The Project's Genesis

The way a society chooses to measure progress has an impact on its understanding of issues, priorities and public policy; these measures greatly influence a society's path forward.

The result of co-construction and collaboration within the G15+ collective, organizations from the economic, financial, social, union, environmental, academic and philanthropic sectors have agreed for the very first time on how to measure the well-being of Quebecers.

This project provides public decision-makers and the general public with 51 economic, social and environmental indicators to measure the well-being of the Québec population and to put well-being at the heart of our collective decisions.

Gross domestic product (GDP) and job creation are no longer enough to evaluate the well-being of Quebecers. In the midst of a climate, social and health emergency, it is necessary to return to what matters most to people and to identify what we truly value in Quebec.

This project is an important contribution of civil society to the construction of a prosperous, inclusive and green society. By making the Indicators of Well-Being in Québec available to public decision-makers, the G15+ is helping to improve our understanding of the interdependence of the economy, society and the environment in order to adopt public policies that are in line with the expectations of the Québec population and up to the challenges of a 21st century society.

The G15+ is calling on our public decision-makers to take charge and update the Indicators of Well-Being in Québec. In the absence of robust or frequent data, several indicators will have to be better documented to measure all facets of the well-being of Quebecers. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be integrated by the group in order to have a reliable picture of the evolution of trends.

This approach is based on a rigorous methodology validated by experts from all G15+ member and partner organizations. We would like to highlight in particular the contribution of the Institut du Québec and economist François Delorme. The Indicators of Well-Being in Quebec are made possible by major contributions from the Foundation of Greater Montreal, the Institut du Québec, Fondaction and the Trottier Family Foundation, with support from the Conseil du patronat du Québec, Équiterre, Vivre en Ville, the David Suzuki Foundation and COPTICOM, Strategies and Public Relations.

Observations

First observation: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and job creation alone can no longer be the litmus test of Québec's well-being. For decades, in Québec as elsewhere, the GDP has become so central to the assessment of "wealth" that it has become the go-to metric to measure a nation's success. However, the shortcomings of GDP as an indicator of a population's well-being are now widely documented. If GDP informs us about the value produced by work and by capital, it falls short of explaining the nature of this work and how it contributes to the growth of society. Similarly, while GDP values the activities that drive our economy in the short term, it tells us nothing about the impact they have on our planet in the long term. In the future, as the challenges to our societies become more complex (aging population, global warming, the state of biodiversity, wealth distribution, automation, etc.), the shortcomings of GDP will become more and more evident to the general public. Second observation: public policy should better reflect the issues that matter to Quebecers, and focus more on collective well-being, population health and the regenerative capacity of our environment. In recent years, several nations such as Scotland, Iceland, Finland, Wales and New Zealand have decided to challenge the narrow view of GDP in favour of a broader view of well-being. According to all recent opinion polls, Quebecers want to make the well-being shift:

• A June 2020 Leger poll indicated that two-thirds of Quebecers (67%) wanted a Québec emerging from the COVID-19 crisis to prioritize health, the environment and quality of life above economic growth. 

• A public opinion survey commissioned by the Canada's Department of Finance in August 2020 found that 82% of Canadians agreed that measures beyond GDP were important in their daily lives, and a majority agreed that it was very important for the government to consider factors such as health, safety and the environment when making decisions.

Our policymakers must take into account these results in order to develop public policies that promote inclusive and sustainable development. Third observation: with better indicators, Québec will be better equipped to achieve its aspirations. To develop the Québec we want, it is to develop indicators that measure the economic, social and environmental aspects of our society. Yet, many of Québec's vital signs are impossible to measure in a reliable, robust and frequent manner and many indicators are still missing, particularly in the social and environmental pillars.

A Short History of GDP

GDP is an indicator invented in 1934 by the economist Simon Kuznets to measure the effects of the Great Depression on the American economy. Even at the time, Kuznets warned against using GDP as an indicator of well-being because, although relevant, it omits important measures such as wealth distribution, environmental quality, health or happiness, to name only a few. Despite this warning, GDP quickly became integrated into institutions after the Second World War. Now, as humanity is coming out of another world crisis, it is clear that GDP, an indicator invented over 90 years ago, is not well-suited to understand and overcome the challenges of today's society.

Methodological Approach

The organizations and partners of the G15+ conducted a process of co-construction based on a rigorous methodology validated by the Institut du Québec as well as the economist François Delorme. The objective of this robust social dialogue was to project ourselves towards the Quebec we desire: a Quebec that is prosperous, inclusive and green. The premise of the process was to recognize and reinforce the interdependence of the economy, society and the environment. One pillar is not adjacent to the other, they are connected to each other. For example, climate and environmental disruptions do not affect rich and poor equally, who in turn do not have the same financial means to cope with climate and environmental disruptions. By developing measurable indicators that take the pulse of each pillar, and thus go beyond a single monetary measure of progress (GDP), we are able to recognize this dynamic in a consistent and systematic way. The indicators therefore allow governments to be more effective in monitoring the various pillars and in taking actions to develop a prosperous, inclusive and green Quebec. The lack of frequent reporting regarding these pillars limits the public's ability to hold our policymakers and other various actors accountable for the results of their actions on important aspects to the daily lives of Quebecers. By having at our disposal a broad range of indicators that measure society's progress, we ensure that collective well-being and quality of life increase as inclusive for all of Quebec. Why these indicators? The most important challenge the G15+ faced was to strike a balance between comprehensiveness and simplicity. Too many indicators risks complicating the understanding of the objectives for Quebec and the identification of priority areas for public policy. Yet, too few dimensions might fail to capture key components necessary to properly assess quality of life. The indicators were selected as to maintain a forward-looking approach, a balance of economic, social and environmental components, and a balance between macro and micro indicators. More specifically we asked:

• Does the indicator tell us about the quality of life and well-being in Québec?

• Can it be measured correctly? Whenever possible, we have used official sources (Statistics Canada or the Institut de la statistique du Québec)

• Is it easy to monitor (annually)? Most indicators are updated annually. However, some indicators are updated occasionally (mostly every two years)

• Can the indicator be used in policy making and does it reinforce the message of interdependence of the economic, social and environmental pillars?

Areas of uncertainty The Indicators of Well-Being in Québec project posed a number of methodological challenges inherent in the desire to present a more comprehensive and accurate portrait of our society:

• A selection challenge, which required strategic balance between comprehensiveness and simplicity, and the overall usefulness of each indicator. Thus, of the many indicators that were considered, only a subgroup made the final selection.

• A major deficit of data production and collection in Québec on a very large number of issues that matter to Quebecers and that we would have liked to include. More specifically, social and environmental indicators were not quantified due to the lack of robust and frequent data. Similarly, the absence of targets for many indicators limits the interpretation of trends in the data.

• Although the data range of this first iteration of the Indicators of Well-being in Québec covers from 2015 to 2019, subsequent annual updates might include longer time series and other improvements, for example, comparability with other jurisdictions. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic starting in March 2020 led us to choose 2019 as the arrival year, 2020 being an outliers in terms of statistics and would not illustrate real trends. We will update the data annually to reflect this, including pandemic data. During annual update, it will be possible to offer a longer range of years, as well as other improvements, such as comparison with other jurisdictions.

• Some indicators require a more granular or regional approach. One possible avenue for research would be to develop regional indicators or filters to regionalize the data presented in order to get a more accurate picture of certain issues. The same is true for filters related to age, ethnicity or gender, etc.

La démarche des Indicateurs du bien-être au Québec inspire !

Depuis son lancement en 2022, la démarche des Indicateurs du bien-être au Québec a essaimé et inspiré d'autres initiatives. La Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM), en collaboration avec la Fondation du Grand Montréal (FGM), a lancé 28 Indicateurs vitaux du Grand Montréal avec l'objectif de bâtir des milieux de vie abordables, sains et durables pour ses 82 municipalités. Cette initiative s’inspire des Indicateurs du bien-être au Québec et  témoigne de l’impact positif de notre démarche et de l’importance de placer le bien-être au cœur des politiques publiques.