After winning the recent provincial election, the Saskatchewan Party Scott Moé promised a “strong economy, bright future.”

But does a strong economy necessarily guarantee a bright future?

Between 1998 and 2018, Saskatchewan’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 45 percent, making it the fourth largest in Canada.

Even after the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Saskatchewan led the nation of economic growth, recording an increase of 6 percent.

However, over the same 20 years, Saskatchewan’s well-being increased by only 13 percentaccording to the Saskatchewan Well-being Index.

This delay in well-being has only amplified the struggles of the citizens of the province in terms of drug use, youth mental health, homeless And hate crimes.

Obviously, and despite its impressive scale, Saskatchewan’s economic growth alone does not reflect the province’s progress in terms of citizen well-being.

What is well-being?

Well-being is a multidimensional concept this goes beyond the level or rate of GDP growth and can highlight key current policy challenges. GDP, on the other hand, is one-dimensional, developed before World War II and long before the major political concerns of today.

As defined by the Saskatchewan Well-being Indexthis is achieved when people are in good physical, emotional and spiritual health; economically secure; have a strong sense of identity, belonging and belonging; and have the confidence and ability to engage as citizens.

Well-being encompasses many aspects that make our lives enjoyable: happiness and well-being on a personal level, strong social capital and belonging to the community. These aspects can then provide a solid basis for addressing broader societal-level issues such as social justice and environmental sustainability.

International Wellness Initiatives

Many countries, including Canada with its Canadian Well-being IndexI not only well-being frameworks developed but many now regularly collect and publish well-being indicators.

A handful of jurisdictions – like France, Italy And Suede — have also begun to include quality of life measures as criteria for their progress.

New Zealand even formally budgets for well-being and published its first well-being budget in 2019.

Regardless of geography or political structure, one of the common motivations for developing these well-being frameworks is the recognition that economic measures such as GDP are insufficient to measure a country’s human and environmental progress. .

Learn more:
Australia’s welfare budget: what we can – and can’t – learn from New Zealand

A political approach to well-being

To move forward effectively, the well-being of citizens should be a guiding principle for government leaders. Community Initiatives Fund And Saskatchewan Heritagethe joint forces behind the Saskatchewan Index of Wellbeing, have long called on decision-makers to integrate well-being into their policies.

The federal government recently introduced the Quality of life framework as a first step towards integrating well-being into policy-making. But are these efforts reaching local governments, which carry a regulatory duty to promote the well-being of citizens?

I partnered with the Community Initiatives Fund and Heritage Saskatchewan. to survey more than 25 per cent of Saskatchewan’s rural and urban municipalities on what has facilitated or hindered the adoption of wellness in their communities’ policies.

We learned that only 17 percent of our participating municipalities have adopted a well-being approach in their official community plans, although 55 percent of them consider elements of community well-being when developing policies and budgets.

Additionally, 46 percent want to take a wellness approach, but cited lack of financial and human resources, time, community and team support as key challenges in moving to a wellness approach.

Finally, we learned that arts, culture and sports facilities were identified as an urgent community need by 36 percent of our respondents, compared to just 6 percent referring to economic sustainability and growth.

Our results also support existing evidence that rural communities become stronger when they place more importance on well-being than on economic growth.

Municipal action required

As the level of government closest to the people, municipalities matter. Services provided by local authorities define the well-being of citizens and their quality of life. Additionally, local efforts have the potential to inspire province-wide change.

As Saskatchewan’s urban municipalities prepare for own elections on November 13now is a good time to consider prioritizing the well-being of the community.

In the words of Jacinda Ardern, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand: “Growth alone does not lead to a great country…. so it’s time to focus on the things that do.

For real change to occur, well-being must reside at the heart of policy making.