-beng decreased wth
age, but today suggest that menta
states such as depresson, stress, and
unhappness are most common
among younger peope. ln oo
anadans aged +8 and +, were the
most key to report hgh stress ev-
es (;). O a age-sex groups,
young women aged + to +, were the
most key to show sgns o depres-
son (,). O the three components
o psychoogca we-beng, young
anadans are most key to have a
ow percepton o coherence, or the
sense that the word s manageabe,
comprehensbe, and meanngu.
vhe anadan youth engage n rea-
tvey hgh rates o physca actvty,
they aso are among the most obese
n the word. Ater Greenand and the
Unted States, anada has the hgh-
est rate o youth obesty among grs
and boys aged + to +. Obesty rates
across anada have cmbed at an
aarmng rate n recent years. A oo
artce n the lnternatona Journa o
Obesty states that obesty eves
among anadan youth ncreased
ve-od between +,8+ and +,,.
Obesty eves are hgher n boys than
grs, and are correated wth ow
ncome. Thrty eght percent o obese
chdren n anada are nactve, rea-
tve to o o non-obese chdren.
vth rsng concerns about obesty
ssues among anadas young peope,
more research s beng dedcated to
the study o obesty and obesty pre-
venton. lor exampe, the agary
Heath Regon has ormed the mut-
sectora ommunty Preventon o
hdhood Obesty commttee to
head such research. Ths commttee
w study the probem o chdhood
obesty and work to reduce the grow-
ng rates through surveance,
drected research, programmng,
communty mobzaton, and nter-
venton. Snce the data or ths nd-
cator are rom dsparate sources and
are natona n scope, ntatves such
as ths w hep to bud a better
understandng o youth weness at
the communty eve.
Importance
ln a sustanabe communty youth
are physcay, emotonay, and spr-
tuay heathy. As uture eaders and
decson-makers, t s vta that youth
receve the support they requre to
become heathy, we-baanced
aduts.
Linkages
Perhaps the most mportant actor
reated to youth weness s strong
reatonshps wth parents and teach-
ers. ertan condtons nurture such
reatonshps, ncudng havng a
strong sense o communty, promot-
ng vounteersm among young peo-
pe, enabng youth to earn a vng
wage, ensurng sma enough cass
szes to oster connectons between
students and teachers, and enhancng
youth-rendy modes o transporta-
ton such as pubc transt.
On the other hand, youth weness
s not promoted, a range o ndcators
coud be negatvey aected. The
we-beng o agarys young peope
s ted to the ctys crme rate, ood
bank usage, unempoyment rate, and
se-rated heath.
lsten to and ncude youth n
ssues that aect them and ther
communty.
Provde day exercse or sport
opportuntes or a schoo ch-
dren.
Promote mentorshp programs n
communty, educatona, and work
settngs.
We would like to extend a special thanks to the organizations
who supported the development of this report
of Calgary and Area
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