About the Survey

We first measured what matters with the NS Quality of Life Survey in 2019 - the next survey will take place in 2024

In May and June of 2019, 80 000 Nova Scotia households received an invitation in their mailboxes to participate in a first-of-its-kind survey measuring quality of life across the province. The survey asked how people feel they are doing in eight key areas related to their quality of life. The survey explores topics often overlooked when we consider what makes people happy, healthy and fulfilled. It includes questions about loneliness, discrimination, healthy work conditions, how we spend our time and overall life satisfaction.

The survey will help to shine a light on the challenges and opportunities of those who identify as being part of a marginalized or underrepresented group because of the high sample size. The map below shows where those regional groups are.

Results

The survey focused on alternative measures of progress, beyond GDP, and explored how Nova Scotians are doing in eight areas that affect their wellbeing: community vitality, living standards, healthy populations, democratic engagement, leisure and culture, time use, the environment and education. Learn more about the Eight Domains of Wellbeing.

How was the survey administered?

In April 2019, 80 000 randomly selected Nova Scotia households received requests to participate in a 230-question survey. The survey took about 30 minutes to complete. Invitations to fill out the survey with a personalized 5-digit access code was sent to participate through the mail, with a reminder postcard mailed out a few weeks later. People also had the option to call and have a paper copy of the survey mailed to them. Additional targeted outreach was completed to groups that might not otherwise have their voices heard. Once participants completed the survey, they were entered for a chance to win 1 of 25 $400 Sobeys gift cards.

Why couldn’t everyone fill out the survey?

The survey was sent to one in five households in Nova Scotia on a randomized basis to ensure responses came from as thorough of a mix of ages, genders, and locations participating as possible. The survey was designed and distributed in this way to provide an unbiased and deep understanding of what individuals and communities are experiencing across Nova Scotia.

I participated in the survey, will my information be used for another purpose?

Our partner in the creation of this survey, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing, follows strict standards to ensure that information that could identify individuals is kept confidential. Only verified researchers have access to the raw data for purposes aligned with the intent of the Quality of Life Initiative (i.e., improving the quality of life of people living in Nova Scotia). The data collected from the survey responses will be made more broadly available, but not in a way that will enable the identification of any participants.

How much does this cost and who is paying?

The budget for the Quality of Life Survey is $542,000. The costs are related to community engagements, printing survey invitations, mailing these invitations to one in five Nova Scotia households, research analysis, and the preparation and production of ten quality of life reports for ten unique regions of the province. This is the most comprehensive project of its type undertaken in Canada.

Engage Nova Scotia receives financial support from a range of partners including the provincial government, municipal governments, as well as private sector and academic partners such as the Nova Scotia Community College who are undertaking related and complementary measurement work associated with the One Nova Scotia goals. You can learn more about who supports Engage Nova Scotia here.