Who is Ottawa Insights for?
Ottawa Insights is for anyone seeking reliable and contextual data about life in Ottawa. This includes program managers, front-line workers and community members, activists and advocates, students and scholars, journalists, policymakers and politicians, social workers and social enterprises, fundraisers and funders, and members of the general public.
What is Ottawa Insights for?
Ottawa Insights aims to educate and equip its users with relevant and reliable data for use in program planning and delivery, research, advocacy, fundraising, decision-making, resource allocation, education, policy-making and other community-oriented activities.
How does the Ottawa Insights website work?
Ottawa Insights data can be accessed 3 different ways:
By Theme
Select 1 of 8 themes listed on the Home page or in the View Themes drop-down menu in the main navigation bar for a comprehensive view of the data available in that theme.
By Topic
Select 1 of 34 topic tags on the Explore Topics page to find data associated with that specific topic. Note that some topics will have more data associated with them than others, and in some cases the tagged topic will not be the primary focus of the data shown but only a secondary one.
Mix and Match
By selecting multiple topic tags on the Mix and Match page, you have an opportunity to investigate intersections between diverse social issues. Note that this tool displays previously summarized data.
Where does the Ottawa Insights data come from?
Ottawa Insights draws on the most current and reputable sources for local data that are available. Specific data sources are referenced in About the Data within each indicator. Data sources include:
- Ottawa Neighbourhood Study
- Statistics Canada and National Household Survey
- Ottawa Public Health
- City of Ottawa
- Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation
- Canadian Institute for Health Information
- Ontario and Champlain Local Health Integration Networks
- Open Data Ottawa
How often is Ottawa Insights updated?
Every year, some of the Ottawa Insights data is updated in response to the release of reliable new datasets.
Who manages Ottawa Insights?
Ottawa Insights is created and managed by the Ottawa Community Foundation.
What is the Ottawa Community Foundation?
The Ottawa Community Foundation (OCF) is a public, non-profit organization created by and for the people of Ottawa. Connecting people who care with causes that matter since 1987, the Foundation works with the community as a trusted partner to fulfill impact philanthropy and bring about positive, systemic and sustainable change in our city, regionally, nationally and beyond.
Why did the Ottawa Community Foundation create Ottawa Insights?
Our goal is to support shared understanding and strategic collaboration among donors, funders, policy makers, service delivery agencies, and citizens working towards a vibrant, caring, and equitable city. Ottawa Insights is designed to also support evidence-based decision making for OCF’s own grant-making and for its donors, as well as for other granting organizations.
How did we select the eight themes we used to sort the Ottawa Insights data?
The selected themes are based on categorizations used in influential national quality of life assessment initiatives, including Vital Signs and the Canadian Index of Well Being. The themes also align well with the way the OCF and other foundations report to Canada Revenue Agency on their funding activities.
How does Ottawa Insights relate to Vital Signs?
The OCF produced five Vital Signs reports, beginning in 2006. Ottawa Insights leverages the OCF’s past experience with Vital Signs to deliver an enriched and adaptable vehicle for knowledge, engagement and collaboration. The themes used to structure information align well with those used for Vital Signs, and OCF and the Community Foundations of Canada are committed to mutual support between the two initiatives.
How does Ottawa Insights relate to the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study?
Ottawa Insights and the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study (ONS) share goals of evidence-based decision making in our city. The sites complement each other. Ottawa Insights focuses primarily on city-wide indicators and data sources, and the ONS provides a rich resource at the neighbourhood level.
To build alignment and cross-functionality between the sites, Ottawa Insights and the ONS now use the same eight themes as an organizational backbone. We have also built links between the two sites. On Ottawa Insights, for specific indicators where data exists at the neighbourhood level, a “Data Connection” button links to a related map on the ONS website.
Is Ottawa Insights an open data website?
No, it is not a source of open data or a data portal. Ottawa Insights is issue-comprehensive but data- selective.
Do you work with other local organizations around data?
Yes, the OCF collaborates with a number of local committees and networks on the topic of population data.
- Research and Evaluation Task Group (Ottawa Child and Youth Initiative)
- Neighbourhood Equity Index – Technical Advisory Working Group (United Way/City of Ottawa)
- Ottawa Culture Research Group
- Ottawa Neighbourhood Study Steering Committee
- Ottawa Neighbourhood Study Data Working Group
