Themes
Real Estate and Construction
Real estate development and related construction projects are key forces in urban economies. They affect a broad range of other economic sectors and activities including banking and mortgages, resource extraction and processing, manufacturing, the building trades, sales, and ongoing servicing, along with all of the related employment.
Income
Capacity to meet basic needs depends on an adequate income. Federal and provincial governments have greater powers to influence income and poverty rates than do municipal governments. But municipalities do have some important economic, employment and other policy and program levers.
Labour Force & Employment
Employment levels and access to opportunities profoundly affect quality of life in cities. Ottawa shares many of the same challenges facing other cities, including high youth unemployment and a proportional rise in part-time and low-paying service-sector jobs.
Community & Belonging
Community and belonging are intimately linked. Members who are committed to their community are willing to seek commonalities rather than focus on differences. They also have a sense of being able to contribute to and influence their community, and a willingness in turn to be influenced by it. Community cohesion contributes to safety, but since communities require a way of defining membership, they can also be exclusionary. So diversity can both challenge and enrich community.
Basic Needs & Standard of Living
Ottawa is a wealthy city in a wealthy country. Yet there are still tens of thousands in our city who are either homeless or live in inadequate housing. Many Ottawa residents cannot meet their daily food needs. Some also miss opportunities and even critical appointments because they cannot afford transportation. The information provided under this theme gives a picture of the distance we need to go in Ottawa to reduce poverty and its many corresponding effects.
Economy & Employment
Ottawa is a prosperous city with a relatively stable economy. But like other cities, its economy is subject to significant demographic, social and technological shifts. Talent, investment capital and other economic resources have also become increasingly mobile, leading to increased competition to secure the conditions traditionally seen as necessary to a thriving economy. And in the face of these pressures, support for local and regional versus export-oriented economic activity is often overlooked. While the federal and provincial governments hold some key levers to influence our economy, municipal investment decisions and policies and programs are also significant.
Education & Learning
Appropriate education supports the ability of individuals to navigate, to enjoy, and to thrive in the various communities and conditions encountered in the course of a lifetime. A well-educated population is better able to contribute to economic strength and to community and societal well-being more broadly. One of the United Nations’ 2015 Global Goals for Sustainable Development is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.
General Demographics
The core purpose of Ottawa Insights is to present information on key trends and conditions in relation to the site’s eight themes and the associated issues. But the way that these issues play out, who is affected and how, can be profoundly influenced by Ottawa’s basic demographic characteristics.
Environment & Sustainability
Blessed with a huge land area and a diversity of natural spaces, Ottawa already has distinction as a “green” city. But reorienting towards an environmentally sustainable future requires insight and action on many fronts including development patterns, infrastructure, economy and behaviour.