Nanaimo’s Approach to Measuring Community Well-Being

We’re Over GDP

In the 20th century, measuring progress through Gross Domestic Product (GDP) felt like an elegant solution to complexity. Economic activity was distilled into a single number. More output meant more progress.

But simplicity comes at a cost. GDP tells us how much we produce. It does not tell us how well we are living.

Consider a straightforward example. Car crashes increase GDP. Vehicles are repaired, medical professionals are paid, insurance claims are processed. Economic activity rises. Yet nothing about that growth signals improved safety, resilience, or quality of life. The underlying risk remains.

Measurement does more than describe reality. It shapes behaviour. The indicators we track influence the priorities we set and the tradeoffs we accept. When output is the dominant measure of success, policy tends to favour what increases output, even if broader social or environmental costs accumulate in the background.

Over the past decade, governments have begun to recognize this gap.

A National Shift in Measurement

In 2021, the Government of Canada introduced the Quality of Life Framework, expanding the definition of prosperity beyond economic growth. The framework organizes well-being across five domains: prosperity, health, society, environment, and good governance.

The shift was not symbolic. It signalled that belonging, environmental sustainability, trust in institutions, and equitable opportunity are not secondary concerns. They are core components of long-term resilience.

If national policy is moving toward multidimensional well-being, local measurement systems must keep pace.

Nanaimo’s Planning Context

Nanaimo has already begun integrating broader systems thinking into municipal planning. Influenced in part by Doughnut Economics, a framework that balances social needs with ecological limits, the Nanaimo City Plan embeds social and environmental considerations into long-term land use, housing, climate, and infrastructure decisions.

The direction is clear. Growth should strengthen community foundations without exceeding environmental thresholds.

But planning ambition requires measurement alignment.

What NPC’s Research Examined

To understand how Nanaimo currently measures well-being, Nanaimo Prosperity Corporation conducted a research study reviewing five major local reports and public dashboards. These sources were compared against Canada’s Quality of Life Framework to assess alignment across national well-being indicators.

Nanaimo tracks economic output and certain health indicators effectively. Employment data, housing figures, and some public health measures are readily available and regularly reported.

The research found only about one-third of the federal Quality of Life indicators are consistently reflected across local sources.

Indicators related to belonging, civic participation, Indigenous well-being, environmental resilience, and trust in institutions are fragmented or inconsistently reported. Some exist in isolated reports. Others are absent or difficult to track over time.

When data is scattered across separate documents and dashboards, decision-making can become fragmented. Without a shared framework, it becomes harder to identify tradeoffs, see gaps, track progress, or align partners around common outcomes.

Why This Matters

If Nanaimo aims to pursue growth that is equitable, sustainable, and resilient, it needs a measurement system that reflects those ambitions. A coherent framework allows leaders to evaluate whether new investment improves quality of life across neighbourhoods, whether economic gains are broadly shared, and whether environmental pressures are being managed responsibly.

NPC’s research does not argue that Nanaimo lacks data. It argues that Nanaimo lacks integration. Aligning local indicators with a comprehensive well-being framework would strengthen strategic decision-making across government, business, and community organizations.

Measuring What We Value

How we measure progress reveals what we believe progress is.

For Nanaimo, this is not about abandoning growth. It is about refining it. Economic development remains essential. But prosperity must be evaluated alongside belonging, environmental sustainability, health, and trust.

A city is more than its output. It is relationships, opportunity, and the systems that allow daily life to function smoothly.

By aligning measurement with well-being, Nanaimo has the opportunity to ensure that growth strengthens the community in ways that endure.

Because when we measure what sustains us, we are more likely to build it.