Thanks to the Victoria Foundation, it’s seventh annual report, “Vital Signs,” that takes a pulse on the Greater Victoria Region, has just been released. According to online survey results, here are some highlights of the top twelve challenges cited for those of us living here:
- 45% cost of living
- 32.9% homelessness
- 21.0% transportation
- 20.9% housing
- 19.1% addictions
- 15.0% employment
- 15.0% community planning and development
- 14.9% eldercare
- 14.6% health care
- 14.0% mental illness
- 12.4% municipal integration
- 12.3% sewage treatment
The report also summarizes “things we need to do better”:
- Surgery wait time for children (in June 2012, 654 children were on Victoria General Hospital’s surgical wait list).
- Living wage was $18.07 per hour while the provincial government’s minimum wage is $10.25, meaning that two adults have to work an average of 62 hours a week each to afford an adequate quality of life.
- Social Housing wait list (in March 2012, 1,681 people in Greater Victoria were waiting for housing with the BC Housing Registry, up 15% over last year).
- Rents climbing (in April 2012 the average rent for a private apt. in Greater Victoria was $874, up from $851 in April of last year).
- Cost of food (average monthly cost of a nutritious food basket for a family of four in 2011 was $873, slightly higher than provincial average of $868, up from $715 in 2007.
Population:
Total population in 2011: 344,615 (compared to 330,085 in 2006, representing a 4.4% change)
Of this number, 45,190 are between the ages of 0 and 14, 235,985 are between the ages of 15 and 64 and 63,440 are over 65. In the same year 2011, 18.4% of the total population was over 65, above the provincial and national averages.
For the entire report, please visit www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca