About Vital Signs

Vital Signs is a community check up that Community Foundations across Canada participate in, to measure the health and vitality of our communities. It can identify significant trends in a range of sectors and areas that are critical to quality of life and maintaining a smart and caring community.

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Why do it?

Vital Signs uses local knowledge to measure the vitality of a community and support action towards improving collective quality of life. Local data gathered through the program is used to support evidence-based, locally-relevant solutions. Vital Signs aims to inspire civic engagement, to provide focus for public debate, and to help a range of actors take action and direct resources where they will have the greatest impact.

The purpose of Vital Signs is to examine and raise awareness of the strengths and challenges facing the community of the Timiskaming District. Outcomes of the project will guide and support solutions that will be a catalyst in sustaining and improving our quality of life.

Vital Conversations
are facilitated conversations with community members.

Vital Conversations can be used to explore an emerging issue in the community, learn about lived experiences of a specific demographic, identify pressing community issues and co-create next steps for potential solutions, help generate qualitative data and help paint a picture of issues and trends in the community and inspire a call to action.

Vital Conversations can collect insights and data to guide future granting priorities, to guide conversations and to raise awareness. It can be an effective tool to bolster community engagement and an opportunity to connect local organizations and resources and build relationships.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have not been able to host any large conversations and have opted to conduct a community survey instead. Everyone living in our district is encouraged to complete a survey and have their say. The survey is completely anonymous and will cover a wide range of topics including housing, health, community safety and education.