Community Wellbeing Strategy

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share your input, experiences and ideas with us. The engagement period has now closed. Input received from all meetings, pop-ups, and the online survey will be summarized into a “What We Heard” report and finalized Strategy in Winter 2023/2024. Please visit the Let's Talk project page to learn more.


We are developing a Community Wellbeing Strategy to help build a City where everyone belongs and has the opportunity to thrive.

 

Community wellbeing is the combination of social, economic, environmental, health, cultural, and political conditions that are essential for individuals and communities to flourish and fulfil their potential. 

The City has drafted a Community Wellbeing Strategy to help us plan for the services, resources, amenities, activities, and places that will improve overall community wellbeing and help our community thrive over the next 10 years. The Strategy will provide direction, support decision-making and manage change to reflect our community’s evolving needs, limited resources, and increasingly complex issues. 

 

Get Involved

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There are several opportunities for the community and interested parties to get involved and provide input throughout this project. Your feedback will ensure the strategy reflects the values and priorities of our community. How to get involved:

  • Read our Strategy Summary for a quick review or the full Draft Community Wellbeing Strategy to learn more about the specific objectives we plan to take to help build a City where everyone belongs and has opportunities to thrive. Printed copies are available at City Hall or at the North Vancouver City Library. 
  • Learn more by visiting the Let's Talk project page
  • Subscribe for email updates by submitting your email into the Stay Informed box in the top right sidebar of the Let's Talk project page.
  • Encourage others to share their voice by sending them a link, sharing on social media, or giving them a call. We need everyone’s voice to help shape our collective future!
  • Contact staff with questions at wellbeing@cnv.org.

What We Heard

The draft Strategy was developed based on:

  • Existing plans and policies including the 1998 Social Plan and 2014 Official Community Plan
  • Community input from the You Me Us process in 2018-19, and ongoing stakeholder engagement
  • Community input shared through the Fall 2021 public engagement. Review our What We Heard report.
  • Ongoing work and input from interested and impacted parties, non-profits, businesses, First Nations, other levels of government
  • Current trends, best practices, and precedent research
  • Gaps identified in our current programs and services
  • Public health information
  • City’s related work on: Housing Needs Report; Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion; Child Care Action Plan; Mobility Strategy; Climate and Environment Strategy; Economic Strategy; and more.

What's in the Draft Strategy: The Path Forward

The draft Strategy includes six key pathways focused on enhancing and supporting our wellbeing. Each pathway provides clear policy directions and a series of objectives that communicate expectations and guide decision-making. 

The six pathways are: 

  • Complete Communities: Create a City that is complete, connected, socially active, and where daily needs are met within a short walk or roll of every home. 
  • Housing for All: Expand the supply and improve the quality, diversity, and affordability of housing in the City.
  • City for All Ages: Create a City that contributes to wellbeing for all ages and phases of life.
  • Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA): Create an inclusive City, where we celebrate diversity, and we commit to equity and accessibility for all.
  • Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Economy : Include all residents in local economic opportunities and work together to break the cycle of poverty.
  • Advocacy, Partnerships and Financial Supports: Build equitable and supportive partnerships that advance the City’s priorities for wellbeing, align City resources and funding, and advocate for the community’s needs. 

Project Timeline

The Strategy is being developed, through the following process: 

Background Research | 2018 - 2020 | Complete

Researched existing plans, policies, trends, gaps, issues, best practices review, and public input. 

 

Develop Early Ideas | Spring/Summer 2021 | Complete

Developed draft vision, goals, and strategies. 

 

Phase 1  – Community Engagement | Fall 2021 | Complete

Gathered public input on preliminary vision, goals, and strategies and held stakeholder discussions.

 

Develop Draft Strategy | Winter 2021 - Spring 2023 | Complete

We've finalized a draft Community Wellbeing strategy that incorporates feedback from our previous engagement and a peer review process.

 

Phase 2 - Community Engagement | Summer - Fall 2023 | Current Stage

We’re currently in Phase 2!

We are sharing the draft Community Wellbeing Strategy and are seeking further community feedback.

 

Finalize Strategy | Early 2024 (anticipated)

Finalize the Community Wellbeing Strategy and implement it.

What We'll Achieve Through This Strategy

The Strategy will help us build a City where everyone belongs and has opportunities to thrive. We aim to achieve this by focusing on: 

  • Connection: Our City connects people with each other and to their daily needs closer to where we live.
  • Equity: Our City is shaped by a diverse and inclusive representation of voices, experiences, and contributions.
  • Investment: Our City’s social infrastructure (spaces, places, services, and programs) is consistently invested in and maintained over time, to benefit both the economy and society

What Community Wellbeing Means

What does community wellbeing mean?

“Community wellbeing is the combination of social, economic, environmental, health, cultural, and political conditions that are essential for individuals and communities to flourish and fulfill their potential”.

Wellbeing is a highly subjective and broad term. This definition recognizes that community wellbeing is multi-faceted and impacted by many things, but in its simplest form it is about people’s health, happiness, belonging, and quality of life. 

Sutherland Secondary School’s Global Perspectives students created documentary films on what community wellbeing means to them – watch them now!

 

What influences our wellbeing?

Our health and wellbeing, both as individuals and as a whole community, are strongly influenced by the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, and age. The social conditions that determine our health (called “social determinants of health”) include a mix of factors:

Social Determinants of Health. Your Life: Early Childhood Developments, Education and LIteracy, Employment and Income, Working Conditions, Safe and Nutritious Food, Social Interactions and Experiences, Social Supports and Safety Net, Community Belonging, Culture. Your Environment: Housing/Homelessness, Clean air, Water and Soil, Civic Infrastructure, Access to Nature. Your Healthcare: Access to Quality Healthcare, Healthy Behaviors and Habits. Your Biology: Biology/Genetics

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People in our City experience different social conditions based on their own experiences and identities within the social determinants of health. The term “intersectionality” describes how our overlapping and interconnected identities work on multiple levels, resulting in unique experiences, barriers, and/or opportunities for each person.

Inequities in health and wellbeing are largely caused by systemic, avoidable factors, and are often outside the control of the people who are affected. To reduce these inequities, we need to reduce barriers, create enabling conditions, and commit to progressing health, happiness, belonging, and quality of life for everyone.

 

Contact Us

Community Planning Team
Phone: 604-983-7357
Email: wellbeing@cnv.org

community in Civic Plaza

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